Song Suggestion: Billie Eilish- "Bury a Friend"

Rachel: To answer your question… no, I won't be doing another Cato/ Prim fic. The next chapter, the final chapter, will be my last in the Hunger Games universe. It's bittersweet, but I'm itching to write different characters in a new universe.

I won't stop writing anytime soon though. I have one Harry Potter fic already out, and I have four more in the planning stages (All various lengths), three featuring Draco/ Hermione and one that is Tom Riddle/ Hermione. I also have several original stories (about four) almost completely mapped out, some with several chapters written. My goal is to be published within the next five years, so hopefully sometime soon you can crack open a physical book of mine.

Thank You: Cat Beats, 3vlee, Rachel, Sariko-chan723, FAN-atic-ionary, Alexxis T. Swan, Figsy, Ihaveacupofnoodles, Sophia, and three guest reviewers.

"He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee." – Friedrich Nietzsche

A New Snow

Prim heard steady beeping when she woke. She cracked her eyes, seeing familiar medical equipment. As her awareness grew, the heartbeat on the screen close to her increased its speed. Cato. Snow. Cassius. Gale. Her mind replayed the events in her head, until the panic overtook her. Prim's body jerked, and she attempted to sit up, but strong hands held her down into the rigid mattress of the hospital bed under her.

"Whoa there, little girl," a gruff voice said. "You'll pop your stitches. They managed to repair your organs, but they're fragile still."

Prim eased back, opening her eyes fully so she could look at Brutus. His giant body perched on a chair. It was a normal sized chair, but it looked doll sized next to him. She drank him in, his multitude of scars pulling his face in odd contortions, resembling wrinkles, deep and thick across his face. His dark hair spilled over his eyes that stared at her reproachfully.

She wished to grab him up in a hug, but he was right. She felt the pain now like little electric bolts across her skin. Every breath and move a tiny agony. Instead, she grabbed the giant's hand holding her shoulder down. He gave no resistance as she brought it to her cheek and sobbed.

"I thought you died."

"You worry too much. I'm like a roach. I could survive a nuclear explosion I'm so hardy. That little shit, Cassius, thought of everything, didn't he?"

His expression turned from amused to serious. The sight gave Prim pause. Brutus serious meant the battle wasn't fully over. Something happened while she was out.

"Tell me," Prim demanded. She trusted Brutus to give her the truth. "Is it Snow? Did he—"

"He's in jail, thanks to you. After you deactivated the system, Lux bulldozed the city." He reached out and ruffled her hair in affection before growing serious again. "The old white rose isn't the problem anymore."

A sick feeling shot through Prim.

"Cato?"

Brutus' eyebrows furrowed.

"No, he's locked up too."

If Cato was in jail, it left only one person.

"Gale."

Brutus nodded.

"Cato was focused too much on you. He barreled into the medical ward, blood everywhere. Said he'd kill everyone in there if they didn't heal you. Stuck his own hand in your chest to stop the bleeding. But he messed up by not watching Gale. The little rat took power while he sat at your hospital bed. The people love him. They practically handed him the keys to the city." He bit his bottom lip for a second. "Lux is smart enough to stay out of the way."

"Gale can't just go around throwing people in cells because he feels like it."

Brutus sat back and crossed his arms on his chest and looked at the door.

"He accused Cato of conspiring against the rebellion, saying he was on Cassius' side all along."

Prim attempted to sit up in her anger, and Brutus once again pushed her down with a grunt.

"That fucking—"

Brutus cupped a hand over her mouth, stopping the curse words bubbling up from her throat.

"The walls have ears. Besides, I already know the truth. Cato was my charge for many years. I know who he is and is not. And Gale can jail whoever he wants. Because no one will contest it, especially for someone they hate like Cato."

Prim wanted to shake Gale violently until he returned to the boy she once knew, the one that was brave and loyal. She wanted to hold up a mirror so he could glance at his soul and wither in shame.

"What's he going to do with him?" Prim's voice warbled when she asked.

"Cato will have a farce of a trial," he said. "The jury will be bought and picked by Hawthorne. And then…." He leveled her with a hard stare. "And then, little girl, Hawthorne will execute him publicly."

