"Come on Katniss, you have to talk to her."

"No, Gale, I don't. Everyone keeps saying she is trying to rescue Peeta. Well then where is he? It's been nearly a month! I don't even know if he's alive at this point!"

"Exactly. We don't know if he's alive. So we don't want to send in all of our resources without knowing for sure if it's a waste of time."

"Gale," Prim said sharply and he huffed.

"I just mean… look, Katniss, why should President Coin do anything for you, when you refuse to even talk to her? Everyone has been telling her about this incredible girl who can lead the rebellion and she sees you and you're screaming for your husband and crying and you're…"

"I'm what, Gale?"

"You're weak," he said heavily. Prim's eyes flashed and Rory jumped to his feet.

"Prim, maybe we should take a walk."

"You don't talk to my sister that way, Gale Hawthorne!"

"I'm just trying to be honest, Prim. She's the leader of this rebellion, like your father was. She needs to start acting like it."

"And why should she start doing things for people who don't follow through with their promises? You all said you would come up with a way to get Peeta out of the Capitol. All she wants is her husband, Gale! That's not a crime."

"I never said it was. And if I had the power, I would go get him Catnip. I would take a hovercraft to the Capitol and bust him out of there. But I don't run this district. President Coin does. So please. Try to make nice with her and just talk to her. Hear what she has to say. You need to start working together, to rescue Peeta and to launch this rebellion." Katniss sighed and uncrossed her arms.

"I'll meet with her Gale. Only to ask her face to face why she hasn't rescued Peeta yet. If she wants to discuss this rebellion, she needs to bring my husband back." Gale ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"I don't know what's happened to you, Katniss. You've never been the type to fall all over some guy."

"Gale!"

"Tell me I'm wrong, Prim! Loving him has made her weak!"

"I'm about to slap your brother across this room," she said through gritted teeth, leaning across Rory. The younger Hawthorne cast his brother an anxious look.

"Look, maybe we should let Katniss get some rest. What's your schedule say, Gale?"

"It's dinner time soon anyway. Vick is bringing Posy?"

"Last I checked, yeah."

"Ok. I need to speak to Colonel Boggs, then I'll meet you downstairs for dinner." He nodded to his brother and Prim and yanked the door open.

"Katniss, please think about what I've said. What we have all been saying. The best way to get Peeta back is to start cooperating. If President Coin thinks that you're unreliable and that she can't work with you, things will not be good. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I said I would talk to her, Gale," she said through gritted teeth. With a sigh, Gale left and Rory shrugged miserably.

"Since Mom died, no one has been able to get through to him. He's become so close with the soldiers here that you would think he was born in 13."

"Gale has always had that soldier inside him," Katniss muttered, thinking of all the times he would rant about the Capitol and about politics while they were trying to hunt. She wondered why Coin hadn't just made him the Mockingjay and just forget about her. Rory was right; Gale had become quite close with Coin and Colonel Boggs and the rest of the soldiers. Katniss heard Rory and Prim talking when they thought she was asleep. Coin was adamant that they needed more districts on their side before they tried to stand up to the Capitol. She was impatient to announce the launch of the rebellion and start broadcasting Katniss all over Panem to get their message out.

Prim leaned over and kissed her sister's forehead.

"I'll be back after dinner. Mom said she would be down to help you with physical therapy. We need to get you walking more." Katniss nodded and sat up in the bed. She had been trying to walk around the room so not to lose the use of her legs but getting all of the medication out of her system was harder than they thought. Violet insisted on using physical therapy to get Katniss strong again but she was clearly pretty weak, and she wasn't used to being cooped up inside all day. Katniss had been less than pleased to hear that no one really went outside in 13. The district survived underground, since the Capitol had bombed the surface to rubble. Katniss wanted to ask if she could just get some fresh air but she was pretty sure asking for anything right now would be futile. She knew she had to buck up and face the woman. She dreaded it but she knew it was the only way she would get her husband back.

Katniss pushed the blankets back and set her feet on the cold concrete floor. Her mother would be furious if she saw that her daughter had taken off the warm socks she had brought. Katniss actually relished the shock that came from touching the cold floor. The pain helped her focus, kept her present. She gingerly took a step toward the door and nearly fell backwards. Deciding she had better wait for her mother, she sat back down and let her feet dangle off the bed. She reached for Peeta's shirt, stuffed under her pillow, and brought it to her nose. His bags had been stored in her room along with hers, and she was grateful they hadn't been left in the Capitol. Even though he had, she thought bitterly. She pulled the gold pin out from under her pillow and flipped it over in her palm. It was her father's mockingjay pin, that Prim had brought from Peeta's house. He'd said she would need it, her sister had told her. She stared at the gold bird glinting in her hand and she sighed.

"Why so glum, little songbird?" She looked up into her father's smiling face and sighed.

