Second Chances

by Peetabreaddd

FULLY UPDATED! What happens when Katniss can't live without Peeta anymore after they won the war? Feeling lonely, Katniss does something tragic to make it all stop, but is given a second chance to make everything right. STORY HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REDONE

13. Chapter 13

Katniss had been kept under sedation for three days. When she started waking up her eyes were darting all around the room. It took her a few minutes to realize where she was. She was in the hospital in District 13. Haymitch and Finnick were in chairs, sleeping. And Peeta was gone.

District 13 lost contact with Peeta's hovercraft. He was either one of two things. He was either in the Capitol…or he was dead.

She sat up and started ripping out her I.V.'s. She made her hands bleed and started ripping everything off.

"Katniss!" she heard Finnick say. She got up and ran to the door and pulled it open, but Finnick wrapped her arms around her.

"No, no, no, no, no. Katniss you can't leave," Finnick told her. Haymitch woke up and stood in front of her as she was thrashing around.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed. Finnick pulled her back until he was sitting on the bed, and she was sitting in his lap.

"Katniss you can't leave," Finnick told her.

"Just calm down sweetheart," Haymitch told her.

"WHERE'S PEETA?" she screamed.

"Katniss…we don't know," Haymitch told her. She shook violently in Finnick's arms.

"LET ME GOOOO!" she screamed. "Take me to the hovercraft. I'm going to find him. And if he's not there, I'm going to the Capitol to get him myself," Katniss told them.

"Katniss you can't go. We can't even get close enough to the hovercraft to investigate. The Capitol is all over the crash site," Haymitch told her.

"I don't care. Someone better take me because I'm going there. I'm going to get him out, wherever he is. LET GO!" Katniss yelled. Two doctors ran in then.

"She needs to be sedated again," the doctor said. Haymitch whipped around.

"Is that just your answer for every time she's screaming? Don't just knock her out. Give her something to keep her calm," Haymitch told them.

"NOOO!" she screamed. Finnick had the side of his face on her back.

"Katniss please. Please just calm down," Finnick told her.

"Let me go! I'm going to save Peeta if no one else will!" Katniss cried. A doctor gave her something, and her struggling became less and less.

"Let's get her back into bed," Haymitch told Finnick as they helped her lay back down and pulled the blanket over her. The second doctor came back over and started attaching her I.V's back to her. After a few minutes, the three of them were by themselves again.

They each sat on a side of her. They made her bed go up, so she was sitting up.

"We're doing everything we can. We can't get close enough to the hovercraft to investigate," Haymitch told her.

"The rebels who we've been able to get in contact with haven't seen him. Him or Johanna. Or Enobaria and Brutus," Finnick told her.

"There's chance that they escaped sweetheart. We think that they know there's a chance that they escaped, and that's why they're guarding the crash site," Haymitch told her. Katniss was looking back and forth between them while they talked. Haymitch knew that was a good sign.

"It's not like last time when Coin wouldn't let anyone go rescue him. We've taken control to look for him the best that we can. Plutarch and Boggs have made it seem like it's her idea that they're searching for them. But the point is, that they're looking. We're doing everything we can to find them," Finnick told her. Her lip quivered and her eyes welled up with tears.

"He lied to me," Katniss whispered. Finnick and Haymitch looked at each other.

"Who?" Finnick asked.

"My dad," she answered. She closed her eyes, letting tear after tear fall down her face. "He said, love Peeta. When you get scared, remember my words. Love Peeta," she cried and covered her eyes.

"He said, don't be afraid to fall in love, because you'll get a happy ending," Katniss cried and then took her hand away. "That's why I never wanted to love him. I didn't want to lose him," Katniss cried. Haymitch got up on the bed next to her and pulled her into his chest as she cried.

"If your dad said that, then I believe it. I believe more than ever that he's alive. And he's not in the Capitol," Haymitch said.

"No. He's gone," she cried.

"No, he's not Katniss. Your dad wouldn't send us back here to change things, but then let Peeta die. I don't believe that. You have to have faith," Finnick said.

"I don't," she answered. Finnick and Haymitch looked at each other.

"Then I'm gonna have faith for the both of us. I'm gonna have faith for you," Finnick said.

"Me to sweetheart," Haymitch said.

"She's not too far gone. She's at least talking and eating and showering. She's still there," Haymitch said to the doctor. He had been in this place before. Talking to Dr. Aurelis for her. Making up excuse after excuse for her. Protecting her from doctors.

"She's holding on because she wants to hear about Peeta," Finnick said.

"She's not falling into that place. Because she doesn't want to be stuck in it if Peeta comes back," Cinna said. The doctor scrubbed his face.

"You're wanting me to discharge her when she's mentally incompetent. This is what you're asking me," he said. Haymitch wanted to choke this asshole. He didn't understand Katniss. He didn't understand Victors.

"We're going to be taking care of her. We're going to take responsibility for her," Haymitch said.

"I've already discussed it with Annie. I'm going to be staying with Katniss. Katniss doesn't want to stay with her mom and sister," Finnick said.

"She's only letting us, and her mom and sister even see her. Me, Finnick and Katniss will share a compartment. We'll take care of her," Haymitch said. The doctor just shook his head.

"This is completely against my opinion. But fine. Just take her," he relented and walked away. They walked back into her room. She was sitting on the bed with her knees up to her chest.

"Great news sweetheart. We're getting you out of this hell hole. We're moving you to a normal compartment," Haymitch said.

"I told you, I'm not going with my mom and Prim," she said monotonously.

They had been asking for days for Katniss to go stay in the compartment with her mom and sister. But Katniss kept refusing. Everyone was trying to come up with a solution. It was Annie that came up with the idea. She said that him and Finnick should stay with her and take care of her.

"We heard you Katniss. So, the three of us are bunking. We have our own compartment," Finnick said. She looked over at the two of them, and the closed her eyes.

"So basically, this is hell," Katniss said. Finnick and Haymitch chuckled. At least she made a joke.

"Everyone's asking to see you. Maybe once you're settled in- "Finnick tried to say, but she interrupted him.

"No. I don't want to see anyone else," Katniss said. Finnick nodded his head, and they walked her down to her compartment. Katniss walked in and stared at the beds and turned around.

"There are only two beds," Katniss told them.

"Yep. Me and you are bunking together," Finnick said. Katniss took her shoes off and laid down.

Haymitch refused to let Katniss out of his sight. Someone always had to be with her. He didn't want her to take her own life again. They got lucky. A miracle happened, and they were able to go back and fix everything. That's not normal. That's not real. But it happened.

He still had his own nightmares of Katniss dying. He did everything he could to keep her alive. Her and Peeta both. He loved all the good things about her, and even the bad things about her. She was like his daughter. And she turned out of be one of his best friends. He couldn't let her take her own life again. He had to make sure of that.

The first night was hard. Katniss was facing the wall, and Finnick laid behind her with his arm wrapped around her stomach.

"Peeta," she cried softly in her sleep. Finnick tried to soothe her while she cried for him.

"Shhh it's ok Katniss," he'd whisper. Finnick knew it really wouldn't work. But he would do anything he could to help her.

After a while though, that was when her nightmare started, and she'd start screaming.

"PEETA!" she screamed. Finnick held her, and Haymitch sat on the side of their bed and shook her.

"Katniss it's only a dream," Haymitch told her. Finnick put his face up to her ear.

"Shhhh Katniss you're alright. It was only a nightmare," Finnick told her. She sobbed into Finnick's chest. He laid there with her and let her cry herself to sleep.

Katniss laid in the bed the next day. Or she'd sit in it. Finnick went and got her breakfast while Haymitch stayed with her. "How about you eat at the table," Finnick says. Katniss got up and sat at the table for him. Pushing her food around on the plate. Eating a little, but not a lot.

She went back to bed and just laid there. They waited until Prim, and Emily came for a couple of hours. They brought Katniss her lunch. When Prim and Emily would come and see her, that was their time to get out for a few hours.

Haymitch ventured down to the control room. Cinna and Portia were in there. Designing their gear. If they were going out as the Star Squad, they had to look good. Only Katniss did last time. Now they'd all fight a war in style.

"How's she doing?" Cinna asked when he sat down. Haymitch shook his head and scrubbed his face.

"She's just sitting there. She had a rough night," Haymitch said.

"Think she'll let me in to see her?" Cinna asked. Haymitch shook his head. They were under strict orders to not let anyone in.

"I just don't understand why Katniss won't see Cinna. She loves him," Portia said.

"I don't understand anything that's going on in her head. I wish I did. Then maybe I could figure out how to help her," Haymitch said. They sat in silence for a while.

"Do you think they're ok?" Portia asked softly. Did Haymitch think they were alive? He wouldn't dwell on it too much. Because if he sat there and thought about it too hard, he would drive himself mad. He was scared shitless that they were dead.

"I hope so," Haymitch said. He had to have faith that they were ok. Otherwise, he'd never get Katniss back. She'd be gone for good.

The days passed and they were all the same. They would wake her up in the morning. Finnick would make her go into the bathroom and brush her teeth. Either him or Haymitch would go get her breakfast. She would either sit on the bed, or the table and eat.

Shortly after breakfast started is when the knocking on the door would start. Everyone came by every day to see how she was, and if that day was the day, they'd see her. Cinna, Effie, Gale, Madge, Rue, Thresh, Gale's family, Peeta's family.

Finnick and Haymitch would go and ask Katniss, and she'd shake her head no.

Prim and Emily would come some time during the day. That was when Katniss would take a shower. Only when when Prim came in. They made sure every day that she took a shower and put on clean clothes.

Prim brought Buttercup one time and the cat laid its head in Katniss lap. She looked down at it, disgusted.

"I get the feeling that he remembers you. I've thought so for some time now. Didn't you ever notice that he never hissed at you again? And the first time I saw him when he came back, he started crying for me," Prim said. Katniss just stared at him.

"Come on Katniss. Let's get you into the shower," Prim said as she took her hand and led Katniss into the bathroom. Prim would turn on the water to the right temperature and help Katniss take her clothes off and put her into the shower. She reminded her to wash her hair and her body.

Then she'd help dry her off and get her dressed again. Just to sit back in the bed.

"Do you want to see anyone today? I'll go get anyone you want. Everyone misses you so much Katniss," Prim asked. But she shook her head. Haymitch had been laying on his bed dozing when he sat up.

"You can take off. I know you have some work to do," Haymitch said. Prim nodded her head and kissed Katniss. "I'll come pick Buttercup back up when I'm done," Prim told Haymitch.

Prim came out of the compartment and shook her head.

"I'm sorry. She still won't see anyone," Prim said. Rue and Madge looked sad. "Once they find Peeta, she'll be ok again," Prim said. Madge took her hand.

"Of course she will," Madge told her. Rue nodded slowly.

"I just want to see her so badly. I just want to help take care of her the way she took care of me in the Games," Rue said.

Plutarch came by one day. Finnick and Haymitch walked over to her and stood there. "Katniss…Plutarch is outside. He said that Coin wants to meet with you," Finnick said.

"Tell Plutarch, to tell that bitch she can go fuck herself," Katniss said with no emotion. Finnick and Haymitch looked at each other with funny expressions on their faces.

"That was pretty much the answer that I expected," Haymitch said. Finnick nodded.

"Johanna would appreciate that answer. We always wanted to hear Katniss curse," Finnick said. Plutarch did not think it was as funny as they did.

"She called me a son of a bitch once," Haymitch reminded Finnick.

Finnick and Haymitch would ask her the same questions every day. Did she want to see whoever was at the door. Would she like to go for a walk around the halls. Did she want to try eating in the cafeteria. They even asked her if she wanted to go outside and get some fresh air.

The answer was always the same. No. But they wouldn't stop asking. They never would.

Finnick asked her to go eat with him at lunch, but she shook her head.

"You go. When you come back, I'll go eat something. I'll bring her lunch back then," Haymitch said. Finnick nodded and he kissed Katniss' forehead.