Brutus leaned down and brushed a surprising kiss against her forehead as Prim shivered. There was only so much a human brain could take before it shut down. Brutus reached over and pressed a button. It connected to the IV in her arm. It was hooked up to painkillers, meant to pull her back under into sleep. She welcomed the creeping of peace in her veins, an escape from the chaos of reality where best friends can transform into enemies.

"Rest now," he lowered his voice in a whisper. "When you wake, you'll need your wits. But before that, you need to heal."

He reached out and slipped his hand passed her hospital gown and into her bandages, and before she could fight him off in surprise, he placed a pill shaped object within the folds.

"I found it," he said and stood up. "Don't hesitate."

The Next Day

She woke up to emptiness. To the left of her room was a heavy blue curtain on tracks connected to the ceiling. Someone slept on the other side, but she hadn't seen the person yet. She figured rooms were in short supply. Nurses filtered into the room but closed the curtain before she got a good look.

She focused on her body. The Capitol medicine worked wonders. Her stitches already gone. Her insides less sore. She suspected she could sit up and move around, but her body tensed, and she decided she wouldn't try it yet.

Her body felt refreshed; her mind felt punctured and bleeding.

She would have wallowed in her grief all day, but Katla walked in with her auburn hair hacked close to her head. Black marks colored under her eyes, and it looked as if she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in weeks.

"I heard you woke up." Her mouth quirked in a smile. "The great Mockingjay saves us all. Not sure how you managed it. Color me surprised. At this point, you could chop us up and cook us on a grill, and Panem would still pardon you." She gave a mock bow. "Shall I call you highness or queen?"

"Oh god, neither."

"Your highness, it is." She winked and then frowned.

Prim's meant to say something, but her tongue caught in her throat, remembering the way Cassius cradled his brothers' head. The blood dripping from his skull. His body seizing.

Prim found it impossible to ask about him. His injury wasn't her fault, not really, but just like Theodora, his last moments stole whatever peace she held inside.

She didn't have to ask about Hannibal in the end. Katla crossed the room and slid open the curtain, making a screeching sound as it pulled toward the wall. Hannibal rested on a hospital bed next to her. Katla walked over and crawled up on the bed, curling into his side. Hannibal made no motion he knew his beloved sat next to him.

A brain injury was a serious thing, even with capitol medicine. Prim's healer side bubbled to the surface.

"I assume his initial injury is healed."

Katla reached over and turned Hannibal's head to the side so she could see a long scar twisting around his ear.

"The healers told me it's a waiting game to discover the extent of the damage."

"He'll wake up just fine, I'm sure of it."

Prim wanted to beat herself over the head. Why did she promise the stupidest things when she saw her friends in emotional pain? It never turned out good.

"He better," Katla's voice cracked. "You hear me, dumb brute. If you die, I'll make sure to dredge you from the dead somehow." She sucked in a sharp breath. "You made me fall in love with you. And now you have the audacity to die? I don't think so. I—" her voice warbled. "I love you. And we're going to grow old together. Death seems sweet to you injured brain but remember without a body you can't do this." She reached forward and pressed a hard kiss to his unresponsive lips.

She dropped her head and buried it in Hannibal's shoulder.

"Dumb brute," Katla said. "I can't believe I love you. I just can't fucking believe it." She gave a sudden, brief sob.

Then something miraculous happened. Hannibal cracked open his eyes, looked at Prim, grin spreading across his face, and winked. Katla sat up, and Hannibal quickly shut his eye and acted asleep. The girl uncurled from the young lion, brushing the wrinkles out her clothes and dabbed her sleeves at the underside of her eyes.

"Well, anyway," Katla said. "The doctors said you should be mobile today, which is a good thing because there's a lot to attend to." Her voice held dark tones.

Without waiting for a response, Katla stormed out of the room and shut the door with a slam.

Prim waited one whole minute before taking her pillow and chunking it at Hannibal. He caught it mid-air.

