Weeks passed. The winter was now in full force. The mine was shut down by blizzard, and that meant no ration cards. No pay. Nobody had surplus food stores. The Hob had never reopened, so the Tesserae was the only food supply. But the supplies given were changing, suddenly filled with vermin, or spoiled food. It took four Tesserae to match one usual parcel.

Peeta made the invitation to a few families he knew, for them to come eat at Victor's village, but the weather was such that nobody wanted to make the journey. And Peeta was still a Mentor now. A beloved one, but that wasn't much.

Gale's plans to start an uprising went on hold until the weather broke. Katniss hadn't been seen in weeks; but if she was holed up in the woods, or in the Hawthorne house, nobody knew for sure.

The two Victors had been circling closer to each other since becoming neighbors. The distinction was academic, since they spent almost all of their time in public together. Partly to sell the story of a romance, partly because they had other, more private plans to make. Peeta had learned a lot from her in a short time. And little by little, they were growing more used to each other than either had expected. Johanna had two tasks. To set up her cover with Peeta… and to win the trust of her new home.

In private, there was discussion. Johanna and Peeta were giving each other details on themselves; to sell the romance. They needed to know each other as lovers should.

Johanna had seen Peeta winning 'hearts and minds' with his charitable donations; and matched it with one of her own; keeping the apothecary supplied. Johanna's 'Talent' had been gardening, and while Peeta imagined she had little real interest, she knew enough to keep a large herb garden growing. She'd made a change to the renovations for her home; and turned half her backyard into a heated greenhouse. Peeta had them take down Katniss' archery range, and do the same for his yard. Johanna came over to show him a few things, and the two of them grew food and medicinal plants through the winter.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect this side of you." Peeta commented.

"It…" Johanna pulled her head in. "It's not my most obvious feature, I know. But I like making things grow. It's… tranquil. You can't rush it, can't force it. You just have to watch things live on their own. You either make a nice place to grow, or you don't."

Peeta smiled at her. "Wonder what a shot of you in your gardening clothes would go for?"

The two of them worked quietly for a while. "It… it reminds me of where I grew up. The smells. Pine, lavender, citrus blossoms..." Johanna admitted; and her eyes flicked to him quickly. She'd just gone personal again. "I didn't have any of that stuff growing in Victor's Village. So I grew some. I needed a talent for the jackals, and they fixated on my garden."

"You look like an expert to me." Peeta said warmly. She smiled back at him reflexively, wondering why she felt nervous.

The moment stayed with her long after. She'd never told any of her other 'scratching posts' about her garden. They would have laughed. They would have thought it a strange thing for such a lethal vamp to be proud of. It was fast becoming their way together. Peeta was an open book. Johanna wasn't. A few days of preparing their cover story, and she realized she had told him a lot more about herself than she meant to. He was so easy to talk to, it just came pouring out.

I had nobody to talk to at hom- In Seven. Johanna thought. I didn't think it bothered me.

She pulled out her Jammer and spoke on a different subject, forcing her thoughts away from this one. "I checked in with Madge. I think Katniss is right. Gale's trying to start an Uprising."

Peeta's eyes flicked to the Jammer. "He'll fail."

"He will. And more importantly, when he fails, it'll be a thousand times harder to do it again when the timing is better." Johanna told him. "Your next assignment for the Cause? Get Gale on-side, and don't let him waste his shot."

Peeta nodded. "Understood." He pointed. "I thought we got all the bugs."

"No sense taking any chances." Johanna switched off the Jammer and turned the conversation to other matters. "Hazelle tells me your mom is trying to make nice." Johanna observed. "Why do I get the feeling its something else?"

Peeta grit his teeth a bit. "The Bakery is being hit less hard by the 'supply' problems; thanks to their connection to me. After the Games, my mother was not particularly popular. Twelve has a history of banding together when things get tight. None of us have enough, so we sort of keep an eye on each other, spread around what we can. When I became a Victor, it was sort of decided… well…"

"That the District would be on your side rather than hers?" Johanna guessed. "Amazing to me how a whole District can agree on these things without a word being said."