"I'll be back in a little while," he told her. He went to the cafeteria and got his food and walked over to the table where everyone was.

"Finnick!" Annie said and stood up to hug him. He put his tray down and gave her a huge hug. She sat down next to him and cuddled up to him.

"How's Katniss doing?" Cinna asked. It was always the same answer.

"Same as the day before," Finnick said sadly. Mags rubbed his back and he smiled at her. Kissing her cheek.

"I don't know how you do it day in and day out," Gale said. Finnick let out a deep breath.

"I don't know how I do it either some days," Finnick answered honestly.

"Isn't it hard. Being away from each other like that?" Madge asked. Annie shook her head.

"We all have to be there for Katniss right now. Even if she only let's four people see her. She needs Finnick right now. And the best thing I can do for Katniss, is to let Finnick stay with her. She needs him. And I have Mags. So, I'm not by myself," Annie answered.

Finnick looked around at the mixed mashed of the group. It was all the people who wanted to see Katniss. That were waiting for the moment she said yes. Somewhere along the line, Peeta, Gale, Rue and Thresh's family had joined this little group. Katniss friend Madge joined the group as well.

The Victors would still stay close to each other. That would never change. But now they had the young tributes from the 74th Games. It was interesting to see. But they were all babies. It was hard to explain anything to them. To reveal what life as a Victor really was like.

He noticed that they all ate at the tables in the far corner of the cafeteria. No matter what schedule they were all on, everyone ate in this corner.

Finnick had an idea when he saw Haymitch again. "Why don't we ask if we can take Katniss outside. I bet the fresh air would help. We'll get her a bow," Finnick said.

So, later that night, Haymitch went to Command to see if he could get Katniss outside. It was just Katniss and Finnick. He was pretty beat because he was in Command all afternoon talking about propos. Katniss was laying down, so he just got under the covers with her. She was laying on her back, and he threw his arm around her stomach. She was playing with the pearl that Peeta gave her. And she had on the necklace that he gave her as well.

"I pretend it's him," Katniss said. He picked his head up.

"Pretend what's him?" Finnick asked. She tapped his arm.

"I pretend sometimes that you're him. And I just pretend I'm safe. I just pretend that I'm happy. Sometimes that's the only way I've gotten to sleep these past few weeks…pretending that you're him," Katniss said. It was one of the saddest things Finnick had ever heard Katniss say. He moved closer to her and held her tightly.

"If it makes you feel safe…then just pretend I'm Peeta," Finnick told her. She nodded her head.

"Ok," she whispered. He closed his eyes as she silently cried. She was pretending he was Peeta, just so she could go to sleep. That was so depressing. Why did she have to suffer so much? Why is it ok to push a 17-year-old so hard like this, that they mentally check out?

The next night Katniss whispered about Cinnamon and Dill. "What?" Finnick whispered.

"That's what he smells like," Katniss cried. So Finnick and Haymitch thought about it.

Prim and Emily were eating an early dinner with Katniss, so Haymitch and Finnick decided to walk around the hallways for a while.

"Maybe we can steal some from the kitchens," Finnick told Haymitch.

"I'm just scared she's gonna fall into another episode. She's just…she really is just waiting for him," Haymitch told Finnick while they walked around the hallways, just needing to get out.

"I don't know. Sometimes I feel like she knows that if she falls into an episode, she won't ever come out without Peeta. She's trying not to fall," Finnick said. They rounded the corner and saw Gale first. He was sitting on the floor at the end of a hallway. He was sitting in a circle with some kids. They realized that they were rolling a ball to each other.

Gale and his three siblings, Rory, Vick and Posy. Madge. Rue and her siblings and Thresh.

"Having fun?" Finnick asked as he walked up.

"The kids were getting bored. So, Gale stole a ball from the gym. We're hiding out from our schedules," Madge chuckled.

"School's been really boring. And they won't let us go outside," Rue said sadly.

"Can I see Katniss now?" Posy asked. They smiled sadly at her.

"Katniss still isn't feeling up to friends right now," Finnick told Posy. She got up and went and sat in Gale's lap.

"I know. It's ok. She'll see us soon," Gale told her and kissed her cheek. He put Posy in his spot and stood up and walked over to them.

"Coin wants to send us into District 12 to show it off and show Panem what they did to us. I don't want to do it. It won't have any effect. Not without her there," Gale said.

"It's pointless without her. She won't go," Finnick said.

"I agree. But try telling Plutarch and Coin that. It's like Plutarch doesn't know her at all. Like he forgets who Katniss is," Gale said.

It was sad, because what Gale was saying, was entirely true.

Haymitch and Finnick went to Peeta's dad, who was in the kitchens and spoke with him. He snuck some cinnamon and dill out to them, and later that night, Finnick poured the tiniest bit onto their shared pillow.

When she laid down against the wall, she held the pillow to her and breathed in deeply. They eyed each other, waiting for her reaction.

"Peeta," she whispered. It calmed her slightly. Finnick ended up mixing it together, and when she wasn't looking, poured it on different things so she had the scent with her. They noticed a slight difference. It had a slight calming effect to her. Only slightly.

Another night Finnick was woken up by her crying. "Peeta come back," Katniss whispered.

"It's ok Katniss. I'm right here," Finnick told her. She relaxed in his arms.

"Peeta," she breathed, and went back to sleep.

The next night he woke up to her softly crying. She was laying on her back, and his arm was thrown around her. He picked his head up.

"Hey, it's ok. Shhh it's ok Katniss," Finnick told her.

"My chest hurts," she cried, not softly anymore. Haymitch picked his head up.

"I think you're having a panic attack," Finnick said. She shook her head.

"My heart hurts. And my chest hurts. It physically hurts. All the time. I feel like someone's sitting on my chest every day and I can't breathe. I can't do this anymore," she sobbed. Finnick pulled her into his chest while she cried.

"I know Katniss. I know," he whispered to her. What was she supposed to say? There wasn't anything, anyone could say that would make any difference. There wasn't anything to say to make it better. All Finnick and Haymitch did, was be there to hug her when she cried.

Another day, Finnick sat on the bed with Katniss. "I wish you'd come with us to the cafeteria. Eat at a table instead of with the tray in your lap," he said as he held her hand.

"Ok," Katniss whispered. Finnick whipped his head up, and Haymitch spun around in his chair.

"You're gonna go to the cafeteria with us?" Haymitch asked. She nodded quietly. Finnick smiled at Haymitch and jumped up and grabbed her shoes and helped her put them on and they started walking out.

This was fantastic news. This was one small step in the right direction. Just a walk to the cafeteria to eat and then back to the room. She could do that.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," Katniss said as she crossed her arms and looked down.

"Noted. We'll make sure no one talks to you," Finnick said. They walked on either side of her. Cinna and Portia rounded a corner and saw them. Haymitch and Finnick shook their heads. Rue and Madge were sitting on a bench, and they also had to shake their heads.

It was the worst time for Katniss to say yes. Why did she say yes now? They couldn't stop what happened. They couldn't at all. On the tv was Caesar Flickerman…and Peeta.

"Oh God," Finnick said and tried to cover her vision. But it was too late. It was like they were in slow motion.

She saw it, and they knew. They knew she was done for. It was the last straw. She snapped. She was broken. And only Peeta would be able to pull her out of the episode she was about the fall into.

"How is that possible?" Finnick asked out loud.

"That can't be…" Haymitch said. They had never seen Katniss scream and thrash around this bad. Finnick and Haymitch weren't strong enough to hold her. Gale and Cinna came over to help. The four of them struggled to get her to infirmary. There was surely nothing they could do for her this time. There just was no way.

Katniss stayed sedated for 5 days this time. When she finally woke up, Haymitch was frantic.

"Katniss, I need you to listen to me. It wasn't real. The interview wasn't real," Haymitch said. He looked over to Gale.

"Go get him now," Haymitch said, and Gale went running out of her room.

"Katniss please look at me. Look at me. Listen to me," Haymitch said. About ten minutes later Gale came rushing back in.

"Katniss. The interview wasn't real. It was fake. Snow made the interview without them really there. Look," Haymitch said. Caesar Flickermen sat down on her bed and took her hand.

"Hello Katniss," Caesar said. Katniss just stared right through him.

"I'm really here. Can you hear me Katniss?" Caesar asked. But Katniss couldn't hear him.

They tried for a week. But there was nothing they could do. She was too far gone.

They were all sitting in Command one day, trying to figure out what had happened, and where they went next.

"Why would Snow fake Peeta and Caesar being in the Capitol, and not fake Katniss? Why Peeta?" Cinna asked.

"Because Snow doesn't know who made it out alive. And Katniss, or anyone else for that matter, has yet to show their face. So, if Katniss is alive, he wants her to think that he has Peeta and draw her out," Haymitch said.

"Well, we have no choice now. She has to finally get on camera," Coin said. They all just stared at her.

"Please tell me she's joking," Finnick said as he put his head on the table.

"Not like this you can't. It isn't good for Snow or the Districts to see her like this. If Snow sees her, he'll know he won. And this will just scare the Districts. They'll start to lose hope," Gale told her.

"And it'll be over my dead body to put a camera in her face," Haymitch said, deadly. Everyone just stared at him.

"I'm not filming her like this. I absolutely refuse," Cressida spoke. Coin narrowed her eyes at her.

"It's not your decision to make. You don't get to just- "

"This is for the good of Panem. This isn't just about Snow. What we're fighting for is to free every District, including the Capitol. There is no good reason to show Katniss like this. I'm the one who's filming, so I DO get to make the decision, as does my team, if we want to film her. And I think we're all in agreement-"she looked at her team. Messalla, Pollux and Castor all nodded their heads. She looked back to Coin. "We're not doing it," she said. Coin stormed out of the room.

Everyone was silent for a moment. It was Plutarch's big mouth that broke the silence.

"Well, we need to start getting some Propos done. If we can't use Katniss, then we need to use all the other Victors. Get everyone in front of the camera. In support of the Mockingjay," Plutarch said.

"Get someone else. I'm not starring in one of your damn propos," Haymitch bitched at him.

"Get some of the others. They don't mind. Why don't you reveal to Panem that all the tributes form the 74th and 75th Games are alive?" Finnick asked.

While they continued to argue, an alarm went off. They all stopped and looked around.

"Did this happen last time?" Finnick asked.

"No. What the hell does that alarm mean?" Haymitch asked. The two of them stormed out of the room and grabbed someone to make him tell them what was happening.

"There's something above ground that shouldn't be there. Something triggered the alarms," he said. They two of them went running as far as they could go. There was lots of commotion. Someone pushed his way through and was carrying someone. They knew that wet suit.

"JOHANNA!" Finnick said and went running up to them. She waved him off.

"I'm fine. I'm just dizzy," she whispered. Finnick let out a sob and kissed her cheek. Brutus was being helped in, as Enobaria was being carried.

Haymitch and Finnick turned around to see Peeta walking on his own. He looked beat up and too thin. But he was alive and walking on his own, with Boggs standing close by to catch him. Peeta spotted Haymitch and Finnick and stopped. Then he smiled. His movements were slow, but Haymitch reached him and hugged him.

"I'm ok. I'm just hungry and tired," Peeta told him. He pulled back and Finnick hugged him.

How did he get there? Where has he been? Was this another trick? Did the Capitol have him? Haymitch threw that from his brain. He could see Peeta's eyes. He was back. Peeta was alive!

"It's so good to see you. We thought…" Finnick trialed off and pulled back. Peeta smiled softly. Haymitch put his hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"I know. But I'm ok. I just want to see Katniss. All I could think about was her. And I just know she's not ok. It made me sick. I just know she's having an episode. So please, just take me to her," Peeta said sleepily.

"It's pointless to try and convince him to go get checked out. Not until he sees her," Haymitch said. Finnick nodded and they walked with him down to the infirmary. They walked slow for Peeta. They made sure to keep close in case he needed them. They both put their arms up a couple of times to steady him.