"You ass!" She chunked another pillow. This one glanced off his face and hit the floor. "Making Katla believe you're still injured. You—you… I'm not even sure what to call you."

He shrugged.

"Glad to see you too, Mockingjay," He emphasized the title in a playful way. "Katla's been a bit lippy with me lately. Thought she needed a few days or so where she contemplates how much she'd miss me if I died. Did you hear her? Hannibal, I love you. Hannibal, I need you. It's about time she fawns over me a bit." Hannibal leaned back, tucking both hands behind his head, and Prim rolled her eyes. His true nature always resorted to default setting, which resembled a spoiled brat on the best of days. Prim gave up her outrage and gave a little snort. Hannibal smiled at the sound. "Heard you brought down the empire. Katla can't believe it, but I can. You've always had more spine than you've shown."

The compliment filled Prim up. She never had a brother. Hannibal was the closest she got.

"I have a strange desire to hug you," she said.

"I have that effect on people."

"I'm sure it's just the pain meds."

He leaned his head back and laughed out loud. And then his smile abruptly turned into a frown. It looked unnatural on him. "Prim…" he started and then stopped. "He's going to kill him, if you don't do something. Convince him. I don't care what you promise him. I've already lost one brother," his voice cracked. "Don't make me lose Cato too. I don't think I could—"

"Why is it always me? I have nothing more to give."

"Because you're the only one that knows him enough. You're the only one with the qualifications for the job, whether you like it or not."

She hated that he was fucking right.

Prim sighed and leaned back down into her pillow. She had to make a decision, and it couldn't be what she wanted. It had to be what was right for Panem. Whoever she left standing, either Cato or Gale, would assert themselves as leader of Panem.

Her heart broke with her decision, but at the same time the lightning went down her fingers, resembling a dark form of magic. Her heart hardened, and she let in the monster for the final time.

The Next Morning

Gale was there the next time she woke up. Her wore a serious expression; eyebrows furrowed.

"I hoped you'd stay asleep for a few weeks, at least. Capitol medicine is more effective than I expected."

Prim withheld a snarl. Of course, he'd like her to stay out for another two weeks. It would have given him time to execute Cato before Prim could stop him. Before Prim could call him a liar. Gale's eyes glinted with something, and Prim understood she'd have to play the role he wanted, at least for a little while. She was the only one in the entirety of Panem who knew of his intended betrayal. And Prim was suddenly wary of him. Would he kill her if she became a threat?

Prim knew the answer to that question. He washed his bloody hands as easy as Cato did. Gale would do what he thought he had to. It used to attract her, but now Prim understood the darker side to the personality trait.

"Why?" She searched his face for the answers, the betrayal still stinging, even after the shock wore off. Not finding what she sought, she glanced back up to the ceiling.

He sighed and leaned down, rubbing his hand down his hair and face, showing Prim he was just as weary as her. She steeled her heart. It wanted to reach out with empathy. She still wore the monster like a second pair of clothes that was a size to small, cutting into her skin.

"Snow solved my problems. If there had been any other way…" He grimaced.

Prim bit her lip, blinking back tears. Gale reached out and touched her arm, and Prim held back the desire to rip it off. Resistance would do nothing but result in Gale turning his unstable anger on her.

"You don't have to fear me, Prim. I forgive you for shocking me. Things worked out better this way. With Snow and Cato locked up, it makes it easier to set up society the right way."

"What do you mean?"

Gale's face scrunched up into something almost unrecognizable, reminding her of Snow once his façade dropped.

"The Capitol needs to be punished."

"Punished?"

"The new games are set in a month's time. For Capitol children. Snow's grandchildren. It's time they learned what it feels like. I may even keep Snow alive long enough to watch."

Horror spread through Prim at the thought. She couldn't keep it off her face.

"Don't look at me that way," he said. "The districts need justice, and I'm just heeding their cry for vengeance."

Justice? Prim agreed when it came to the true masters of the capitol. But most of the city was filled with innocents. People like Cinna and her stylists. And children… when have children ever deserved the sins of their fathers? Vengeance always took on a round shape, forever rolling forward. It never ended or stopped to allow peace to enter.