Peeta nodded. "She's been trying to get me on side since the Games ended."

"You don't strike me as the type to savor a grudge." Johanna commented.

"Well, I have some ideas, but I'd have to clear a few things with people first." Peeta sighed hard. "How can I go back to my family with all of this? I mean, doesn't… Aren't they safer, if we stay strangers?"

Johanna gave him a sympathetic look, and stood up crisply. "You go sort out whatever you've got planned. In the meantime, in case it doesn't work, I'll handle it."

"You will?" Peeta blurted. "How?"

She gave him a smile that could cut glass. "I'll be nice."

Halfway between the Coal Mine and the Commissary was a small shack, large enough for a small card table. Most of the miners had families. Those that had nowhere to be, and no kids in the bowl, would sometimes play a few rounds of poker before heading home; trying their luck on making their pay packet a little heavier. Gale was spending his lunch break in this room with the Weavers. A family with three kids, all in the Reaping Bowl; they'd been the first ones to come visit Gale after Mrs Everdeen had released him from her care. Gale had noticed that nobody had helped him when he tried to torch the Justice Building, but several people had quietly come to visit him; applaud his actions; if only in private.

Gale's back still hurt when it was cold, or when he was hungry; which was all the time. It was a reminder that kept him motivated. The Weavers were on their way out of their game with Gale; when Peeta passed them, coming in.

Gale froze when Peeta appeared. "Hey."

Peeta sat down. "Deal me in."

Gale froze, eyes flicking to the cards. "You play poker?"

"Once or twice." Peeta nodded, unreadable. "Johanna's been helping me with my poker face."

"Good, you can use all the help you can get." Gale dealt the cards.

Peeta took his cards, didn't even look at them as he set them down; and put a heavy money clip on the table. "Think you can handle the stakes?"

They weren't talking about poker; and Gale knew it immediately. "I gotta try. Can't win if you don't play."

"Really?" Peeta still didn't look at his cards as he peeled off a few bills and put them in the middle of the table. "That was my whole strategy, and I was playing for my life."

"True, but you were the wildcard in that game." Gale regarded him a moment, and tossed a few measly coins in with Peeta's ante. "Cards?"

"No." Peeta glanced at his cards, didn't even reach for them.

"You're not even going to look at your hand?"

"I know my hand." Peeta said plainly. "I know how the game ends… because I know who I'm playing against. I know the cards you have to play; and you can't win." He still didn't reach for his cards. "I don't even have to look. You know why?"

Gale discarded two cards; added replacements to his hand. "Okay. I'll bite. Why?"

Peeta tossed the whole money clip into the pot. More cash than Gale would see in a month. More than he'd be able to gamble if he'd saved for a year. "That's why."

Gale looked at his hand, wondering if he dared. Peeta didn't even know his cards… Gale squared his jaw and set his cards down. "Can't match that bet." He admitted, a little sullen.

"No, you can't. And without even touching my cards, I'm willing to bet your hand wasn't amazing enough to take that risk with what you've earned to feed your family." Peeta collected the winnings. "Katniss tells me you play poker every lunch break, always with someone different, one on one. Sometimes the person you play with will join you for another game, when you invite someone new; but it's never the same people three days in a row. She also mentions that none of you seem to be up or down more than four coins at the end of your lunch break… And that a few of your players don't even work at the Mine."

Gale scowled. "All this work, to find a place where the Capitol won't hear me; and I get ratted out by my girlfriend."

Peeta blew right past that. "I first heard about this game from my big brother. He played here once. Said the usual game was run by some real card sharks. They'd all team up to take the new guy for every coin he had, and then split the profits among themselves. Didn't even try to play each other." Peeta peeled off a few bills from his clip and tossed them in the pot. "The 'new player' can face a rigged game if it's one-on-one. When you're outnumbered; and every other player is working together against you, you can do nothing but lose your shirt." He said, rolling the few coins that Gale had just lost between his fingers. "And not just yours, because with you go your siblings, your mother; and everyone you play with."