"She's not ok. But you already knew that" Haymitch said. Peeta nodded his head. He walked into her room and went over and sat on her bed. Her bed was up so she was slightly sitting up. He took her hand and kissed it, and then brushed her hair.

"Katniss. Wake up sweetheart," Peeta said. Katniss started waking up, but she wouldn't open her eyes.

"Peeta," she whispered. He cupped her cheek.

"I'm right here. I made it to 13. Just open your eyes Katniss," Peeta said. Slowly Katniss opened her eyes and looked at him. He smiled.

"I've missed you so much," Peeta said. She looked at him and looked at his clothes.

"Peeta?" she asked. He smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah. I'm sorry that I scared you. I tried to get back as soon as I could. But we were so far away. But I'm here now. We made it," Peeta said. She stared at him for a minute, and then all hell broke loose. She screamed and hit him to get him away from her. But then she attacked her own face.

"Katniss stop it!" Finnick said as he grabbed her hands. She had actually pulled some of her own hair out.

"NOOOO IT'S NOT HIM!" She screamed. The doctors heard her screaming and shoved them aside to sedate her, and to restrain her hands. Haymitch went over and grabbed Peeta.

"It's ok Peeta. She's just confused. You'll be able to help her," Haymitch said. That was when Peeta's eyes rolled in the back of his head and passed out.

The wire had snapped. Finnick turned and cut Beetee's tracker out, and Peeta and Finnick went running down the hill. Finnick went after Enobaria, and Peeta went after Brutus. He caught up to Brutus and hit him over the head with his knife, knocking him out. He got on top of him and choked him.

He reached over and cut Brutus tracker out him. What Brutus didn't know was that his tracker was different. Once it was in his arm, it broke into two trackers. One would keep him alive, the other would stop the Capitol from tracking him. He felt them both and pulled out the bigger one like Haymitch told him to.

Johanna came running up to him. She held her arm to Peeta, and he cut her tracker out as well. She then grabbed the knife and cut his arm and took the tracker out.

"Alright Peeta, she's coming," the rebel said. They each grabbed a piece of the wire and held it between the trees. Enobaria came running and tripped over the wire, falling face first, and then her tracker immobilized her. Johanna got on top of her.

"We're not going to kill you. Cut it out of her Peeta," Johanna told him. Peeta reached over and yanked on her arm and cut her tracker out.

"You wanna get out of the Hunger Games for good? Then you listen to me. The arena's about to explode. You go over there and hold onto Brutus. Two hovercrafts are coming in. One is grabbing the four of us. The other is grabbing Finnick, Katniss and Beetee," Johanna told her.

"He's dead," Enobaria said, looking over at Brutus.

"No. He's not. We don't have much time to explain. Just trust us. We're going to District 13," Peeta said. Enobaria looked at him suddenly. She just stared. That was when the arena exploded.

"Katniss hit it with her arrow," Enobaria said. Peeta and Johanna's eyes widened.

"You remember?" Peeta asked.

"How…how did this happen?" She asked. Johanna got off of her as they saw both hovercrafts enter the arena.

"We don't have time to explain. Grab him and hold on," Johanna said. Enobaria did as she was told, and the claw grabbed on to the both of them. Johanna and Peeta stared up. Peeta was shaking.

"It's ok Peeta. We have time. The hovercraft took three turns to get them out last time," Johanna said, meaning Katniss, Finnick and Beetee. She was trying to be strong, but he knew she shared the exact same fear as he did. "Here it comes," Johanna said.

They laid down on the ground and grabbed onto each other as the claw grabbed them. Peeta looked over at the other one. He could tell it was Beetee. Their hovercraft closed and then zoomed out of the arena. He breathed a sigh of relief. Katniss was out. And she was ok. They got inside the hovercraft and were yanked over so the door could close, and they sped out of the arena.

"We're already working on Brutus. He's breathing again. And we're just working on his head. It didn't cause any damage so he should be up in a few minutes," a woman said. She grabbed the First Aid Kit.

"Let me take care of these," she said. He sat back and let her work on her arm, as another woman walked up and started working on Johanna. He could see that Enobaria's was taken care of, and she was sitting up against the wall with her head on her knees.

"Peeta?" Johanna asked.

"I'm out," he whispered. He put his head down and covered his face with his good hand. His shoulders shook in soft cries. They finished with their arms and Johanna reached over and hugged him.

"I know…I know how you feel," Johanna said. Peeta wrapped his arms around her.

"Yeah. You do…I can't believe we made it out. It's all I kept thinking about for a whole year now," Peeta said and pulled back. She nodded her head.

"Same here…but we did it. We're out," she said. Brutus yelled and came out a moment later.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Brutus yelled. Enobaria jumped up and got in his face, while five rebels grabbed him and cuffed his arms behind her back.

"We're not in the Games Brutus. We're out. We're out of there. You can't kill them," Enobaria told him.

"I'm not dying in this arena," Brutus said. Enobaria grabbed his face and made him look at her.

"We're out of the arena Brutus. There IS no more Hunger Games. We're going to District 13," Enobaria said. Brutus stopped fighting and stared at her. Then stared at Peeta and Johanna.

"What?" he asked.

"It's true. Katniss broke the forcefield and two hovercrafts came and took us before the Capitol could get to us. I cut your tracker out of your arm," Peeta said. He didn't bother mentioning that he did have a second tracker. But that was for a later time.

Brutus looked down at his arm. "He's fine. Let him go," Enobaria said. The rebels let him go and he just stood there.

"We're out of the Hunger Games?" Brutus asked.

"What did you think the arena just has a hovercraft for us to fly around in?" Johanna snapped.

"Why don't you guys just sit down. We'll give you guys something to eat and drink. You need to get back your strength," a girl said. They sat down in the seats that they originally sat in to be taken to the arena. What an insane thought that they would be sitting in these exact same seats, leaving the arena.

They were starving, and the four of them pigged out on sandwiches and apples. And chugged all their cold water.

"We'll be shortly behind the other hovercraft. We took a little bit of a different path out. But we won't be far behind them," one of the guys said.

"Peeta," one of the girls said. "You have a call," she told him. Peeta followed the girl into the cockpit. "It's Katniss," she said. He put the headphones on and sat down.

"Katniss," Peeta said. He heard her suck in a breath.

"Where are you?" she breathed. Oh God it was so good to hear her voice.

"I'm in the hovercraft going to District 13. We're a little bit behind you," Peeta said. Katniss burst out crying.

"I promised you. I promised I'd get him out," he could hear Haymitch say. It broke his heart to hear her cry like that.

"I'm ok Katniss. We're gonna be ok. I'm gonna see you in 13 in a little while," Peeta told her. Katniss just kept crying. "Johanna's here to. So is Enobaria and Brutus. They already have Brutus up and about. They had to restrain him for a little bit before her realized that he wasn't in the Games anymore, and he couldn't kill me and Johanna anymore," Peeta said. She just kept crying. He wished he could be with her right now, to hug her.

"It's ok sweetheart. We're gonna be ok now. You're gonna be able to take a break for a little while," Peeta told her.

"Thank you for saving him," she told someone. He assumed Haymitch. Maybe even Finnick. One of the rebels tapped him on the shoulder and he looked at whoever was flying. He pointed at his headphones.

"Katniss I gotta go now. They need the radio. But I'll see you soon, ok?" Peeta said. She made some weird sound in her throat.

"I'll see you soon," she said. He took the headphones off and went back to sit next to Johanna.

"She doing ok?" Johanna asked.

"As well as she can be. She can finally start to heal. She's away from the Capitol. She doesn't have to have fake fights and conversations anymore. She gets to be whoever she wants to now," Peeta said and then looked down at his hands.

"But?"

"But…I don't even think Katniss knows who she is. She's never had a chance to figure it out," he said sadly. Just then they heard something hit the hovercraft and it shook.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" Johanna demanded. Two men came out carrying something for them.

"Put these on," he ordered them, as he handed one to Peeta and Johanna. The other guy handing his to Brutus and Enobaria.

"What's happening?" Peeta asked as the hovercraft was hit again.

"Some of their hidden missals have caught us. You four are gonna have to jump," he said.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Enobaria demanded.

"You four are faces of the Rebellion. You're fighting for our freedom. You're uniting as Victors to take down the Capitol. You're too important to lose. So, snap that together, and jump," one of the guys said. The four of them got their packs on and followed the guy to the door that the came through in.

"Grab the weapons you came in with," he said. They picked up all their knives, and Johanna's ax, and two guys helped them secure these to the back of their packs.

"You four have no choice. You have to jump. One right after the other. And you have to do it now," he said. Before they could ask questions, he pushed Brutus forward until he fell. Then Enobaria, Johanna and then Peeta.

Peeta could see all of them falling. Oh God, what if he died like this? He would never see Katniss again. He had to survive this. He had to get back to her. She needed him.

He saw Brutus' pack open, and he realized they were wearing parachutes. Then Enobaria's opened. Right after that Johanna's and then his own.

Falling from the sky is one of the scariest things he's ever done. And not even knowing where they'd land. All he could see was grass and trees. What District were they even in? They may not even be in a District.

He watched as they all hit the ground, and then he did as well. He unhooked himself and picked up the pack, and it started pulling the parachute back into itself. He yanked off the knife and Brutus yelled.

"IT'S SETTING ITSELF ON FIRE," He yelled at them. They each yanked off their weapons, and the packs did self-destruct. They all met together.

"What are we supposed to do?" Enobaria asked.

"We can't stay out in the open. Let's head for that tree line," Peeta said. They all took off running, and right as they got into the tree line the heard the crash. The hovercraft had crashed onto the ground and was on fire.

"Oh God," Peeta said, covering his mouth.

"Come on Peeta. We can't help them," Johanna said and grabbed his arms. They ran for about a minute when they heard more hovercrafts.

"That's the Capitol," Peeta said.

"We have to get up into one of trees. We have no other choice," Johanna said and looked up at different ones, and then found the perfect one. "Get me up there," she told the guys. They boosted her up and moved to another branch.

"Enobaria you next," Johanna said. The guys pushed her up, and Johanna pulled her up. Johanna started climbing, and Enobaria moved to where Johanna had just been standing.

"You go first. I'll jump up and grab your hand," Peeta told Brutus. He helped shove him up, as Enobaria reached out her hand to get him on the branch. Once Brutus was up there, Enobaria started climbing. Brutus leaned down and grabbed Peeta's hand and hoisted him up onto the same branch.

"Come on!" Johanna called down to her. Brutus went next, and Peeta went last. Johanna went as high as she could and instructed all of them where to sit…and wait. She had been around trees her whole life. She could give Katniss a run for her money in the woods.

Sure enough, the Capitol hovercrafts were landing. The ground flooded with Peacekeepers. Surveying the wreckage and coming into the tree line to look for any survivors.

They stayed as quiet as they could. For nearly an hour they stayed in that tree. Not risking even whispering. He wondered if they were even breathing.

They could see a Peacekeeper right below them. Brutus slightly moved, and the bandage that had been around his arm, suddenly fell. They gasped as they watched it float down, and land on a Peacekeepers foot. His heart stopped beating as Peeta waited for the Peacekeeper announce that he found them, and start shooting at them. Capture them.

He saw the Peacekeeper look up. It was hard to see through the branches, but Peeta definitely saw him look up. Then he watched him move some leaves around, covering bandage, and then walk away. They all looked at each other.

'Rebel', Peeta mouthed. Johanna shrugged.

They had to wait for another 30 minutes before all the Peacekeepers were called back, and for them to leave. They waited for a while longer before they were actually sure everyone was gone.

"We can't stay here. We have to move and put as much distance between this place as we can," Johanna said. So Peeta started the slow journey down the tree. He landed on his feet and saw something on the ground. He picked up what looked like a remote control with a screen on it.

"What is this?" Peeta asked.

"Is that a GPS?" Enobaria asked. Peeta looked up at her.

"A what?" Johanna asked.

"It gives you step by step directions to any location." Enobaria said. Peeta looked at it.