Prim looked at Gale with fresh eyes, the veil of childhood stripped away to view the twisted creature he became. Humans were a desperate species, always clawing to the top, pushing others down as they go. Cassius was right. Even the districts could produce another Snow, if given a chance. She saw the rebirth in Gale, capable of a domino of pain lasting for another century of violence.

"You're in danger of becoming the very thing you hate." She reached out and cupped his jaw with her hand. She searched his eyes for a morsel of self-doubt, a morsel of compassion. There was a flicker, but it extinguished. He grabbed her hand and trapped it on the infirmary bed.

"I know what you're trying to do," he said. "I came to tell you as a courtesy, but I see others have beaten me to it. No matter, in the end it's the same." His lips curled down at the corners. "Cato's going to die."

Prim knew it, but hearing it still made her gasp. She wanted to pound at Gale and scream in his face. Instead she held herself still, imagining herself a statue, a woman made of stone, hard enough where nothing could hurt her.

"And me?" Prim spat. "Are you going to kill me too?"

He looked taken aback. He straightened.

"I would never kill you."

"Why not? I electrocuted you. It could have killed you."

He looked away from Prim and at the wall behind her.

"I don't believe you would have killed me." Gale said. "You've shown you have a bite. But I've known you your entire life. You're no killer, not really." He heaved a great sigh. "Your actions aren't you're fault. He's twisted you up. There's a condition where you think you love you abuser. I've studied it. It takes a long time to overcome, but it can happen."

"You think you can heal me?" Prim snarled. Who was he to think he could mend her soul? She was damaged now with sharp parts and broken pieces. She'd have to learn to love her new self again, but Prim did not believe she could return to what she was.

"I'm going to try." He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. "I have to try. I made a promise to Katniss to protect you, and I failed. After the trial, you will be confined to my wing of the compound, Snow's former residence."

"Don't—"

"You'll live there until you've come to your senses." He spoke over her like a child. "And then maybe…. Maybe we could find a new truce. When everything else falls away, you'll realize that it was me who loved you all along."

Prim's whole body trembled.

"And my sons?"

"Of course, they'll stay with us. I'm not a monster, Prim. I'm not doing this to punish you." He stared hard at her. "Though if you act too terrible, maybe I'll take them away as well. At least, until you've learned your lesson. Though I can't keep you a part too long. It wouldn't be healthy for them. Despite how you feel about me, despite who their father is, I plan on raising them as my own."

"And Cato's daughter… Coral? What do you plan to do with her?"

He hesitated.

"Snow's granddaughter—"

"No, my daughter." Prim's growled, finding her strength once again. She was always her strongest for her children.

Gale paused and thought.

"Honestly, I meant to treat her like the capitol children, but I see that she means a lot—"

"She does."

He nods.

"Very well." He straightened, eyes brightening. "I'll spare Cato's child. I'll even raise her as my own alongside the boys, but…" he brought Prim's hand up gently this time. "Promise to marry me, Prim."

Prim tugged her hand away, unable to hide her revulsion. How did she ever love him? Was he always this way?

Gale flinched.

"Obviously not right now." He reached out for her hand but then thought better of it and dropped his own to the white sheet of the bed. "Like I said, you need to heal first. But after… I want a promise it'll be me you'll marry. Me or nobody. It's the only way I feel I can adequately keep the promise I made Katniss."

Prim wished she could snap back. But she didn't. Something about him went mad, and there was no reasoning with madness.

"Okay. For Coral, I'll do as you say." Each syllable was dragged from her lips. "But I'll only agree to the terms on one condition."

"I thought we already stated the condition."

"One more… please."

"What do you want?"

"I have questions I need to ask Cato. And then…" Prim sucked in a breath. "And then I want to kill him myself."

Gale narrowed his eyes, as if trying to see any flaws in the plan, anything he missed. Finally, he nodded once.

"Agreed."

He grabbed her hand to seal the compact, bringing it up to his lips and kissed, giving a smile that rose the hairs on her arm.

He stood up.

"Tonight. We don't need a trial. Not when the Mockingjay did it herself. The public will understand." He turned to walk out but then stopped. "I know you think I'm cruel, but it's for your own good. In time you'll see clearly."