Gale glared at the deck of cards. "Y'know, I heard about that Card Shark game when I started working at the Mine. Their regular game didn't last long. Y'know why? One of the 'sharks' got caught stacking the deck. Even with the table weighted so far in their favor, even when they had their mark outmatched so completely… They still had to cheat."

"And people stopped playing, because they knew it wasn't a game anymore. It was a mugging." Peeta agreed. "Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Well, it's not breaking the rules to cheat a cheater." Peeta said gently. "If you stack the deck yourself; if you have players on your side… If you bet big when that perfect hand comes along, never to be repeated… Well, that could almost look like a fair game, couldn't it?"

Gale stared at him. "Johanna's a good teacher. I have no idea what's behind that poker face."

Peeta pushed the cards away. "Whatever you're planning, call it off." He told Gale. "I've been to the Capitol, I've been to the other Districts. So has Johanna, so has Haymitch; and we're all saying the same thing: Wait for the moment."

"How many people get whipped; beaten, starved, shot; or Reaped before that moment comes along?" Gale demanded roughly.

"I don't know, but I do know what happens if you go all-in when you don't have the cards." Peeta said seriously. "Something I didn't learn until I got to the Capitol: The Arena is only half the battle. The work starts the second you get picked… or volunteer. In a lot of ways, the fight is won or lost before it ever gets fought." Peeta took a breath. "I have to tell you something that my own family doesn't know. Snow came to my house."

Gale froze. "Are you serious?"

"We had the same conversation you and I are having right now." Peeta nodded. "Snow is worried. And after my Victory Tour, I know why. It's simmering, Gale. It's right there, bubbling away; all over Panem. Take it from someone who cooks. Once the temperature's up high enough; it can take moments for the water to go from 'nearly still' to 'boiling over'."

Gale leaned closer. "I've got a cell group, Peeta. Almost a dozen people in the right places; ready to do as much damage as we can; and I'm still recruiting."

"In one District." Peeta nodded. "One. Out of Twelve. And nobody in the other eleven will know about it. The only way the Capitol falls is if all of them are boiling over at once. Snow knows that. It's why the Districts never get to see each other."

"Then how are we supposed to know when…" Gale froze. "Johanna."

Peeta scowled. "Poker face isn't that good, after all."

"Johanna! That's it! Someone from another District, now in ours. That's why she's here!" Gale was suddenly full of energy. "Peeta, my people have been planning for weeks, figuring out how to get our families out after we strike, how to get past that fence at will; how to hit-and-run... We can bleed them!"

"They can bleed your people better. And if not them, their families. And if not family, then your neighbors. And if not them, some random idiot who happened to walk past your house at the wrong moment. They're willing to kill for spite, Gale."

"That's why my people won't wait!"

"No, that's why you have to." Peeta snapped back. "You light a fire, they put it out. You light a hundred fires at once, one of them will spread far enough."

"No, Peeta: You're not listening." Gale said seriously. "My 'allies? They won't wait. They've all got kids in the Reapings, and this year is a Quarter Quell. Last Quarter Quell they doubled the Tributes. What's going to happen this year? They won't wait for long." Gale grit his teeth. "And to be honest, that's why I picked them. The only people who aren't full of fear are the ones full of hate. You want me to talk them down now?"

Peeta shut his eyes hard. "I don't want to see another Reaping any more than they do."

Long silence.

"Imagine if I was dealing a game of poker." Peeta said finally. "You come in and sit down. The first thing I do is handcuff you to the table; and then I shoot you the second you try to pick up the cards I deal you."

Gale scowled. That was exactly what their lives were like.

"You wanna go all-in, or you wanna cancel the game?" Peeta nodded.

"I'll do what I can." Gale said quietly. "But we can't… You, Haymitch, and Johanna are the only ones who are guaranteed to have food, money; and a ticket back from the next Games. There's only so much patience you can ask of the people with none of those things."