"This is giving us directions to District 13. Someone already programmed in the destination," Peeta said.

"That Peacekeeper left this for us. He definitely is one of the rebels then," Johanna said.

"So, where are we then?" Brutus asked. Peeta played around with it a little.

"We only made it over District 9. We're in between 9 and 3. So we have to go north until the tip of 3, and it looks like we have to follow the top curve of 3, and then we have to go south between 3 and 6. Then it looks like 6 curves around at the bottom, and then we can walk straight into 13," Peeta said.

"That's going to take forever," Enobaria said.

"Well, we don't have any other choice. We can't just walk through the Districts. We need to go now," Johanna said, and they started walking.

They had been walking for nearly 6 hours before they found a small pond. They drank from it eagerly and rested. "We gotta catch something that we can eat," Peeta said.

"We'll go. We're quieter. You guys get stuff to make a fire. We need to get something cooked before it gets dark out," Johanna said, and her and Enobaria left. Peeta and Brutus went right to work on gathering sticks and leaves, and then Peeta worked on getting the fire started. The girls came back shortly after with four squirrels. One for each other them.

"How do you skin this crap?" Brutus asked. Johanna huffed and grabbed it from him and did it for him. They sat in silence as they ate their squirrel. Peeta thought about how Katniss would shoot them right in the eye, never missing a shot. And never damaging the meat. That's all the girls did when they stabbed the squirrel.

"Give it here. I know how," Peeta said. Brutus handed the knife and the squirrel over to him. He cut the meat of it easily, and the girls passed theirs over to him.

"How does a towny kid know how to skin a squirrel?" Brutus joked. Apparently, Brutus is aware how poor District 12 is, but that the families in town are better off than everyone else.

"Katniss goes hunting in the woods, and she always sold squirrels to my dad since we were kids. Or she trades for them. He taught me how to skin them and cut it to get the most meat off the bone. We ate them a lot growing up. Her dad actually used to trade them with my dad before he passed away," Peeta said.

"How did he die? I've never even heard her talk about him," Johanna asked as she started frying up her squirrel. He remembered her dad. He was always so nice to Peeta. Of course, when he hit his head, he actually talked to her dad. But that wasn't a story he had ever told anyone. Not even Katniss.

"She doesn't like to. She's never really talked to me about her dad. But he died in a mining accident. They were in a dangerous spot…but Snow didn't care," he said as he pulled the last of the skin away from the squirrel and then started cutting his up.

"Shocker," Johanna said sarcastically.

When they were done eating, they put the fire out and went a little into the woods to try and sleep.

"I'll take the first watch," Brutus said.

"Don't stay awake too long. We should all take a turn. We'll have to cover as much ground tomorrow as we can. We have to put as much distance away from the hovercraft as fast as we can. We'll need our energy," Peeta said. Brutus nodded. Johanna laid down, and Peeta and Enobaria laid down on either side of her.

Johanna and Enobaria were asleep within minutes. But Peeta couldn't settle his mind down. All he kept thinking about was Katniss. What did she do when she found out that his hovercraft went down? Was she ok? Who was taking care of her?

"Are you actually going to sleep? Or are you gonna lay there and pretend to sleep?" Brutus asked. Peeta sat up and scrubbed his face.

"You may as well try to get some sleep. I'm too wired," Peeta said, and traded places with him.

He sat up against the tree for maybe 2 hours before he felt his eyes drooping. He woke Brutus back up to trade spots. Johanna had woken up for a second and then curled up to Peeta. He pulled her against him for the warmth. It was chilly out here.

They drank as much as they could that day. They were able to follow the stream for a good seven hours until it dried up. They drank everything they could until they were stuffed, not knowing the next time they would be able to drink water again.

It had been a long day of walking. And when Peeta looked at the GPS, it didn't even look like they moved. He was afraid to think about how long this would take.

They would take turns keeping watch at night while the other three bundled together to keep warm. The four of them soon found a rhythm though. The person keeping watch wasn't just watching for enemies. They were the person to wake one of them up when they started having a nightmare.

All four of them had nightmares. And they had all taken turns waking each other up.

One-night Peeta was having a particular gruesome dream. He was back in the Capitol, and Snow was torturing him. Hanging him by his wrists while being whipped. And then throwing hot salt water at his body, burning his skin even more.

Then it switched to him still in the Capitol and he was tied up on a bed. Naked. His arms and legs spread. Snow put some drugs into his mouth and made him swallow. It was something to keep him hard. Then Snow let women, and even men buy him. They would get on top of him. Taking his virginity.

"Don't touch me," Peeta said as he sat up, panting. He was sweating. He zipped his wet suit down and got his arms out and took his under shirt off.

"You ok?" Brutus asked. Peeta shook his head. "What was that one about?" he asked. Peeta's hands were shaking as he rubbed his face. Wiping the sweat away.

"You'll just laugh and think I'm crazy and tell me to brush it off and forget about it," he groaned into his hands.

"Victors don't laugh at other Victors nightmares," Brutus said. Peeta took his hands away and stared at him.

"Victors don't think other Victors nightmares are crazy. And Victors don't tell other Victors to brush it off," Brutus said. Peeta was shocked. This tough man. Brutal and intimidating, said something so profound. Peeta didn't think Brutus even cared. Brutus was tough…and scary!

Peeta gulped. "He had people from the Capitol all over me," Peeta said. Brutus nodded.

"You're lucky Snow didn't have time to sell you. I can only imagine how much fun he was going to have with you and Katniss," Brutus said and rolled his eyes.

"Did he…you to?" Peeta tried to ask. Brutus nodded his head. "Why would you volunteer to go in a second time?" he asked Brutus.

"I didn't do it willingly. Neither did Enobaria. Snow made us volunteer. Cashmere and Gloss to," Brutus said. What?

"Why would he make you do that?" Peeta asked. Brutus looked right at him.

"He wanted us to kill her," Brutus answered. Peeta gulped. "Both of you actually. Whichever one we could get to first. He wanted the both of you gone. And he wanted four of the deadliest Careers to take care of it for him. And he told us why we were going back into the arena. Because of her," Brutus answered.

Did he still feel that way? He couldn't still feel like that. He's had a week to kill Peeta, and he never has. Or is he just trying to get to 13 to kill them?

"So, you didn't want to go into the arena?" Peeta asked. Brutus looked back at him.

"Careers stupidly volunteer. They don't know what hit them until they win. You don't volunteer a second time unless your whole family is threatened. Then you volunteer, and kill whoever Snow wants you to," Brutus said. He looked straight forward.

"I'm sure he's already killed them all by now," Brutus said with no emotion.

"If that's what you're worried about, I can tell you right now. The rebels got all of the Victors friends and family out of their Districts," Peeta said. Brutus snapped his head back. "Your family was a part of that list. Right when the arena went down, your family was extracted from 2, and went to 13," Peeta said.

It was the first time he ever saw Brutus let down his guard. He cared about his family. There was no intimidation there.

"All of my family? Are you sure? Snow will go after-"Brutus clammed his mouth shut. He looked away and started ringing his hands together.

"You have someone back home that you love," He already knew the answer to that. Peeta figured it was a Finnick and Annie situation. But was she another Victor?

"I have two sons and a daughter. All under the age of 5. And I've never been allowed to hold any of them," Brutus admitted.

"Does Haymitch know?" Peeta asked. Brutus stared at him like he was crazy.

"What does that matter?"

"Tell me. Does Haymitch know about her? About them?" Peeta asked. Brutus nodded his head, and Peeta smiled.

"Then Haymitch got them out. They're in District 13," Peeta told him. Brutus stared at him for a moment, but then looked back in front of him.

After a couple of weeks of doing nothing but walking, Peeta got excited.

"We've made it to the top of District 3," Peeta said. This gave him some hope.

"Great," Enobaria said and laid down on the grass. "Now we get to walk down District 3, just as we walked up District 3," Enobaria complained. Johanna laid down as well.

"I'm about to wear a hole through my boots. These weren't meant to last forever," Johanna said.

"Give me the knife. I'm gonna find something to kill," Brutus said, taking Enobaria's knife.

"I'll start a fire," Enobaria said. Peeta just looked at Johanna.

"I thought everyone would at least be happy that we've made some progress," Peeta said. Johanna leaned up on her elbows.

"We're happy on the inside. But for the past 16 days, all we've done is walk. And now we're walking some more. We're not even halfway there yet. We don't express happiness like you do," Johanna said and collapsed back onto the ground.

The others watched Peeta play with the GPS. Brutus groaned. "Doesn't he ever stop," he groaned more.

"Lover boy has a purpose," Enobaria mocked. Brutus and Johanna chuckled.

"He's like a damn drill sergeant," Johanna complained. But she watched as Peeta hunched over the GPS. Studying it. She figured it was what was keeping Peeta sane. Looking at the GPS, and figuring out how much further he was from Katniss. He studied their progress every day.

"He just needs to get back to her. He has a purpose. And it's what keeps him going," Johanna said and looked at the other two. "We don't have a purpose waiting for us in 13,"

"Does she realize how lucky she is to have a guy love her that much?" Enobaria asked. Johanna looked back at Peeta.

"Yes. She just doesn't know how to deal with it," Johanna told them.

That night it was another chilly night. Brutus was sleeping up against a tree, and Enobaria was leaning up against him for body heat while keeping watch. Peeta had his back up against a log while Johanna was right up against him. Her face buried in his neck.

"What do you think they're all doing right now?" Johanna whispered.

"Probably sleeping in a nice warm bed," Peeta said. Johanna chuckled.

"Some days I don't think we're gonna make it out here…do you really think we can?" she asked. Peeta pulled her closer, feeling her shiver.

"Yes. If we just keep moving. It's all we can do. Just keep walking every day. We've already made it really far," Peeta said.

And walk they did. They had always walked in the woods, protected by lots of trees. But one day, they ran into a problem. The trees stopped.

"We can't walk out in the open," Enobaria said.

"How far does it go?" Johanna asked.

Peeta had been playing with this GPS a lot and learned basically how smart it actually was.

"From the amount that we've been walking every day. We'd be out the open for about two days," Peeta told them. They groaned.

"Is there a way to walk around?" Brutus asked. Peeta played around again. Peeta delivered the bad news.

"It would take about 9 days," Peeta said. They all groaned again. Johanna just fell on the ground, covering her face.

"We can't be out in the open for two whole days. What if the Capitol flies right over us?" Enobaria snaps.

"We haven't seen any hovercrafts. We haven't even seen another living person since we left," Peeta told her.

"That doesn't mean we won't," Brutus said. God, what were they going to do? He needed the faster route back to Katniss. He had to let her know that he was ok. Johanna stood up suddenly.

"I am not walking for an extra 7 days when I don't have to. I'm going straight. Who's going with me?" Johanna asked. They all looked at each other.

"I have to go straight guys. I need to get back to Katniss," Peeta said. Brutus and Enobaria rolled their eyes.

"All of this for the stupid star-crossed lovers. You know that's why we were all in the arena right? Because she couldn't settle down the Districts and make a convincing show that she was in love with you," Enobaria snapped.

"That wasn't the only reason. Yeah, he wanted her dead most of all. But he realized what all the Victors stood for. He wanted all of us eliminated. Why do you think when she blew out the arena the first time, he killed all the remaining living Victors?" Peeta asked. They stood there silently. "Because he saw all the Victors as a threat. Look at what happened with the few remaining Victors that DID live," Peeta said. Enobaria looked at Brutus. He shrugged his shoulders.

"We'd get lost out here without the GPS. We might as well go," Brutus said. They ate a few squirrels, rabbits, and racoons before they left. They didn't know when the next time they'd eat.

They started making the journey across the grass, right out in the open. It was the scariest thing they ever did. Anyone could find them. Anyone could see them. They were more exhausted than usual, because they were walking much faster. They occasionally would jog for about 5 or 10 minutes. Not long, because they didn't want to use up their energy, but just to get to the tree line as fast as they could.