No need for time. She already saw clearly.

Later that Night

The wheelchair came later, pushed by Gale. He had two District 13 soldiers behind him. They did not hold guns, but just by looking at them she knew they'd fight just fine without them.

"I'm going to need to search you for weapons." He rubbed the back of his neck, his expression set in an apology.

"Weapons? I thought you said I wasn't a killer."

He looked at her and narrowed his eyes.

"I said you had bite." He reached out and started patting down the sleeves on her shirt. "We're missing an important one that you used to carry. I took it off you, but it's now gone. Now I don't believe you'd kill me, but you're acting like a cornered animal. Even the tamest pet could attack if scared."

Earlier she put on normal clothes, relishing in the feeling of wearing a simple button up T-shirt and jeans. The nurse told her she could get rid of the thick bandages, but Prim decided to keep them. "Just in case… for one more day," she said. The nurse nodded her head and left them.

When he got to her abdomen, Prim flinched.

"Sorry," he said. "Is it still tender?" Prim nodded. "I won't mess with the bandages then, okay?"

He moved past them and continued down her legs. It was more intimate than she was expecting and by the time he finished they both had bright red cheeks.

"Well… do you need my help getting out of bed?"

"No, I think I can do it." Prim rolled over and groaned. In response, Gale lunged forward to help. Prim swatted his hands away.

"I said I can do it." Prim sat on the edge of the bed and breathed hard.

"We can do this tomorrow, if it's too hard." Gale reminded her too much of the boy he used to be.

Prim shook her head.

"Waiting is too hard. Another day might kill me."

Gale hesitated, as if he wanted very much to push her back down on the bed to rest. Instead, he stepped back, clenching fists to his side.

"You don't have to do it," he said. "Kill him, I mean… I can do it. I'll tell the people it was you."

"I don't expect you to understand." She took a break to catch her breath and thoughts. "I have to do it. I know how to do it with love. A mercy killing."

Gale glared at the floor unable to meet her eyes.

"You're right... I would have made it painful."

Prim stood in response, making a soft cry of pain. She twisted her body and sat in the wheelchair.

Ten Minutes Later

Gale pushed her down the hallway, the wheels creaking, the only noise against deafening silence. The soldiers walked behind them, even their boots a whisper against the floor. It was easy to imagine she was the only person left in the universe as she glanced forward.

Gale did not go to the white cells, already filled up with the worst of the Capitol. Instead, he made a sudden turn and opened a door, revealing Cato in a makeshift cell. Nothing else was in it besides his person. He looked thin, as if they hadn't fed him. His cheekbones sharper, skin dull, hair limp.

When they wheeled her in, his eyes gave a spark, and he sat up. The way he unfurled, filled with pops of joints, she suspected he hadn't moved from his position for a while.

"What are you doing here?" His voice sounded like sandpaper.

Prim dug her nails into the armrest of the wheelchair.

"She made a deal with me," Gale answered for her. "I keep your little daughter safe… and in return, she gets the pleasure of killing you herself."

Cato wrapped his hands around the cell bars. His eyes followed Gale like a predator, eyes downcast, teeth bared as if he wanted to rip out Gale's throat like an animal would.

"What do you get out of it?"

Gale gave a quirk of a smile. "A marriage."

Cato lost his bluster and once again looked gutted. He breathed out hard, as if someone just punched him straight in the chest, stealing his breath.

Prim wished she could explain the past and future. Lay out the steps in her mind, the reasoning.

"First," Prim said, shocked at how soft her voice sounded. "I need to ask some questions."

Five Minutes Later

The soldiers took him out of the cell with their guns near his head, reminding him a sudden wrong move would be his last.

They shoved him down into a chair and tied him to it.

Gale pushed her wheelchair forward until she faced him. Cato's eyes pierced into her, hard enough she wanted to look away, but she held his stare.

"Somehow you always end up restrained." Prim attempted a joke, but no one smiled or laughed.

They just stared at each other for a long time, letting the months they spent together wash over them in a torrent of memories.