"I know." Peeta said sadly. "But I'll do what I can."

The Mellark Family Bakery was on the relatively wealthy side of town. Peeta's mother was the only full-time employee; with all her kids moved out of the family house. Her husband worked in the mornings to stock the shelves, and she sold them over the course of a day, tossing the surplus to the butcher's pigs for a supply of meat.

Johanna had arrived, with a cheery smile on her face, and settled at the counter; making polite conversation with whomever came in; and it wasn't that many.

Peeta's mother was glad to have her there, trying to restore her regular customer list. The whole District was talking about the sudden arrival of a Female Victor, and Peeta's supposed lady love. Word spread quickly that she was settled at the Mellark Bakery over a slice of cake; and people trickled into the street, hoping to meet her… but not game to actually come into the Bakery. His mother wasn't popular with Peeta's fans; but Johanna was. Was this a peace offering? Was it time to forgive Mother Mellark? Was Peeta's girlfriend just there to meet his mom?

Peeta's mother had made an effort to make Johanna feel welcome, saying all the right words. Johanna gave her no response, beyond ordering a snack. Mama Mellark had tried again, and Johanna just stared straight through her, and after a while, the older woman gave up.

Finally, one of the 'rubbernecks' made a move. A boy, around thirteen years old, came in and picked up a loaf from the 'affordable' side of the shelves. He made an effort not to stare at Johanna as he carried it to the counter.

"Hi. I'm Johanna." The celebrity said as the loaf was rung up.

"I'm Joril." The young man said.

"Nice to meet you, Joril. You're in a famous spot." Johanna said brightly. "Right there where you're standing? That's the exact place where Mrs Mellark struck her youngest son hard enough to give him a black eye; as punishment for wanting to feed a starving child outside. A moment made famous by the late Primrose Everdeen sharing that story during the 74th Games. A true highlight in Hunger Games history."

Joril heard that, glanced at Mrs Mellark, and took his money back off the counter. He carefully set the loaf down on the shelf again, ducking out of the store.

Johanna gave her host a winning smile. "I'm glad I came here today. I have so many new people to make friends with."

Peeta's mother scowled. "Fine. So asking Peeta to come by was a mistake."

"His father and brothers had the good sense not to make sport of this." Johanna nodded, as she headed for the door. "You, apparently, needed to learn it. I'm aware that times are tough for you. Times are tough all over, and most people don't deserve it. But in your case, that's what happens when you face the consequences for your actions."

"You don't fool me, you know." Mrs Mellark grit out.

Johanna paused at the door; and came back in. "Fool you?"

"I don't know what's between you and my son, but I know he'd drop you in a heartbeat if Katniss Everdeen ever gave him the time of day. So you're either here for something else, in which case you're using him in a far more dangerous and cold-blooded way than I ever could… Or you're the One Night Stand that decided to move in, and my son's too polite to throw you out. Knowing Peeta as I do, it seems the more likely option."

"Mother." A voice cut in. Both women turned to find Peeta in the doorway. It was clear he'd heard everything.

His mother paled. She had been trying to get Peeta on side for months, and suddenly he was there, just in time to hear all that?

Johanna had been ready to attack during most of that monologue, but now she gave Peeta a hard look, and he realised she was waiting for him to make a move. Something to defend her? No. Something to defend myself.

Peeta held out an arm to Johanna, and she stepped over, smoothly sliding in beside him like they were a young couple in love after all. "Mother, I just came by to say thank you."

"For what?"

"Volunteering." Peeta said, in a voice that spoke of doom. He reached over and took a large loaf off the shelf, putting it into Johanna's hands. In the same moment, Madge came in, with young Rory Hawthorne. Their arrival came just as Peeta looked to the door, and Johanna knew at once Peeta was expecting them. This was planned.

Peeta nudged Johanna, and she realized her cue, handing the loaf to Rory with a big smile. The boy looked so grateful that he didn't seem to believe the loaf was real.