That night, Peeta and Johanna laid there, staring at the moon. He was so worried about Katniss. Was she sleeping? He just knew that she was in another one of her episodes. But he was afraid that since he wasn't there, that she wasn't able to pull herself out of it. Was Snow talking to her again? Was Prim able to give her a bath to wake her up a little? Was District 13 just keeping her in a hospital bed this whole time?

"You ok?" Johanna whispered, breaking him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat.

"Not really," he tells her. She doesn't say anything, just waited for him to speak. "I just can't stop worrying about her. No one but me has been able to pull her out of an episode- "

"That's not true. I slapped her and got her out of it," Johanna interrupted. This was true. Johanna did slap her before her interview with Caesar.

"Well, I don't think anyone is willing to slap her," Peeta told her. Johanna snorted and then chuckled.

"Such a shame. It was fun to slap her. They don't know what they're missing out on," she told him. Peeta chuckled and rolled his eyes. After a moment, he became serious again.

"Her episodes are much worse now. And they were bad that day…" he trailed off. Johanna looked at him.

"Finnick told me you know. How this happened. Katniss killed herself, and she saw her dad," Johanna said. Peeta couldn't even hear the words without wanting to cry. She died in his arms. Blood pouring out of her body as he just sobbed on top of her dead body.

He dug his fingers into his eyeballs to keep from crying.

"Aside from you slapping her that one time, I'm the only one that's gotten through to her. I just need to get to District 13 as fast as I can to pull her out of this. I just need to make sure she's ok," Peeta said. He could feel Johanna staring at him. He turned his head to look at her.

"How do you do that?" Johanna asked. He shook his head.

"Do what?" he asked. He didn't understand what he just did.

"You're literally running for your life. We've been walking for three weeks, not knowing if the Capitol is gonna catch us and torture us again. And you're just worried about her. You're not even thinking of yourself. How do you do that?" she asked him.

"It's not something I really think about. I just…it's just me," Peeta said. She looked back up at the sky.

"I had a Peeta of my own once. Not as obnoxiously romantic as you," Johanna said with no emotion in her voice. "I had a whole family once. Mom, dad. Brothers and sisters. My oldest brother and sister were each married. My brother had 3 kids, and my sister had 2. She was pregnant with her third. I had grandparents. Aunts and uncles. Cousins. When I came home from the Hunger Games, I had them. They helped with my nightmares," Johanna said.

Peeta was shocked that she was talking about her family. She never did. He was blessed. His family had died in the bombing, but now they were back. They were alive. And they were in 13. But Johanna's family never would be back.

"Then I went on my Victory Tour. I was in the Capitol, staying at Snow's mansion. And one of the Peacekeepers woke me up and brought me to Snow's office," she said bitterly. Peeta wanted to hug her, but he wouldn't dare touch her right now. He wouldn't say a word. He didn't even want to breathe.

"And he gave me that choice. I go upstairs and sleep with the man who bought me, or I would pay…and I was stupid enough to think he wouldn't do it. But when I got home…they were all dead. Including the boy who loved me, and asked me to marry him," Johanna said. Peeta never knew she had been engaged.

"What was his name?" Peeta asked.

"Maddox. I'd known him since we were little…but he died because I refused to let anyone use my body. I kept my body from the Capitol, and my family was taken from me," she said. He watched as her face stopped the emotions.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. She shrugged her shoulders. "But the Victors from your District. They took care of you right?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"I didn't want them to be my family though. They couldn't replace my family…but then I realized, they already did. And I've replaced family members to the others," Johanna said.

They walked the next whole day, still on edge that there was nothing in sight to protect them, and they slept out in the middle of nowhere again. After a few hours of walking the third day, they came to another tree line. And there was a pond that they could drink up at.

After a week of walking south, they started to turn south-east. They came dangerously close to District 6.

"Why did we go this way?" Johanna asked.

"We'd have to go over a mountain practically to get passed 3. We'd never make it," Peeta said.

"I don't like being this close," Brutus said gruffly.

"Oh my God," Johanna said as she looked at his GPS. "Follow me," she said and went running.

"The fence is just a couple of miles away from here," Peeta told her.

"I know. But that building right on the GPS. That's run by rebels. Let's go," Johanna said. They went running as fast as they could for a few miles and then the fence came into view. They stopped as they saw the scene before them. This part of District 6 had been bombed to.

"There's practically nothing left," Peeta said, disappointed.

"There could still be supplies in there," Johanna said.

"Two of us should stay out here, and two of us should go in," Brutus said.

"Me and Peeta will go in. It's run by Rebels," Johanna said. Enobaria stopped her.

"Not if the Capitol has it. We should go in," Enobaria told them.

"Why does it make a difference which of us goes in?" Johanna demanded.

"If the Rebels are in there, they'll help us. They might be able to get ahold of 13 to come get us. If the Capitol's in there, then me and Brutus won't be captured by them. We'll be taken to the Capitol, but at least we won't be treated like criminals. I was kept in a cage like you two were while they tortured you, but they didn't touch me. And they won't hurt us if they take us in," Enobaria said.

"How do we know we can even trust you?" Johanna said. Enobaria glared at her. It was true. They were Careers. The Capitol loved them. Snow wouldn't ever hurt them.

"Because I remember what it was like to have a taste of freedom. I want it back, and I know how we're going to get it. So, I'm not going to fuck it up for us," she sneered back at Johanna. Peeta looked at Brutus. He wanted to see his kids.

"Let them go Johanna. We'll wait out here," Peeta said. Johanna's eyes flared at him, but Peeta shook his head.

"Fine. But we're keeping the GPS. And if you're not back in ten minutes, we're leaving you here," Johanna said.

"Fine. Let's go," Enobaria said to Brutus. They snuck under the fence and started running towards the half standing building and disappeared inside.

"I don't trust them," Johanna said. Peeta gulped.

"Wouldn't they have given us up when we were hiding in that tree though?" Peeta asked. Johanna looked at him. "They wouldn't even have climbed up the tree in the first place. All these nights we've been sleeping right next to them. They haven't tried to run. They haven't tried to steal the GPS. They haven't tried to kill us," Peeta reminded her. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You know your sunny optimism is downright fucking annoying. You know that right?" Johanna demanded. Peeta smiled at her.

"Yeah, I've been told something like that once or twice. Not in those words though," Peeta chuckled.

"Glad to have been the first," Johanna said. She watched the time on the GPS. "I'm not staying here anymore. it's been 11 minutes," Johanna said.

"Calm down. Just give them a little bit longer," Peeta told her. Another 10 minutes went by, and he started to get worried.

"We need to leave Peeta. We can't stay here. I won't get captured again," Johanna said. Peeta looked at her. He could see the fear in his eyes, and he was sure his eyes mirrored hers. He looked back at the building.

"Alright. Let's go," Peeta said. He gave one last look just in time to see them running out. They weren't running too hard, more of a jog. And they were smiling.

They each had a backpack on, and they were holding backpacks. And both were holding weapons. They threw everything under the chain link fence, and then scooted under it.

"Is anyone in there?" Peeta asked.

"They're all dead," Brutus said.

"Then why the hell are you two smiling?" Johanna demanded as she picked up a backpack.

"Because we got everything we needed. Let's get away from here before we start opening those backpacks up," Enobaria said. They went running for about an hour. Stopping to walk and then running again. They finally sat down and started going through the huge backpacks.

"Is this a sleeping bag?" Johanna asked.

"It's compressed. I only grabbed one. Three of us can sleep in it at one time," Enobaria said.

"Jackets," Peeta said, pulling them out.

"Oh my God there's those dried-up crappy meals in here. I never thought I'd be so happy to see these," Johanna said.

"Canteens," Brutus said and put them in the middle of their group. Enobaria pulled something out of her bag and handed it to Johanna.

"Don't say I never gave you anything," Enobaria said. It was an ax. Johanna took it, stunned. Hers from the arena was breaking.

"You actually brought me an ax?" Johanna asked suspiciously. Enobaria rolled her eyes.

"I already fucking told you. Killing you doesn't help me get my freedom," Enobaria said as she pulled out flashlights. Peeta pulled out sunglasses. The kind you use at night. They pulled out more packaged food, first aid kits. Socks and stuff to wrap their feet in. They had terrible blisters on their feet.

"Now we can still walk at nighttime," Johanna said.

"And we each have a gun," Brutus said.

"Let's split it all between our packs so we all have something," Peeta said. They agreed and divvied it all up.

They were able to walk longer, thanks to the night vision sunglasses and the flashlights. They didn't walk for long, but a few extra hours at night would make a difference.

The jackets helped at nighttime when it got chilly, and the sleeping bag was the best part. It was a tight fit if Brutus was in the sleeping bag. But none of them complained.

One night the sun was just going down and they had set a fire to cook the rabbit they killed. Brutus and Enobaria were already sleeping, while Peeta and Johanna were keeping their hands warm before they put the fire out.

"What were her episodes like?" Johanna asked suddenly. Peeta let out a deep breath.

"Usually, it started with her not sleeping. She tried to hide it. Fake that she was sleeping so we wouldn't catch on. But she'd start blanking out. She'd start getting delirious. She grabbed a knife a couple of times…she would hear Snow talking to her," he said quietly. Johanna just stared at him.

"He was talking to her?" Johanna asked. Peeta nodded. He hated thinking about her episodes. What if she was hearing Snow talking to her now? No one could get through to her. What if they sedated her, and she was stuck in that nightmare? Could someone die from being so scared in their nightmares?

He felt his shoulders being shaken and looked up at Johanna. She was staring at him.

"Don't you blank out on me now to," Johanna said. Peeta scrubbed his face.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so worried about her. My mind is playing tricks on me. Thinking about all these worst-case scenarios. I just want to get there already. I just need to be there," he said, burying his face in his hands. Johanna went and grabbed the GPS.

"Ok how do you work this damn thing?" she asked, putting it in his lap. Peeta took his hands away and picked it up.

"What do you want it to do?" he asked her, wiping his eyes again.

"I want you to tell me where we're at. How much longer?" she asked. He nodded his head and played around and then showed her.

"We started down here and we went north between District 9 and 3. Once we got to the top of three, we started coming south between District 3 and 6. Then we started southeast, and we curved around the bottom of 6 and now were going northeast…" he trailed off.

"What? What's wrong? Please do not fucking tell me we're going the wrong way," Johanna said, panicked. But he shook his head.

"I've been so distracted since we got our backpacks. I wasn't as worried about food and water. My mind was stuck on Katniss…" he trailed off again and looked up at Johanna. "We crossed the border and we're in District 13," Peeta said. Johanna's eyes widened.

"How the hell do you miss something like that?" she asked and smacked his head, making him laugh.

"I'm sorry,"

"How long until we get to them?" Johanna asked. He played around some more.

"Maybe a week? They're pretty far up in the District. Unless they find us first," Peeta said.

They had a week. They finally saw an end. They started walking faster. They'd take a few hours off to sleep and get right back up again. They hadn't seen water in at least a week, and their canteens and water bottles had emptied 3 days ago. They were dying of thirst, and all feeling terrible. Peeta had to lay down at one point just because his head hurt so bad. He was dizzy and he was starting to see black spots.

"There's a stream," he heard Johanna say.

"Are you sure it's not just your imagination?" Enobaria said.

"No. It's really there. Come on," she said. Enobaria was closest to Peeta, so she helped him up. They all got into the stream and let the cold water cool their heat-soaked body. They all just laid there. Their faces leaning down to drink water, and then just resting their heads.

Peeta didn't know how long they all laid there, but by the time he came to, the sun had moved right above them. He started sitting up and looking around.

"Johanna?" Peeta asked.

"Hmmm?" she mumbled.

"Wasn't there a stream right by one of the doors to go outside?" Peeta asked. Johanna picked her head up and looked at them, and then turned around.

"Yes," she said. Enobaria picked her head up to look as well.

"Is this the stream?" he asked. They both looked around.