"We don't have all day," Gale said behind her. "There's a time limit."

Cato didn't pay attention to him.

"I'll tell you the truth," he said. "Ask me what you want."

Prim rubbed her chapped lips together.

"Was Cassius correct? Was the whole thing… a set-up?"

"Yes." Cato went still. "But you have to understand, it had to look real to Snow, which means you couldn't know—"

Prim held up her hand, and he stopped mid-sentence.

Prim looked at the cell, the metal door hanging open, attempting to cauterize the pain. It was useless, but she still tried.

"I don't care why you did it. I just need to know what you planned. Start at the beginning."

Cato gritted his teeth. His skin, usually tanned, looked wan under the harsh lights. Sickly. He sacrificed as much as she had, and here they were, still under the thumb of death.

"Everything went perfect, as first. Lorcan dragged you away. I knew he wouldn't kill you, even if Cassius asked him. And then you went to war like we predicted. Cassius told Morris to mention the tunnels during the war council. It only went off course when Brutus led you astray, sensing Morris wasn't loyal."

"So we were meant to arrive with Cassius waiting to arrest us?"

Cato nodded.

"It went to shit though. Cassius managed to salvage the plan, but then Hannibal…" Cato didn't finish. Prim wished she could soothe him, tell him that Hannibal was still the annoying piece of shit he always was. However, Prim kept her silence. She didn't know what plans Gale had for the youngest Carthage if he was awake.

"I still ended up at the Pit with a choice to make," Prim said. "I assume that was in your plan as well."

He gave a sharp nod, with a sneer plastered to his face.

"It wasn't at first. We figured out last minute what Snow was going to do with us." His face fell and morphed, eating at something unpleasant. "You shouldn't have chosen me. It was me who was meant to drop. I knew a way out. They would have arrested me, and then Manniola would have busted me out. Snow would have had you in chains in the control room, and I would have played the mind games, already knowing how to end it. Instead…" he closed his eyes, and she saw the rage morph his features into several shapes. He smoothed out any emptions before he opened his eyes again.

"When I saw Coral and you go into the pit. I—" he sucked in a breath. "You don't know the pain. The horror. I thought it would be the last time I'd see you. There's only so many times you can seek death, little bird, before it answers the call. We've run out of lives. This is the end of the road. All the plans. All the schemes, and the rat somehow chews his way to the top.

"I think it's time," Gale said in a hard voice. Prim turned her head to see him leaning against the corner, one leg bent, and one leg locked. A pose of comfort. "How do you want to die, Carthage?" He taunted. He stood up straight and walked over, pulling a gun out of his back pocket. "I think it should be a bullet in the brain. You'll be nothing but a splatter on the wall."

"It's a pity it's no longer your decision to make."

Gale walked over and put the gun in Prim's hand. "Just aim and shot, little duck."

"No," Prim shook her head. "Not this way. Give me a knife."

"Prim—" Cato started.

"It's my choice."

Even Gale seemed to hesitate as he tugged out a knife from a belt around his waist. He plucked the gun from her hands and replaced it with a wicked sharp knife. It shone under the bright lights. She hefted it up, curling her fingers around the hilt, remembering how it felt pushing into Jace's side, the resistance of flesh and bone. A person had to force it in, had to want to bury it inside.

You'll need to learn to use this, Gale told her what seemed eons ago.

Prim gripped the edges of her chair and stood up, taking a few moments to adjust to the pain.

Gale walked forward to help her, but she told him to step back, and he obeyed. She wobbled forward.

"What are you doing?" Gale asked, but she ignored him. If he wanted her do this, she was going to do it her way. When she reached Cato, she crawled on his lap, placing each leg on either side of him.

"You'll hurt yourself," Gale said behind her.

"I'm injured not dying. If I'm going to do this, it's going to be face to face, looking in his eyes as they fade."

"That's either coldness from a woman who hates me." Cato face hovered in front of her own. "Or it's a mercy from a woman who loves me. Which is it?"