"Madge, I'm so glad you're here." Peeta said brightly. "Could you let your dad, the Mayor, know that I just closed a deal with my father to buy the Family Bakery for a very good price?"

"You what?" His mother blinked.

Peeta didn't look away from Madge, who was smiling broadly. "Would you let your father know that with the recent good fortune my family has experienced, and given the recent supply problems that the District has been experiencing, we've decided to turn the Bakery into a Soup Kitchen; for those less fortunate. My mother has personally volunteered to feed anyone who comes in here, no charge."

"I what?" His mother blinked again.

Peeta bent down to speak to Rory. "Young mister Hawthorne, you go and tell your siblings and your friends that we have to empty out these shelves quickly, and get some more tables and chairs in here. Have your friends bring bags. All of this food has to go, right away."

Rory's eyes grew big as dinner plates, and the unhealthily-thin boy ran out to tell everyone who could hear him shouting.

"Mrs Mellark, you are indeed a beacon of hope and generosity." Madge said to Peeta's mother with barely restrained glee; heading for the door herself. "I will inform my father right away. He'll want to shout it from the rooftops."

Leaving Peeta with his mother, and Johanna Mason on his arm.

His mother's mouth worked, opening and closing as she fought for words. There was a momentary flash of anger, and she took a lethal step towards her son; in a move that was clearly an old habit. She was going to slap him so hard-

"Oh, please do try it." Johanna said immediately, with a Cheshire smile, and the older woman settled; the flash in her eyes going dull.

"I don't know what you're upset about, mom." Peeta said calmly. "You wanted me to help restore your good standing with the District. You're about to become one of the most beloved people in town. The sale was legal. The Bakery was still in dad's name. The boys are all happy to have paying work."

"Paying work?" His mother repeated.

"Well, you want to run a shelter in a place like this, you need a Patron." Peeta nodded. "Between me and Haymitch-"

"-and me." Johanna put in swiftly.

"-And Jo, we have enough to cover the cost of your meals, and wages for the full time staff." Peeta nodded, writing a number down swiftly on a piece of paper, sliding it over to his mother. "Speaking of, your salary."

Mrs Mellark looked at it. "It's… It's…"

"Enough to live on." Peeta said evenly. He let the moment hang between them. "I was never afraid of you mom, no matter what you did. I never feared you, never hated you. I just couldn't figure out how, at the age of three or four, I had offended my own mother so much that you hated having me around." He took a breath, which quivered just a tiny bit. "But I understand perfectly now. So I forgive you."

"Thank you." His mother said quietly.

"Oh no, don't think that makes it okay." Peeta spat. "If I had actually died in the Arena, it wouldn't have proven you right. Not about any of it. When you're somebody's mom, it means you have to take that chance on getting your heart busted up. Trust me, there are worse things than to die while being loved and wanted by someone." Peeta looked at Johanna. "Aren't there?"

Johanna looked at him, looked at his mother, and promptly kissed Peeta warmly on the cheek. "There are." She agreed.

The bell over the door ran as a small army of starving children came in with huge, hungry eyes, roaming over the bread and pastry.

Johanna and Peeta strolled away from the Bakery, arm in arm; pretending not to hear all the people shouting after them, the cheers of gratitude…

"So, how much did your father charge you?" Johanna asked once they were alone.

"A job in the 'Soup Kitchen' for each member of the family, and half-credit coin I happened to have with me." Peeta said without hesitation. "If I had nothing in my pockets but lint, I think he would have taken that." He looked down. "If it had been me, I would have had to 'deal with it' every time a 'Sponsor' placed a bid on me after Tigris. You taught me the preemptive move. It's half the reason you're here."

"Well," Johanna said finally. "I still say burning the place down with her inside would have been far more satisfying, but-"

Peeta spun around and hugged her tightly, then kissed her soundly. Johanna was amazed to see tears in his eyes. It was the first time he had initiated anything physical or intimate, and she let him. When he pulled back, he took a moment to figure out the words. "Nobody has ever defended me before. Not against her. Not my brothers, not my dad… Everyone was too intimidated by her to say anything. You're the first person ever to just… go in there and to be on my side."