"Cora Reynolds and Jacey Mcdaniels were making fun of me this morning. They said I wear the same dress every day and said I was starting to smell. The other kids were laughing at me." She plucked at her little red dress and pouted.

"Hm, let me see." Her father buried his nose in her hair and sniffed loudly. He playfully nuzzled her with his nose all the way down to her face and she giggled, trying to bat him away.

"Nope, you still smell as sweet as ever!" He tugged at one of her braids and she laughed.

"But why can't I have a new dress? Cora's daddy brings her a new dress every week."

"Cora's daddy works in Merchant Square and has a lot more money than we do." She pouted again and he moved her braid behind her ear.

"But do you know what?"

"What?"

"We have something that they don't have. Something much better than a new dress."

"We do? What is it?" Her father pulled out a gold pin from his pocket and held it out toward her.

"What's that?"

"That's a mockingjay. It has a pretty song, like you and me. We have our song, Katkin. People would pay a lot to have a voice like you do. I'll bet Cora and Jacey are both jealous of your voice."

"No they're not," she pulled her knees to her chest. "There's nothing special about me." He smiled and released a low whistle. The birds around him started to echo the tune and he winked at his daughter.

"They want you to sing, Katkin." She looked dubious but opened her mouth and the sweetest melody flowed out. The birds fell silent until she was finished, then started to whistle the tune she had been singing. Her father wrapped his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"Just remember, my songbird, when you're sad about something, your song can chase those sad thoughts away."

Katniss opened her eyes and blinked around the room. She held her father's pin in one hand, her husband's shirt in the other. Both men lost to her, both men who held pieces of her heart. Her fingers closed around the pin and she took a deep breath. Glancing to the side, she grabbed the device that Gale had given to her. Her thumb pressed the button on the side and she raised it to her mouth.

"This is Katniss Everdeen Mellark. I'm ready to talk."


Peeta blinked up from the floor as his cell doors rattled. His head throbbed and his body ached. He squeezed his eyes shut against the hallucinations that had been invading his mind for days. His skin itched but his hands were chained behind his back that kept him from scratching. If he could, he would have sank his nails so deep into his flesh until the poison flowed out with his blood. He still heard buzzing in his ears and he shook his head frantically. He'd been sure all of the damned mutts had gotten out. He tried to blink, to focus on something, anything, but his vision was blurred and he could only let out garbled wails. His veins were on fire, and he wondered if it was possible to actually replace blood with something else. Like fire, perhaps. It was the Capitol, he reasoned. He imagined anything was possible.

No, he thought with a grimace, if anything was possible, his back wouldn't be burning right now. Reminding him of how close to death he had come. Of how close he was again.

After Snow and Antonius had left him, a Capitol doctor came in to see him. It was obvious immediately, however, that the Capitol doctor wasn't as skilled as Duarty's friend had been. He had confessed he wasn't sure how to close the wounds and Peeta had told him about the medicine the doctor had given him. It seemed there wasn't anything like that around here; the doctor had certainly never heard of it. So the doctor had bandaged Peeta's back and given him some capsules to help the blood clot. That night, however, Peeta had passed out from blood loss and found himself face down on a steel table the next morning.

Peeta wondered, with all of the alterations the Capitolites did to themselves, how they couldn't figure out how to heal his wounds. But his injuries were serious, the doctors whispered, and they were worried he would die from losing too much blood. In the end, they decided to use old fashioned stitches, giving him only a little morphling for the pain. At least Mrs. Everdeen had given him sleep syrup and enough morphling to keep him knocked out, he thought grumpily. It was agony, feeling the needles pierce his raw flesh. Since there were so many lacerations, the doctors worked in numbers, moving across his back and pulling the skin closed. Peeta decided they weren't trying to help him at all but actually trying to kill him. He would take another lashing over this.

After the doctors had finished, they'd told Peeta to lie completely still and not move unless absolutely necessary. They fed him some kind of thick liquid that tasted like what he imagined smelly socks would taste like, which he sucked through a straw. He was not allowed to leave the infirmary for three days. No one came to visit him in that time.

Three days later, the doctors escorted him back to his cell. He waited for another day, desperate for some real food. He wanted to do some exercises but he was afraid of pulling the stitches out. So he remained motionless, cross legged on the floor.

Finally, Snow visited him again.

He had gripped the bars and grinned at how defeated Peeta looked.

"You're not looking so good, General Mellark. Have you come to a decision?"

"Katniss would never turn her back on her people and side with you. And you could never make me harm her. So do your worst. You are no president of mine." Snow's eyes had flashed and he'd let out a whistle.

"I so hoped you would come to your senses, Mellark. It seems that you need a little reminder of what tracker jacker venom feels like." Fear had flashed in Peeta's eyes but he'd lifted his chin defiantly.

"Guards. We are ready to escort Mellark to the laboratory. Open his cell."