Prim reached out and traced the lines in his face. Down his nose, across his cheekbones, over his lips, around his eyes. Her fingertips memorized the shape, the bumps, the ridges. She touched the scars last, taking her time running down the length. His sacrifice and courage a physical reminder. He sighed with the touch, holding still at first, and then leaning with the direction of her movements.

"Hate and love," Prim said. "It used to be so easy. So clearly defined. The heart doesn't obey us when we ask it to speed up or slow down. It just does. You hurt me, beyond anything I thought you could do."

Cato licked his lips. When her fingers traced his cheek, he leaned to the side and kissed it, causing her to stop. She panted and felt the tears slipping down her cheeks.

"Do it quick and efficient, little bird. Hit right here. Be free of me." He tilted his head to the side, exposing his Carotid artery, making for an easy kill. His pulse flickered like a tiny heart under his skin. She placed the knife to the correct spot. "I trust you to make it easy."

Prim began to sob, little cries escaping her mouth. She reached down with her free hand and began to unbutton her shirt.

She heard an intake of breath from the corner from Gale. Cato managed to raise his eyebrows, even with the tip of a knife to his neck.

"What are you doing?"

Prim unhooked the last button and shrugged off the cotton shirt. Her bandages wrapped around her breasts to the upper part of her abdomen.

"I don't want any barriers when it happens… or prying eyes." Prim twisted her head and glanced at Gale. "Can you tell the guards to leave. When I do it… I don't want anyone to see it."

Gale searched her face, took in her agony and tears and finally nodded his head in acceptance.

"Leave us," he said to the guards. The guards hesitated to obey, especially the ones with weapons trained on Cato, but they finally stood up straight and walked out. Because in the end, where was the threat? Cato was tied to a chair; Prim was injured; and Gale Hawthorne stood behind them.

The silence when they left wanted to suck her in and swirl inside the still chaos. How could the moments of her life lead up to this?

"It's time, Prim," Cato said, his eyes warm and soft. "Don't let this break you… your stronger than that. I'm not afraid of death, especially by your hand. If a death could be sweet and pleasant, it would be from you."

Her hand trembled. The vomit crawled up her throat.

"I loved you." Her free hand clutched at her breast, as if trying to stem some fatal bleeding. "How could you! How could you fucking do it! You were my first love…" She turned and looked at Gale, allowing him to understand. "And now I have to end you."

She wasn't saying goodbye to Cato; she was saying goodbye to Gale. He raised one hand as if to yell stop or yell for the guards, but it was too late.

When Prim clutched her breast earlier, it wasn't in pain, it was to slip her hand inside the fold of the bandages and tug out the Timestopper.

Only when the realization and then horror crawled across Gale's face, did she reach down and press the top of the pill-shaped object. A needle embedded into the pad of her thumb. The liquid raced through her veins at a break neck pace. It burned as it traveled. Prim cried out and stumbled out of Cato's hold, feeling her heart seize in her chest. The adrenaline spiked in her body; a thousand times stronger than anything she felt before.

Prim understood a little of the science behind it. The drug did not truly stop time. It just sped up the user's senses, making them move faster than a person can move.

When Prim stood up, she understood it elongated seconds to about a minute, and she couldn't waste a moment of it.

She sprung to her feet, more energized than she ever felt before, as if she could lift the world and set it down in a new place. Gale moved slow, as if trudging through molasses. His hand inched towards his pocket, where he kept his gun.

But it would be too late by the time he reached it.

Prim stretched up and looked into eyes that did not see her. She put one hand on the side of his cheek.

"You were a brother. My family. My first love." She reached forward and kissed his chapped lips, allowing herself to linger until she felt the effects of the Timestopper begin to wear off. The world around her began to speed back into place, and the energy inside her dissipated.

She was as tired as before.

"You thought you could control me because I was your little duck. But I'm not your Prim anymore. I'm not the Mockingjay. And I'm not even a monster." The world swarmed around her. Prim placed her knife to Gale's neck, just as the Timestopper's effects ended. "I'm a lion now."