"Get Brutus and let's go," Johanna said, getting unsteadily to her feet. Peeta and Enobaria struggled to get up and struggled to help Brutus up. Their backpacks and the GPS forgotten. They just started stumbling, following the stream.

"Do you hear a beeping?" Johanna asked, rubbing her ear.

"Where is that coming from?" Peeta asked.

"GET ON THE GROUND!" someone yelled.

"Gladly," Johanna said and collapsed.

"HANDS ON THE GROUND!" someone else yelled. They couldn't even tell who it was. There was just a bright light being shined on their faces.

"Get that fucking light out of my eyes. I'm getting down," Brutus complained at them. Enobaria went fast to the ground. Peeta kept his hands up as he went down.

"Don't shoot. I'm Peeta Mellark from District 12!" Peeta said. There was silence. "We're all Victors. Johanna Mason, Enobaria Rampart and Brutus Brickwood. Our hovercraft crashed and we've been walking here ever since," Peeta said.

"Somebody get them off the damn ground!" another voice said. He knew that voice. It was Boggs. He heard footsteps running to them all, helping them up.

"They aren't walking," another voice said, meaning Johanna and Enobaria.

"Just get me some morphling and knock me the fuck out," Johanna said.

"I second that," Enobaria said.

"I'll get this one. Welcome back Mrs. Mason," Boggs said as he lifted her up.

"Hello, my bald-headed friend," Johanna said. Boggs laughed and handed her to someone and turned around to Peeta and bent down.

"You ok Peeta?" Boggs asked. Peeta nodded as they helped him stand up.

"Never been better," he said. Brutus was being helped as he walked in, but Peeta shook his head.

"I can make it," he said. Two guards walked with him as they walked inside. He was going to see Katniss. All he could think about was her. He needed to get to her. He already knew she was in the middle of an episode. He knew her well enough to know that she wasn't ok, not knowing if he was dead, alive, or captured.

"You sure you don't need any help?" the guy next to him asked. He looked familiar, but he couldn't think.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just exhausted," Peeta said.

"JOHANNA!" it was Finnick. He smiled. He was really here. He could hear Finnick's voice. He was close now. He just needed to get to Katniss.

He turned a corner and looked around a bit. He stopped when he saw Haymitch and Finnick and smiled. He was here! He started walking towards them, but he was walking so slow. Haymitch got to him first and hugged him tightly.

He knew that Haymitch finally was relieved. He knew how much regret Haymitch had about Peeta getting tortured by the Capitol. This was gonna be the only way for Haymitch to start to heal and forgive himself.

It felt good to be with Haymitch again.

"I'm ok. I'm just hungry and tired," Peeta told him. He pulled back and Finnick hugged him. Haymitch stared at him. He was looking for something in his eyes. Whatever it was, Haymitch found it and smiled.

"It's so good to see you. We thought…" Finnick trialed off and pulled back. Peeta smiled softly. He swayed for a moment, but Haymitch put his hand on his shoulder to steady him.

"I know. But I'm ok. I just want to see Katniss. All I could think about was her. And I just know she's not ok. It made me sick. I just know she's having an episode. So please, just take me to her," Peeta said sleepily. Haymitch and Finnick looked at each other.

"It's pointless to try and convince him to go get checked out. Now until he sees her," Haymitch said. Finnick nodded and they walked with him down to the infirmary.

Peeta knew they were keeping a close eye on him. He tried to walk fast, but there was no way it was going to happen. He felt like he was going to fall asleep. He felt Haymitch and Finnick hold onto him a few times to steady him. He would wait a minute and then keep going.

When they got outside her room they stopped and looked at him.

"She's not ok. But you already knew that" Haymitch said. Peeta nodded his head. He did know that. He expected nothing less. He expected to find her right here. In the hospital. Laying on the bed, either sleeping or staring at the ceiling.

He walked into her room and saw her. He was back with her. It was really her. He felt tears well up in his eyes. Almost two months of doing nothing but walking. Just to get to her.

He went over and sat on her bed. Her bed was up so she was slightly sitting up. He took her hand and kissed it, and then brushed her hair. Oh God, she was beautiful.

"Katniss. Wake up sweetheart," Peeta whispered. He barely even got the words out. Katniss started waking up, but she wouldn't open her eyes.

"Peeta," she whispered. He smiled. Her voice. He missed her voice.

He cupped her cheek. He missed touching her. He missed holding her.

"I'm right here. I made it to 13. Just open your eyes Katniss," Peeta said. Slowly Katniss opened her eyes and looked at him. He could see her eyes. She could see him! He smiled.

"I've missed you so much," Peeta whispered. He wanted to hold her and kiss her and never let her go. She was waking up from being stuck in her head.

She looked at him and looked at his clothes. He probably looked horrible. He knew the others did, so he was sure he looked just like them.

"Peeta?" she asked. He smiled and nodded his head. He was back with her. He missed her so much. He loved her. A weight was lifted off his shoulders. She was gonna be ok now.

"Yeah. I'm sorry that I scared you. I tried to get back as soon as I could. But we were so far away. But I'm here now. We made it," Peeta said. She stared at him for a minute, and then all hell broke loose. She screamed and hit him to get away him away from her. He stumbled back, not knowing what had happened. He was too weak to fight back.

But then she attacked her own face. Scraping her nails down her face and yanking on her hair.

"Katniss stop it!" Finnick said as he grabbed her hands. She had actually pulled some of her own hair out.

"NOOOO IT'S NOT HIM!" She screamed. It wasn't him? She didn't believe that he was here. And she attacked him, and then her own body. This was worse than he imagined. How was he going to save her from that?

The doctors heard her screaming and shoved everyone aside to sedate her, and to restrain her hands. Haymitch went over and grabbed Peeta.

"It's ok Peeta. She's just confused. You'll be able to help her," Haymitch said. Could he help her back from that? How was he supposed to help her back from that.

He didn't know. But all he saw was darkness after that.

He didn't know how long it was before he woke up, but when he opened his eyes, he was staring at the wall in District 13. His bed was raised so he was sitting up, and he looked around and saw that Haymitch was sleeping in a chair next to him. In the corner he could see Ryee sleeping up against the wall. Portia was curled up on the couch, and then his dad was sleeping in another chair.

He heard the door open and turned as Effie walked in. Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth. She looked at everyone sleeping and tip toed in. She sat on his bed facing him and then hugged him.

"It's so good to see you Peeta. Are you ok?" she asked and felt his head.

"Can I have some water?" he whispered. She nodded her head and grabbed the pitcher and poured him water and helped him drink some. He breathed a sigh of relief and laid his head back. Closing his eyes, a taking a moment.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Three days," Effie said. He opened his eyes and stared at her. "You needed it," she told him. He nodded his head.

"How's Katniss?" he asked. Effie cleared her throat and looked around, avoiding his question. Before he could ask, he heard Ryee bang his head against the wall.

"OW!" Ryee groaned. It made everyone start moving around. Haymitch shook his head and saw Peeta awake.

"Hey," Haymitch said and got up and sat on his bed.

"You're awake," his dad said and got up and walked over. Effie moved for him at the same time Wheet came in.

"Yeah. I'm ok. I'm just tired. How's Katniss?" Peeta asked.

"You just woke up from walking for over a month, and you're- "Ryee couldn't finish the sentence. Wheet covered his mouth.

"Don't finish whatever you were going to say. Keep it to yourself," Breeoshe said. He looked back at Peeta. "We were so worried about you," his dad smiled. Peeta smiled and grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"I know. But I'm ok," he said and looked around. "I'm really ok. So can we not worry about me?" Peeta asked. He looked over and smiled at Portia. She was alive. He looked back over at Haymitch.

"Is she ok?" Peeta asked him. Haymitch let out a deep breath.

"She scratched up her face nicely. They look better. She ripped a small chunk of hair out of her head. You can't see it though," Haymitch told him. Peeta could read between the lines.

"But she's not any better," Peeta said. It wasn't a question. He already knew. He looked at his I.V. and went to pull it out, but everyone stopped him. "I'm not staying in this bed. You can wheel this thing in with me then. But I need to go see her," Peeta told them. They all looked at each other.

"Alright just stop, and tell me what's going on now," Peeta told them. They all looked at Haymitch.

"The doctors don't want you going back in right away. You might upset her," Haymitch said. Peeta just stared at him.

"And are you really going to stop me?" Peeta asked.

"No. I laughed at him and told him to fuck off. He's a moron if he thinks you'll stay out of her room," Haymitch chuckled, looking around the room. They all smiled and chuckled.

"Then why are you stopping me?" Peeta demanded.

"Because you actually need to take care of yourself right now. You're not going to do her any good like this. You get up now, then in a little while you're going to pass out. So, just stay in bed. She's been taken off her sedation, but she hasn't woken up yet. So, you're not missing anything. If you want to do something for her, then take care of yourself at this moment," Haymitch told him.

It's not like he could fight it. He could barely move his body. His eyelids were heavy, and he was fading fast again. And within a few minutes, he was asleep again.

"And that idiot thought he was gonna go to her room? He wouldn't even have made it to the door," Ryee said. Everyone looked at him. Effie nodded and pursed her lips.

"Great…Peeta gave us another Haymitch. Juuust great," Effie said.

Peeta had been waking up on and off for the next two days. Until he finally did wake up. He was able to finally sit up. Finnick was the only one sleeping in his room this time. It was nice to know that someone was always with him.

He quietly got out of bed and went into the bathroom, taking his I.V. with him. He looked in the mirror at himself. God, he looked terrible. His face was so hallowed and pale. He lifted his hospital shirt and noticed he could see a little bit of his ribs. He splashed some water on his face. That felt wonderful.

When he came out, Finnick was sitting up. "Hey. You freaked me out for a minute there," Finnick said. Peeta chuckled and sat back down on his bed.

"Sorry,"

"You look a little better. Do you feel better?" Finnick asked. Peeta nodded his head.

"Yeah, tons. How's everyone else?" Peeta asked.

"Enobaria woke up yesterday. Brutus woke up this morning. Johanna's still asleep," Finnick said.

"And Katniss?" he asked. Finnick let out a deep breath.

"She woke up. But she just goes back to sleep. Or just lays there," Finnick said and put his head down. Peeta nodded and started taking his I.V. out. Finnick let out a deep sigh. "Can't you just keep that in?" Finnick asked.

"No," Peeta said simply. Finnick shook his head and went over and opened the door and looked out down the hallway. Was he really going to call a doctor or a nurse to keep him here? Finnick nodded and looked down the other end of the hall.

"If anyone asks, I left and you were still here," Finnick said, holding the door open for him. Peeta smiled and walked into the hallway. Finnick pointed down the hall, and Peeta saw Cinna. They both walked towards him, and Cinna patted him on the shoulder.

"Good to see you awake," Cinna said.

"Thanks. Which room is she in?" Peeta asked. Cinna looked down the hall and saw Librae sitting on a bench.

Librae was the Victor from District 4 that would randomly go back and start talking like he was still in the Hunger Games.

He saw Librae smile and nod. Peeta watched as he got up and started jumping and clapping his hands and making a fool of himself. He was laughing at the nurses.

"Whoo hooo. Come and get me. You can't catch me!" Librae said, as a few nurses ran after him. Finnick laughed.

"I love that man,"

"Go on," Cinna said. Cinna and Finnick followed him.

"He loves playing the crazy person. You know, he's not as crazy as people think he is," Finnick said. They got to Katniss' room, and he slowly pushed the door open. She was lying flat down on the bed with her hands restrained. But her hands were retrained by her head. She couldn't even stretch her arms out.

"Fancy seeing you here," Haymitch said as he got up from his seat to let Peeta sit down.

"Peeta," Prim said and went over and hugged him.

"Hey Prim," Peeta said. She pulled back and smiled.

"It's so good to see you. We've been so worried about you," Prim said. He smiled at her.

"Thank you. It's good to see you. It's good to see all of you," he said and looked down at Katniss. He cringed when he saw her face with scratches on it. He pushed some hair back from her face.