"Sir, Doctor Vestus has been trying to reach you. There is no tracker jacker venom left for the experiment, sir." Snow had turned toward the attendant with fury in his eyes.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You have ordered thirteen prisoners to be injected this week, sir. Your efforts have exhausted the Minister's supply." Peeta had closed his eyes in silent thanks and lowered his head. Snow had stormed off, screaming for the doctor and for Antonius. Peeta had been saved.

Or so he'd thought.


He wasn't sure how much time had passed but Snow had returned to his cell with two guards. They'd quickly chained Peeta's hands behind his back and held tightly to his shoulders as they lead him down the hall, to yet another cell. This one had no bars but four transparent walls. Peeta had frowned as he was pushed inside and he'd cast Snow a suspicious look.

"Do you know where tracker jackers come from, Mellark?" Peeta's brow had furrowed.

"Yes sir. A muttation created by the Capitol game-makers. They were used before the Dark Days as landmines and after the Dark Days, the hives were destroyed except for the ones in the districts. They were there to keep us in line. To assert your power over us."

"Quite right. You know your history. And do you know how many stings it takes to make the victim hallucinate?" Peeta was getting more nervous by the second.

"Most people can't tolerate more than a few stings. Most die at once. If the victim lives, the hallucinations brought on by the venom have actually drawn people to madness."

"So how many do you think you can survive, Mellark?" He had jerked his head and a sliding door in Peeta's cell had opened. He'd heard angry buzzing before he'd seen them. A swarm of terrifying wasps- no, worse, tracker jackers, had flown into his cell and he had backed up against the wall.

"Please," he'd whispered. "Don't do this. These things will kill me."

"Perhaps. Perhaps they will just alter your memories. I suppose we shall see." Peeta had watched the mutts fly around his cell with wide eyes. He knew the mutts were coded to attack anyone who destroyed their nest and fortunately for him, he hadn't done that. But he was also the only person the mutts could detect. He'd imagined it wouldn't take them too long before they attacked.

And he'd been right. The first sting had made him cry out. He had lost track of how many had stung him but he'd fallen to his knees and his head fell forward.

"Please help me," he'd said weakly.

"President Snow, I must insist that we withdraw the muttations. He has already succumbed to the poison. Too much will make his heart stop."

"He has developed an extraordinary resistance to the venom. It was reported that great amounts of it was injected during his initial training. It's going to take a lot with this one. I want that girl erased from his mind."

"With all due respect, sir, an actual sting is more powerful than injected venom. The venom has been diluted before injection, and in this case, the venom is much stronger coming from the actual source. He will die, sir."

"Take him back to his cell." Smoke had filled the cell and the tracker-jackers were subdued. The door had opened and hands gripped his arms. They'd dragged him back to his cell and he'd landed on his side, unable to move.

He didn't remember much about the first time he had been poisoned but he was fairly certain it had not been this excruciating. The stings on his hands, arms, and face had grown to be the size of an orange, and Peeta was alarmed to see them smoking. He was also positive the mutts had gotten into his eyes, nose, and mouth. He felt stings in his throat and he tried to swallow, moaning in pain. He shook his head, images flying through his mind. Katniss, with a knife protruding from her chest. Katniss, mauled by a wild animal. His family, bursting into flame. Katniss weeping over Primrose's mangled body. Primrose weeping over Katniss's mangled body. Katniss. Katniss. Katniss.

Peeta squeezed his eyes shut, willing the nightmares to leave but they refused. He tried to conjure up her voice but it wouldn't come. He saw her standing over him, laughing.

Serves you right. You're a monster. A mutt. I could never love you.

"Katniss," he whimpered, his body trembling violently.

"I will never love you." He shook his head and tried to sit up. He was in too much pain. He was sure this was the end. And he welcomed it. He lay back on the floor and curled up on his side, willing for the end to hurry along so he would be rid of this pain.


He blinked as he heard the cell door open and he vaguely registered soft hands on his face. His eyes fluttered open to find grey ones inches from his.

"Ka…" he started to speak but couldn't remember the name. It was on the tip of his tongue. Those grey eyes though… so familiar.

"Oh Peeta, you're alive," a sweet voice whimpered. He heard a key against a lock and felt something around his arms click.

"Let's get you cleaned up." She helped him lean against her, and she took his hand into her own. He tried to focus on her face but his head throbbed too much.

"This will sting for just a moment." She set to work on removing the barbed stingers and Peeta smelled something foul coming from the wounds. The young woman dabbed some kind of ointment on the stings, then wrapped his hands with gauze. He kept his eyes open long enough to take her all in. Grey eyes and dark hair that she reached up with a slender hand to tuck behind her ear.

"Who are you?" Her lip trembled.

"Oh Peeta, please don't tell me you've forgotten me." He shook his head, feeling guilty at the pain in her voice.

"I'm sorry-"

"I'm your wife, Peeta."


I'm sorry it's so short but I'm writing more as we speak! Hopefully will have a nice long one for yall next week! :) XOXO