Prim pressed her knife into Gale's neck, making sure to sever the artery as she did. Deep and violent. He gagged, both hands going up to the metal. Fingers clawed around. He would die, though his mind hadn't registered it yet. He looked down at Prim with eyes wide. He only had a moment to give one last look, a look of betrayal, of longing, of stinging condemnation, before Prim tugged the knife out, blood glistening on the surface.

His body crumpled to the ground. She collapsed to her knees with him and crawled up and pulled his head into her lap, smoothing down his errant black locks, soothing him into death. She comforted him until his legs quit twitching, long after his last movement. She leaned down and pressed her forehead to his cheek and rocked.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I loved you."

She allowed herself to remember all the times she spent with him the woods, where he was most pure, where she admired his strength and fortitude. Her mind hurtled back to a time she loved him completely, where her whole universe spun circles around him.

"What have I done?" Prim gasped.

"Prim…" Cato said. His voice hesitant, but urgent. Her task was not yet complete.

She put Gale's head down gently, closing his eyes in death. The light already absent from the grey irises. No one else would see them twinkle with mischief or the way they warmed when proud of her.

Prim stood, knowing blood splattered across her body. She resisted the temptation to try and brush it off, knowing it would not work. Instead, she walked over to Cato still tied to the chair.

She avoided his eyes.

"Prim," he said softly. But still she ignored him. "Look at me." He sounded frantic, probably sensing the emptiness in her. The way she moved without hurry. The way she picked at his knots and loops with precision.

When his arms came loose, he gripped her head up and gave a searing kiss, pressing their faces close together.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for his death," he rasped. "Don't you fucking dare."

The words washed over her and away like a tide, sweeping away any emotion. She stopped crying at some point during her work. Her brain disassociated with the moment.

"It's over," Cato murmured to try and comfort her. "We can finally live."

Prim stopped messing with the ropes.

"Promise me… Promise me we'll leave this place. Forget the rest of the world for a while. You can be a father… a husband."

His face twisted into a frown. It answered her question without her asking. He brushed his hand up her cheek and tangled in her hair.

"I promise we will…someday." He sighed. "But I can't leave the city until—"

"And why not?"

"Panem needs a leader. Someone to take over. Someone who can dispense mercy and punishment where needed."

"Lux can do it. Or Brutus. Or even Madge. You don't need to."

He shook his head.

"Snow was right on one front; the citizens of the nation are like children. The Capitol needs to atone for its sins."

Prim felt cold and alone, adrift in the ocean. She knew he thought this way; he never told her different, but it still felt like he picked up the knife near Gale's dead body and stabbed her in the heart.

She picked at the ropes until they finally fell into a ball near the bottom of the chair. Cato stood and pulled her into a hard hug. She allowed herself the comfort of being in his arms for several minutes, each second another agony.

Then she tugged out of his arms. He must have read something on her face because his eyes widened.

"Little bird," he said with one hand out towards her. He made a step towards her and then stopped as if she was a rabbit that would bolt. "What are you planning?"

Prim couldn't let her love get in the way. She had to do what was best for Panem.

"Guards—" she yelled.

"Don't"

"Guards!" She yelled again.

The District 13 soldiers burst through in their black uniforms with their guns already pointed towards them.

"What happened?" One of them asked, glancing at her and then at Gale's dead body.

"It was him… Cato got free and killed Gale. Arrest him."

It was like the guillotine dropped. Cato, free now, was a viable threat. The guards hesitated while they walked forward. It looked as if Cato would kill them all in a rage.

"Don't resist," Prim said. "Please don't resist. For me."

Cato glanced at Prim until the lights dimmed in his eyes, something inside his spirit dying, and then he did as she asked and kneeled down with his hands up. The guards went over and yanked his arms down, handcuffing him behind the back. They were rougher than they should have been, but there wasn't much Prim could do to stop it.

"I'm sorry," Prim whispered as they tugged his massive body up, making the guards look like shrimp beside him. "I'm sorry," Prim said again, but he did not look at her as they marched him passed her shaking body on the way to the white cells, a more secure prison. "You would have been a tyrant!"

The door shut with a slam.

It left Prim alone with her memories and Gale's dead body.

"Long live the Mockingjay," Prim said to the emptiness.