"She woke up a few hours ago. She just looked around and then closed her eyes. I don't think she went to sleep at first. But I think she's asleep now," Prim said. He leaned his elbow on the bed and held her hand awkwardly.

"It's ok. I'll wait," Peeta said. They all looked at each other. The door opened and Librae walked in.

"Yeah, they're looking for me now. I'm gonna have to sleep here over night again," Librae chuckled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Finnick laughed.

"We'll sneak you out. You can stay in our compartment tonight," Finnick laughed.

"Did you run around and sing a song?" Haymitch asked.

"I'm a little teapot," Librae said, his shoulder shaking. Peeta turned around and looked at the three of them.

"I…you're really…" Peeta trailed off.

"I'm not as crazy as the Capitol likes to paint me. I do slip in and out of my time in the Games. But that's all I do. But the Capitol liked to make me into this absolute lunatic. And District 13 has no idea. So, we're using it to our advantage. Like distracting them and sneaking you into her room," Librae laughed.

"If we're gonna sneak Librae out we better go now," Cinna said. They nodded, and Finnick, Cinna and Librae left. Prim excused herself so she could get back to work. It was just him and Haymitch. Peeta looked back at Katniss.

"How bad was she?" Peeta asked. Haymitch sat on the other side of Katniss. Peeta looked up at him.

"Not as bad as I thought she was going to be. I got the doctors to release her from here. Her staying in the hospital would just make her worse. So, we got our own compartment. Me, her and Finnick," Haymitch said. Peeta raised his eyebrow.

"The two of us took responsibility of her. She only wanted to see us, her mom and Prim," Haymitch told him. Peeta's mouth dropped a little. She wouldn't see anyone else?

"Why? She's been waiting to see Rue. What about Cinna? Or Gale?" Peeta asked. Haymitch just shook her head.

"She was present though. She just only wanted to lay or sit in bed. But she'd eat her food. She'd answer us. When Plutarch came by, she did say tell that bitch to go fuck herself," Haymitch chuckled. Peeta stared at him, and Haymitch just nodded his head and laughed again.

"Yeah. Finnick and I appreciated her cursing," Haymitch joked. They sat there for a few minutes in silence.

"Finnick finally convinced her to go to the cafeteria. And when we got there…" Haymitch trailed off and Peeta stared at him. "You were on tv. Being interviewed by Caesar," Haymitch said.

"From the Games," Peeta said, nodding his head.

"No," Peeta looked back at him. "Snow's people made a fake interview. Like the images he showed you. It's a video like that," Haymitch said. Peeta's eyes widened, and he sat back.

"Oh my God," Peeta said. Now he knew where she was at. "She thinks the Capitol has me," Peeta said and buried his face in his hands.

"God, how am I supposed to get her out of this. She thinks I'm in the Capitol. That's why she screamed that it wasn't me," Peeta groaned. What was he gonna do? What was he gonna do? He looked up at her and stared at her for a while.

"She's really not sedated anymore?" Peeta asked Haymitch. He shook his head.

"They said it would take a few days to wear off," Haymitch told him. Peeta nodded his head. He looked back down at her.

"Well, these are going away," Peeta said. He reached across her body and took her hand out of the restraint and laid it against her body. He pulled the other one out of the restraint and held it to his lips and kissed it. He held this hand between both of his, rubbing it reassuringly.

It was about an hour later when they realized that Peeta wasn't in his room, and a doctor came in.

"Mr. Mellark. We've been looking everywhere for you. I'm going to have to ask you to come back to your room- "

"I'm not going," Peeta said without even glancing at the man.

"I understand that you want to stay with her. But you need to get your rest and we have to treat you- "

"I'm not going," Peeta said again.

"Mr. Mellark, we need her to be calm when she wakes up. We need to put her restraints back on. I can't have you in this room again when she wakes- "

"Did you hear me?" he asked as he spun around. "I'm not going anywhere. If you have to treat me, you can come in here. If you need to treat Katniss, then I'm staying here. I haven't seen her in almost two months. I'm not leaving her," Peeta said and turned back to Katniss. He just stared at her as he held her hand to his face. She'd wake up. And when she did, Peeta was going to be the first thing that she saw.

Peeta sat there while Haymitch and Finnick had it out with two doctors. Peeta didn't even turn around to watch or add anything to it. They fought about Peeta staying in the room. He was still being treated, and she was to mentally disoriented to be ok when she woke up. And she needed her restraints back on.

He just let them argue. It was a joke really. They weren't going to win. Who could win against a Victor? District 13 never understood Victors. Everything for us was about winning. It's about fighting. When you get thrown into an arena, and have to kill 23 other people, win first place to save your life, then it twists something in your brain. Fighting, winning and surviving never leaves you. So, staying here with Katniss was a fight they all needed to win.

If you weren't a Victor…you'd never understand it. Well actually, he needed to correct himself. Anyone in the Districts who were related to Victors, close friends, or even just knew them from around, they understood there was a difference when Victors came home. There didn't need to be any explanation…

To District 13, there was explanation of why Victors did the things that they did. But it didn't matter. He wasn't leaving her. They were separated in the arena once, and he was tortured in the Capitol. They were never truly reunited. They were separated this time leaving the arena, and Katniss thinks he's still in the Capitol. He needed to be here with her, and he wasn't leaving her.

The argument lasted a while in the doorway. They said they needed to check on Peeta because was also a patient, but they wouldn't let the doctors in. Prim literally went in between the two and came over to check up on Peeta. Checked his vitals, took some blood. She left and brought him some lunch. Bringing him a pitcher of water, explaining how he needed to drink this in a certain amount of time. She even hooked his I.V. back up to him.

Then she checked on Katniss, did everything she needed to. Haymitch and Finnick turned and looked at her at one point and just smiled.

"You do realize that she did all the necessary checkups for both of them right? And the boy didn't even have to leave the room," Haymitch said. Prim smiled awkwardly and left. "Tell me again why he needs to go back to his own room?" Haymitch asked.

Peeta and Haymitch sat with her. She opened her eyes, and he jumped with excitement.

"Katniss it's me. It's Peeta. I'm right here sweetheart," Peeta said and smiled at her. She stared at him for a few minutes. He tried talking to her and getting her to realize what was going on. But she turned her head and closed her eyes again.

After almost 48 hours of this, Peeta had enough. "What do they have her on? This sedative should have been out of her system by now and she should have been able to wake up. She wakes up here and there and then goes right back to sleep. She doesn't hear anything. This isn't normal," Peeta told Haymitch. He was pissed!

"Prim said the sedative is out of her system…but it's whatever meds they have her on," Haymitch said.

"I need you to go get the doctor and bring him down here," Peeta said. Haymitch nodded and left. But Haymitch didn't go straight to the doctor. He knew this wasn't going to go well. So, he went and got lots of reinforcements.

So, by the time he did bring the doctor down to Katniss' room, he had a huge group of people waiting outside of her door. He eyed them all warily. Haymitch opened the door and Peeta stood up and walked into the hallway, and little surprised to see everyone there.

"Mr. Abernathy says you wanted to speak with me about medication that Mrs. Everdeen is taking," Dr. Smolts said.

"Yes, I do. She needs to stop being given meds. They keep her in a fog when she wakes up, and she can't focus. She can't see or hear anything. She's stuck sleeping the entire time. She won't get better if she's on these meds, so you can't give anything to her anymore," Peeta said. Dr. Smolts just stood there and scratched his lip. Peeta had a vague memory of this man. Johanna hated this guy…Haymitch hated this guy.

"Well, I appreciate your opinion. You haven't studied medicine as I have. You aren't a professional. So, I will take this up with my fellow doc- "

"I know Katniss!" Peeta interrupted him. Everyone eyed him, shocked by his outburst. "I know what is going on in her head right now. And she can't function on whatever medication you're giving her. I know her better than you do," Peeta said.

"Dr. Smolts. Katniss has been in episodes like this before and has never had this difficult of a time pulling herself out of it," Emily said.

"Katniss is having a weird reaction to these meds. They're making her sleep all day," Prim said.

"Well, I appreciate- "he tried saying again, but Peeta interrupted.

"I'm not wrong!" Peeta told him sternly. "I know Katniss. I need you to not give her anything else, and let these drugs get out of her system," Peeta told him. Dr. Smolts crossed his arms.

"Well, you can ask that all you want. But what medications I prescribe for Katniss is not your decision to make," he said. Haymitch cringed. He knew what was coming now.

"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T!" Peeta yelled. No one had ever heard him yell. "It is MY decision to make. Katniss is my responsibility. I'm the one who makes the decisions for her right now. I'm the one that takes care of her. And I'm the one ordering you to not give her anymore medication or I will stand in front of her, and you'll have to go through me to get it to her," Peeta said.

"And me," Haymitch said, leaning his shoulder against the wall.

"Oh yeah! Me to," Finnick said.

"I'm all for that," Cinna said. Gale stepped closer to the doctor. The doctor looked all around at their friends and family. They were all going to stand in front of Katniss, just because Peeta said so.

"I'll just take this up with Madam Coin," Dr. Smolts said and started walking away.

"You do that. And tell her I said hi," Peeta called down to him.

"Ooohh I like this Peeta. I can get on board with this Peeta," Johanna said, still hooked up to her I.V. She stumbled for a second, when Gale reached over and held her, rolling his eyes.

"Why are you even out of bed?" Gale demanded. Finnick laughed and took her other arm.

"I couldn't leave her out of a good fight. Even hooked up to all this stuff, she'd still kick that doctor's ass. She hates him," Finnick laughed.

"And did that asshole just forget that Katniss has a mother that is legally in charge of her?" Johanna demanded. They looked at Emily who looked down at her hands.

"They took any rights Emily had to her daughter, away from her. Emily's been trying like hell, but they've taken her rights away from her own kid," Haymitch said bitterly. Gale wrapped his arm around her.

"Well in my eyes, and everyone else's, you still have them. Don't let them take anything like that away from you," Peeta said and went back into the room and held Katniss hand, until Alma Coin showed her face. Haymitch, Finnick, Cinna, Johanna and Gale followed her in, sitting on the other side of the bed. Those five people were going to be the five strongest people to fight with him against Katniss getting medication.

"Hi Peeta," Coin said as she walked in and shook his head. "I'm Alma Coin. It's very nice to finally meet you," she said. Peeta smiled. Charming as ever. She pulled a seat over to sit next to Peeta, facing him.

"You as well," he said and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry for what you've been through this past year. And I admire your bravery," she said sincerely. He wondered when she had changed. When power became so important to her. She sounded so genuine at first.

"Thank you," he said, offering nothing else. She came here, she can initiate the conversation. He had a feeling that she was waiting on him. He couldn't give her that. She cleared her throat and leaned on her elbows.

"Dr. Smolts has briefed me on the conversation. I'd like for you to tell me why you want me to take Katniss off her medication," Coin said. Peeta took a deep breath.

"This isn't the first time Katniss has had an episode this. And it won't be the last one. It's only been this bad once. But every episode she's ever had, I've always gotten through to her," he told her, letting it sink in. "It's always been me. I'm the one that can reach her, no matter how far she's gone. I'm the one that can pull her back to reality," he paused, letting her think about his words.

Johanna made a face and hit Finnick, making the four men look at her.

I have to, she mouthed.

"Once I start getting through to her, Prim gives her a bath, and it helps start getting that fogginess out of her. And then I put her to bed, and she sleeps for a really long time," he tells her. She sits back as she listens intently.

"When I'm with her, I can help take care of her after a nightmare, or I can just make them go away. And then, when she finally wakes up, she's more herself. She's there. She's present. She's really exhausted, and it takes her a little bit to physically come back, but she's there," Peeta told her. He looked to the other three, as did Coin. Haymitch and Finnick nodding their heads.

"It's true. I've seen it every time," Haymitch said.

"And her nightmares have been terrible since she got here. There was nothing I could do to soothe her," Finnick said. Peeta glances quickly at Gale, who had his head down. He put himself in Gale's shoes. He would hate to see Katniss like this, knowing that Katniss didn't want him. Only wanted Gale…and that killed Peeta to think like that.