Johanna smothered her own sudden emotion. "What you said, that night… About how The Captiol took more from Rue by denying her stories than they did when they denied her food. I just realized. That look on your mom's face just now. Katniss, begging for the pills. This is what they took from you, isn't it? Even before the Reaping, they stole this from you."

Peeta nodded. "Nobody's going to write it in the history books, but they found a way to turn mother against child; at least sometimes. How many ways can they find to starve people?"

He needs love. Johanna thought critically. He's so starved for it, he'll pine for a girl for most of his life… or even accept me. "Hey, whatever else is going on, we're allies now; right? The Games don't let us go, so we need to find our own way to fight. I got your back, Little Lamb." Her 'battle-smirk' didn't waver for a second."Of course, I may have to change that nickname now. The look on her face was something else."

"I never would have had the nerve. My father would never have had the nerve. That's because of you." Peeta promised.

Katniss wouldn't have done that for him. The thought came to Johanna from a distance. Even if Prim hadn't died, Katniss would be too mindful of her own hungry family to risk alienating the Baker's family entirely.

Aloud, she kissed him gently. "Come on." She said sweetly in his ear. "Take me home."

It was the first time she'd called it that. Her whole internal shift had gone unnoticed by Peeta; caught up as he was in his own change of status with his family. In the same movement, Peeta had become a Victor, and Johanna had become… What? I can feel it now. Angel's Light.

Johanna suddenly realized she was smiling. Her 'battle-smirk' and her 'celebrity smile' were so practised that she often didn't think about it, but this wasn't even a little bit of an act. She felt… happy.

And if she'd stopped to think about it at all, that would have horrified her.

But when they got back to Victor's Village, they found someone else waiting for them.

"Dad!" Peeta blurted. "Did I sign the papers wrong?"

"No." His father said, eyes glued to Johanna. "Peeta, can I steal your lady-friend here for a few minutes?"

"...ohboy." Johanna breathed. Facing his mom meant picking a fight with an unlikeable person. Facing his father was going to be something else entirely.

Peeta gave Johanna's hand a reassuring squeeze, and went inside. Johanna nodded politely. "Mister Mellark."

"For starters, you had better call me Walt." He said immediately. "Let's take a walk."

The two of them walked through Victor's Village. Two houses that were occupied, one in good order, the rest falling apart. "Well." Walt said lightly. "I wasn't expecting any of what happened today."

"Neither was your wife." Johanna commented with a shark-smirk.

"Ex-wife, actually." Walt admitted. "It's not official yet, and Peeta doesn't know."

Johanna blinked rapidly. "Really."

Walt nodded. "She walked out during the Games. We didn't make a thing of it, because she was madly trying to restore her reputation first, and obviously, we didn't want the cameras to make a big deal, the way they did about Katniss…"

So now I'm in on this before Peeta is. And I was worried Peeta was freaking about getting in too deep too fast. Johanna thought. "During the Interviews." She said aloud. "That story Peeta told, about you and Katniss' mother. It's true, isn't it?"

"Every word." Walt admitted. "Watching her get married was the worst day of my life… and then, I sort of…"

"Got married to a complete shrew on the rebound." Johanna said plainly. "It's not an original story."

"Peeta telling the world about my first love was the final nail in our marriage. Prim telling the world about the day with the bread meant she didn't wait until the Games were over. But I had a house full of sons; and they are amazing. One of them a Victor and a national celebrity." Walt sighed. "I apologize to nobody for my choices. But it would have been nice if I could have picked a girl who would love her own children just a little bit."

"Miste-Walt." Johanna began. "Are we taking this little walk right now because you want me to break the news to Peeta, or because you're worried Peeta's following your path; and gotten stuck with me on the Rebound?"

