The wind whips her braid back and forth as she waits at the train station. She'd decided to come to District 4, like she had promised Annie she would. Peeta had made the trip once a few months ago, when little Nick had just been born, and had come home gushing about the ocean being beautiful and the baby being adorable. Suffice it to say, she had stayed away from him for close to a week after that, feeling irrationally jealous at his ability to go to other Districts.
"Brainless! Over here!"
She turns to see Johanna straddling a contraption that Peeta had excitedly showed her before. It was apparently from the Dark Days, and had been revived by the Capitol for transportation purposes but was made environmentally-friendly, courtesy of Beetee. She makes her way over, staring at the vehicle warily. "Do I have to get on that thing?" she says as a greeting when she reaches Johanna.
The spiky-haired girl laughs, handing her a black helmet with colorful doodles all over it. "Yes, unless you want to walk. Just make sure you hold onto your bag. And wear the helmet properly. A few people have fallen from this mid-ride, and it was not pretty. I'm pretty sure someone actually died before."
Katniss gapes in horror before backing a few steps away, and Johanna smirks. "Just messing with you. When Beetee and the others worked on these, they made sure it was impossible to die from falling. Don't bother asking me how or why, because I have no idea, and just get on."
She grips her backpack before gingerly getting on behind Johanna, and they are off before she knows it. It's actually not as scary as it seemed, and she smiles at the feel of the wind and the sound of the waves.
They quickly arrive at a large house beside the beach, and she carefully gets off before looking at Johanna questioningly. "Why are you here anyway?"
Johanna looks towards the ocean. "Aurelius thought it might do me some good to spend some time near water, and Annie also needed some help with the little monster."
"Is he? A little monster, I mean," clarifies Katniss when Johanna looks at her oddly.
Johanna guffaws. "Yes and no. He gets his hands on everything, I'm honestly surprised the house isn't covered in paint and drowning in toys. But he's good when Annie gets to him and holds him." Her smile suddenly fades, and she lowers her voice. "Annie's been getting better too, but you should know that there are times she's still kind of gone, and then it's up to us to take care of Nick." She looks Katniss up and down. "How about you? You only told us that Peeta had a new friend and that you needed to get away."
Katniss looks away from Johanna's unexpectedly concerned expression and makes her way up the steps. "Maybe I can tell you and Annie over dinner?" She attempts to give a smile, but her voice cracks when she speaks again. "It's kind of a long story."
"Let me get this straight. Peeta showed up with Sage from 13, or the Capitol, and you left after just a week."
Annie tries to look at Johanna sternly, but has a hard time doing so while feeding Nick. Katniss pokes at her potatoes. "Yes. I think the two of them look good together. She's beautiful and almost as nice as he is, and she's training to be a doctor at the health center, too. They'll be good together."
Johanna pushes her plate away with a clatter. "You came here to run away." Katniss stays quiet, neither confirming nor denying, and Johanna sighs, pulling her plate back towards herself and scooping meat into her mouth. "I guess that means we're supposed to hide you away from Lover Boy. Make sure he doesn't know you're here." Her voice is steady, but Katniss knows that she's actually asking, and just nods in response.
A hand slowly grabs hers and she looks up at Annie, who gives her a comforting smile. "It's going to be fine. Stay here for as long as you need." Nick punctuates his mother's statement with a bright laugh as he bangs on the table cheerfully.
After a quiet dinner, during which the only other significant event was Johanna trying to comfort her by finding ways to insult Peeta - and failing, because Katniss couldn't help but defend him each time anyway, and it's not like he has a lot of flaws that Jo knows about - Annie and Johanna go off to play with Nick in an attempt to tire him out while Katniss washes the dishes. Annie had protested, but Katniss honestly doesn't mind and she had told Annie so in no uncertain terms.
The chore is repetitive and soothing, and she's finally feeling a bit better when she hears the telephone ring. She stiffens at the sound, and Jo comes out of Annie's room and goes over to the phone. She looks at Katniss for a few seconds before nodding to convey that she'll respect Katniss' wishes, then answering the call.
"Hey, Lover Boy." There's a long pause as Johanna listens to the person on the other side of the call, and she leans against the wall for several long minutes while Katniss sits on the couch. "Yeah, no, haven't seen her. But I'm pretty sure she's fine. If something happened to her, all the news outlets would have picked it up. She is the Mockingkay, face of the rebellion, you know." At this, Johanna smirks teasingly at Katniss, who scowls. She hates being called that, and she knows that Johanna knows it too. "You know I can call some people in the other Districts to check if she's around, and they can contact me if they have any news on her. But if she doesn't want to be found, I don't think we'll find her, Peeta. Don't worry too much. She's not the type to get into trouble that she can't get herself out of, too. She did survive the Games, you know." Johanna's voice is calm as she reminds him of this, and it seems to work because just a few moments later, she grins and says goodbye, repeating some platitudes before hanging up.
Katniss sighs in relief, finally leaning back into the couch cushions. The two of them watch each other for a few tense moments before Johanna speaks, looking serious. "Brainless, that boy is worried to death about you. I'll give you a week to get your shit together, or decide on what you want to do next. But either you call him by the end of that week and tell him you're okay, or I will. He needs to know that you're safe, since you left without even saying anything. At this rate, he might have one of his episodes again," Johanna mutters, already starting to turn away, but Katniss is frozen in fear. She forgot about his episodes, and the thought of being the cause of one of them makes her want to scream. She can't believe she was so selfish, running away without even leaving a note, not thinking about him at all.
"J-Jo," she pushes out, voice suddenly hoarse. The woman in question turns curiously, suddenly looking worried when she takes in Katniss' appearance. Katniss shakes her head. "Not me. Can you, uh, call Haymitch? Tell him to tell Peeta as soon as he can that I'm fine." Jo is still standing in the same spot, looking at her, and she blinks away the tears in her eyes. "i just, I don't want him to have another episode. He's getting so much better. Just tell Haymitch not to tell Peeta where I am."
Johanna nods and starts toward the telephone again, this time to call Haymitch, and she silently squeezes Katniss' shoulder in reassurance on the way there.