"These medications keep her from waking up. They put her back to sleep. She can't pull herself out from it. These medications are holding her back," Peeta told her.

"Peeta, I understand that you want to help her. I completely understand. But right now, she's unable to help herself. I trust my doctors advice on how best to treat her. I think maybe if you got out of here for a little while. Stretched your legs and took a deep breath. We've wasted so much valuable time since you broke out of the arena. Your role is so important to the Rebellion. Plutarch has a million ideas and wants to get you right in front of the camera to let Panem know that your alive- "

"Are you seriously having this conversation with me?" Peeta interrupted. Coin stared at him. "With all due respect, my only job right now is to take care of Katniss. Me getting up in front of the camera will mean nothing when they see me without her. I'm not the face of the Rebellion. She is. I'm not the Mockingjay. She is. And if we want to win this war, then she needs to be taken care of so she CAN be the Mockingjay. Until then, there's nothing that I can do to help you," Peeta told her, never breaking eye contact.

They sat there for maybe a minute, before Coin gave in.

"Ok. You have my permission," Coin says. Peeta nods. He wouldn't thank her though. She stood up and Peeta noticed that the doctor had heard the entire thing. He was standing in the doorway.

"Move her to a room with a bathtub," Coin said as she left. Dr. Smolts looked back at them. Peeta looked back to Katniss and smiled.

"You know what the moral to this story is right?" Finnick asked.

"Never fuck with a Victor," Johanna told the doctor.

"Because you'll lose, every damn time," Haymitch said.

"Victors don't know how to lose. They only know how to take down their opponent to win," Johanna told him. All three of them smug. The doctor left the room, and they all stood there, proud. Johanna walked over to Peeta and kissed the top of his head.

"Oh yeah. Now this boy's acting like a Victor," Johanna said, making Peeta chuckle. She put her hand over her heart and pretended to get emotional.

"I'm gonna cry. I am a proud momma bear," Johanna said, making them all laugh. Haymitch patted Peeta on the back.

"I'm proud of you," Haymitch said.

"Is she trying to keep Katniss incapacitated?" Peeta asked them.

"She didn't want to rescue Katniss last time. She only wanted you," Gale said. That made Peeta sick. Was she the one that ordered the doctors to keep her like this?

About an hour later, Katniss was set up in a different room. They changed her I.V. that was only giving her fluids.

It took another two days for everything to start leaving her system. She would stay awake longer, but still couldn't focus. On the 4th day is when Peeta started getting worried. He stared at her from the chair, leaning his elbows on his knees and just shaking his legs.

"You ok?" Haymitch asked when he came in with lunch for Peeta. He shook his head.

"I'm so worried about her. She just stares into nothing," they sat there in silence for a while.

"Is this it?" Peeta whispered. Haymitch looked at him. Peeta had tears flowing down his cheeks.

"Did she just get pushed too hard? Was this just the last straw for her?" Peeta asked Haymitch and looked at him, pleading with Haymitch to do something. It was Peeta's greatest fear that Katniss would check out mentally, for good. That she was just another victim of the Hunger Games. That she'd live the rest of her life, laying in a bed.

"What do we do Haymitch?" Peeta cried.

Haymitch didn't want Peeta to ask him that. He didn't know. Haymitch never knew what to do. He never pulled Katniss out of one of her episodes.

Peeta gave Haymitch an out though when Peeta dropped his gaze and dug his fingers into his eyes.

"I don't know. It's not like we can just go ask her father," Haymitch said. Peeta took his hands away from his eyes, and then looked at Haymitch. "What?" he asked. Peeta gulped.

"I saw her father," he whispered. Haymitch shook his head.

"What are you talking about? When you were a kid?"

"Remember the first time she had an episode when we got home? She tried to run away, and she pushed me and I hit my head and it knocked me out," Peeta asked. Haymitch nodded his head.

"I saw her dad. In the woods. He spoke to me," Peeta said. Haymitch shook his head and rubbed his forehead roughly.

"Ok. So. What did Mr. Everdeen say to you?"

"Katniss is sick. We all know that. She can't sleep, and she's depressed. Haymitch was right about that Post Traumatic Stress. She has it and is told she can't get any help until it's all over. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's going to get better. These episodes aren't going to stop. She's still going to have these moments. Even when everything is all over, she's going to need you most, because that's when she's going to need to deal with every single thing, she's been through. And the only way she's ever going to make it through, is with you. Because you'll be standing by her the whole time,"

Peeta relayed the statement word for word to Haymitch. "Well, we already knew that. So, none of that was surprising. Anything else useful that will mean that she's gonna get out of this one?" Haymitch asked him. Peeta cleared his throat.

"He said a lot of different things. To take the doubts out of my head because she does love me….and that we were going to be a family one day. We'd get married," Peeta said and looked back at Katniss.

"Then why are you asking me if this is it? When you clearly know it isn't," Haymitch told him. Peeta sucked in his lips. Why? Because Katniss was staring up at the ceiling, and not living.

"Ok. I get it. So how about this, if you can't be your usual optimistic Peeta…then I'll hold onto that faith and hope for you for a little while," Haymitch said. Peeta spun his head to stare at him.

"You'll get your happy ending. I promise. I just need you to have faith and hope, not only for yourself, but hold onto it for Katniss' for a while, till she can have hope for herself. Just keep that faith for the both of you. And love her through all of it,"

He remembered Katniss' father saying the same thing to him. To have faith and hope. The irony didn't get passed Peeta, that Katniss' father said that to him, and then Haymitch, who is just like their father, said the same exact thing. Peeta nodded his head at Haymitch.

"Thank you," he whispered. After Haymitch left, Peeta decided to talk to her. He would talk about anything he could think of. He made her bed sit up during the day but would let it rest back at night.

He started running out of things to talk about…so he started talking about something, that he was afraid to think about.

"One day…I imagine us holding our little baby in our arms," he whispered. It was something that he didn't dare ever mention to her. Wouldn't it be funny if this was the moment that she started listening. He'd even take her waking up just to yell at him for saying this. "I want a little girl with dark hair and gray eyes. I want to see her climbing trees and using a little bow and arrow to shoot a squirrel," he chuckled.

"I want her to stand on a stool over the counter, and me behind her, helping her knead dough. I want to hear her sing, just as beautiful as her mother does," he whispered.

"I just want us to have a future together. A wonderful future filled with so much love. A life full of happy memories. I want you to look back on our life and be happy you ended up with me," he whispered, running his finger down her cheek. Her eyes moved to his from the sudden touch on her face. He smiled.

"Alright. You're gonna laugh. But I have another song for you. It's something that I wrote in my head once the hovercraft crashed and one of the Rebels left a GPS for us. Sometimes I couldn't sleep, and I needed a distraction. Even sometimes just walking I needed a distraction. So, I wrote this in my head, and have a tune in my head. So don't laugh because I've never even voiced it out loud," he told her.

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
Well, there's so much they hold

And just like them old stars I see that you've come so far To be right where you are How old is your soul?

Well, I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

Cause even the stars, they burn Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences, they do a lot to teach us how to use the tools and gifts
We got yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend, at least we did intend
For us to work, we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn, how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I got, and what I'm not
And who I am

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
I'm still looking up

Well, I won't give up on us
God knows I'm tough enough
We got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it (And we're worth it)

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

Katniss had been looking at him the whole time. But when the song ended, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Katniss?" Peeta asked. He moved her to sit up, and he got up from his chair and sat on the bed and squeezed her hand.

"Katniss can you hear me? It's Peeta," he told her. Her eyes were starting to come through the fog. He laughed.

"Baby just wake up. It's me. I'm right here. I'm ok," he said and held her hand to his heart. Her eyes were moving, looking at his face.

"Peeta?" she whispered. He let out a happy sob and leaned down and hugged her, kissing her ear.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm right here. Katniss," he said. After a moment he pulled back. Some color was coming back to her face.

"Welcome back sweetheart," he said, wiping his face. She looked around.

"Where am I?" she whispered.

"We're in District 13. We made it Katniss. No more faking. We can be ourselves now. We can be together. Everyone made it. We're all alive," he told her. He leaned down and kissed her.

"It's so good to see your eyes," he said. He was relieved. He looked around a minute. "Just one second. I'll be back in two seconds," he said. He ran into the bathroom and turned the water on, testing the water and filling it up. He waited till it was filled and then stopped. He ran back to her bed.

"Katniss come with me. I'm gonna help you take a bath. Come on sweetheart," he told her as he gently helped her sit up and turn her legs to put them on the floor. He helped her stand up and walk into the bathroom.

He slipped her pants and underwear off, without exposing her to his eyes. The hospital shirt was longer. He maneuvered both of her arms out of her sleeves, so they were under the shirt. He grabbed a towel and strategically put the towel under her shirt and placed it over her chest, so when he took her shirt off completely, she wasn't exposing her breasts. He put her hands there to hold it and turned her around to the bathtub.

"Here just put one foot in," he said and helped her get in and sit down. She brought her knees up to her chest, with the towel still covering her chest. He sat down on the side of the tub next to her. "There. That's better. You'll start to feel better once you've had a bath," he said.

Gone were the days of wondering if she would hate Peeta for seeing her like this. There were still parts of her body that he didn't see, but it was easy to move around that. He didn't need Prim to give her a bath anymore. Those days were behind them. He would give her a bath from now on. He would take care of her.

He grabbed the cup that was there and brought water up to pour over her head. He did this a few times until he started to wash her hair. He watched as she would lean into his hands and close her eyes. He scratched her head and heard her let out a soft sigh.

"Does this feel better?" he asked her. She nodded slightly.

"Good," he said. He could breathe his own sigh of relief. She was coming out of her episode. He was so scared that she would never come back. He had so much he wanted to tell her. He just wanted to celebrate with her that they made it back from the arena, together. And he wasn't hijacked. He wanted to share in that celebration with her. Only with her.

He spent some time washing her hair, and then rinsing all the soap out. She would feel so much better in the morning when she woke up, clean and not so foggy.

He took a washcloth and started on her face. He just couldn't stop touching her. He washed her shoulders and kneaded them a little, making her softly groaned. He smiled and kissed the side of her head, and then started washing her back.

"Do you ever think this will stop happening to me?" she asked suddenly. He stopped and they looked at each other. He took her hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

"I would love to tell you that this would be the last time. But I can't say that…I think you will have more…but I always have faith that you'll learn how to cope with them, that they do stop," he told her.

"I've missed you," she whispered. He nodded his head.

"I've missed you to. More than you'll ever know. Every step I took…all I could think was that every step I took, was just one step closer to you," he told her, clearing his throat.

"I don't want to ever lose you again," she whispered to him, but then he shook his head.

"You won't Katniss. We won't ever lose each other again. It's you and me," he told her, resting his forehead to hers. He went back to washing her, and then helped her stand back up. He held a big towel out and she was able to drop the towel in front of her breasts and let him wrap the big one around her. He helped her out of the tub and rubbed warmth into her arms and back.

He moved the towel around so she could hold onto it, while he went down to her legs and started drying her off, and then tried to dry her hair. He helped pull up some underwear and leggings while never pulling the towel up. Then he was able to pull the hospital gown over her head and over the towel, and then pulled it down so he could pull the rest of the top down.

Peeta looked at her and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him. He took a deep breath and buried his face in her neck. He was home. He was home. He was with Katniss again, and he was home.

He brought her to her bed, and he helped her lay down, and got into the bed with her, pulling her to his chest. He hugged her tightly.

"I've missed you so much Katniss. I love you so much. These past few years have been so hard. And the only silver lining is that I get to go home with you," he whispered to her. Katniss started crying, and he felt her squeeze him tightly.

"I missed you…I thought I'd lost you forever," she cried.

"Not a chance. I'm always gonna be here,"

And it was the first peaceful night sleep that he had since they had come back in District 12, to get a second chance.