"It's not a secret that Gale and Katniss have something between them. In another life, if Peeta had the nerve to say something years ago, maybe it would be different." Walt looked at Johanna. "I saw your Games too, Miss Mason. You can play any role you wish to play. You can smile, and cry, and have a knife behind your back the whole time. Yes, I'm worried. Peeta's the only one to ever win a Games without killing anyone. If you ever decided to hurt him in some way..."

"Peeta is, without a doubt, one of a kind." Johanna agreed. "Something like that has to be protected. Or at the very least, valued."

"Do you value my son?" Walt asked carefully. The implication was unspoken. Because his mother never valued him, or me.

Johanna measured him swiftly. He's like Peeta. Honesty is your only option. "Something people forget about Victors… Aside from the Career Pack, we were all drafted." Johanna told him. "And… Nobody kind is weak. People who make it their business to be kind in the world? They do it because the world isn't kind. Peeta's had his gentleness used against him. He wonders if killing Cato in cold blood might have saved Prim. But he responded to that by being even kinder. He ain't weak. His kindness is how he fights back. And he fights for it hard."

Walt nodded. "I could never stand up to her, you know." He said regretfully. "My one shame: I could never stand up to my wife. Not even to protect my kids. It took having my youngest son in my corner before I could stand up for myself."

Johanna bit her lip. "Ask you a question?" She said finally. "If you hadn't married her on the rebound, how long would you have waited? Because from what I can see… you're both free again."

Gale was walking through the Seam, with a loaf of bread under his arm. Rory had told everyone the good news. Gale was on his way to share his good fortune with the Everdeens, when he noticed he wasn't the first person to reach the Everdeen house.

Walt Mellark, the Baker, had come to her door and knocked, looking nervous. Gale quickly scampered to the side, and found an out of sight place to watch from.

Katniss mother answered the door. She looked stunned. "Walt?"

"Can I come in?" He asked, and after a moment, she stepped aside; closing the door behind them.

Gale's jaw dropped. He couldn't wait to tell Katniss.

Peeta's sale of his paintings had kept the Soup Kitchen supplied; but the entire Seam was lining up with their families. The Mine had reopened, and everyone had volunteered for extra work; desperate for the ration cards. All of it together prevented mass starvation. Not everyone made it, but that was just another Winter in Twelve.

Gale finally had a free shift and went to the woods. Katniss was there at their usual hunting spot. She was doing pull-ups on a branch. He watched her a moment, then stepped over and said what had been percolating in his mind since his poker game with Peeta. "You told him I was going to start a fight."

"I did." Katniss puffed. "He talk you out of it?"

"He did his best. Enough that I couldn't argue with him." Gale admitted. "But then it occurred to me… Why would you want to put me off?"

"Because I've already had to pull you off the whipping post once?" Katniss dropped to the ground.

"Or maybe because you had another plan? Katniss…" Gale said gently. "You remember all those conversations we had about the Reaping, and how maybe it was rigged?"

"I remember."

"Both our names are in the bowl for another year. Rory's first year coming up…" He looked sideways at Katniss. "Last year, you were nearly catatonic. Now you're… Well, I didn't know what to think of it, until just now. You're in training."

Katniss said nothing.

"And I think I know why." He said softly. "You're seventeen. Ideal Age for a Career."

Katniss didn't look at him. "If I'd gone to the Capitol with Peeta, maybe I'd be a Victor right now, and maybe he'd be dead, but for sure the people who are really to blame for Prim wouldn't be in the Arena. They never are."

"No, they aren't." Gale agreed. "The people who are responsible? They're the people Peeta can talk to now. He can go to a State Dinner and sit and chat with them. Because he's a Victor. And that's how Victors live."

Katniss said nothing.

"If you wanted to be his date to the Capitol, you missed your chance. If you'd made that connection a year ago…"

Katniss winced. "I'm not that cruel, Gale. You think I'd bat my eyelashes at Peeta just to get on that train? To say nothing of the fact that I'd definitely get him tortured to death if I tried something; succeed or fail. I couldn't do that."

"I know you couldn't. You'd never put that on anyone." Gale nodded. "So, if you did want to face the people who are responsible for Prim… Even get close enough to shake hands with President Snow…"

Katniss said nothing; but he could see the twitch. She knew he'd worked it out.

"Only way someone from Twelve gets to do that is if they win the Hunger Games." Gale nodded.

"Yes." Katniss said shortly. "And you can guess why I didn't tell you."

"Because you'd just gotten Peeta to warn me off starting a fight." Gale nodded. "And if I knew I had until Reaping Day to start a war that would keep you alive; I'd have to… accelerate things. Peeta might even help me if he knew."

"Mm." Katniss scowled. "Gale, if it turns out we're wrong about Johanna; and there's no war being fought? Someone's gotta start one."

Gale actually smiled dangerously at that. The smile vanished quickly as he realized he was a few months from losing her either way.

Weeks passed, and things settled into a routine. Katniss trained. Gale worked. Peeta tried to feed the whole District. The Peacekeepers lost all discretion. With the new Head Keeper direct from Two breathing down their necks, the guards couldn't look the other way on anything, even if they had before.

Peeta and Johanna stayed at each other's side in public, even while running errands. In private, they were still getting used to the new arrangement. They had started over from 'first date' after she had effectively moved in. Her house in Victor's Village was ready, right next to his, but it was good for the show if she stayed over every night.

"Hey, Peeta?" Johanna said quietly one morning. "You still have nightmares?"

It was an honest question, so he gave her an honest answer. "Every night."

"You never wake me. Twice now you've come into my room and stayed the rest of the night because I wake up throwing an axe at things that aren't there. Why don't I hear you?"

"My, uh… My nightmare is always the same. That moment, when Prim died. I'm trying to get to her, but I can't, and… Then I wake up, and I still can't move."

"Yeah, but it's not about Prim, is it?"

Peeta looked over. "What do you mean?"

"In your dream. It's not Prim you see, it's Katniss. And you're trying to get to her, but you can't move."

Peeta blinked slowly. "How do you know that?"

"Well, I told you that you never wake me up?" She bared her teeth in what could have been a smile. "But when I sleep in here with you, you always wake me up to check if I'm okay. You're always covered in a cold sweat, and your heart is racing so fast I can hear it myself. You have the dream, you shake me awake and ask if I'm okay."

Peeta stared. "I have no memory of that."

"That's why I asked, loverboy. I honestly don't think you're awake when you talk to me. Because you keep calling me 'Katniss'."

Peeta was aghast. "Really?"

She nodded, matter of factly. "They screwed us up really good, huh?"

Peeta was white as a sheet. "Johanna… you know that I would never-"

She shushed him. "Something's happening here. I don't know what, exactly; but it's not going to stop. We can't 'take things slow', or 'take a step back' because the Capitol, the cameras, the District itself are all watching our every move. Inside this house, we set our own pace. If I don't have all your heart, that actually makes it easier for me… Because I can't give you all of mine. Not all at once. I wasn't really sure I still had anything left to give, if I'm honest."

Peeta smiled a bit. "A music box still plays beautifully, no matter how long you leave it closed. The heart is the same way."

Johanna shook her head. He tosses out poetry like that so easily… "When we first met, I thought the bastards were going to eat you alive."

"And now?"

Johanna gave an honest answer before she could think better of it. "They'll have to go through me first."

"Well… We're Victors. With luck, we'll never have to find out."

And then the TV snapped on. They didn't have to activate it, it just came alive with a special announcement. "There will be a special Presidential Broadcast tonight at 1900 hours. All citizens are required to watch."

Peeta felt his heartbeat tick up. "Bad?"

"Reading the Card." Johanna guessed. "Bad."

Peeta shivered. "My first Games as a Mentor; and it's a Quarter Quell. I was not looking forward to it."

"It doesn't get easier." Johanna admitted. "You've still got me and Haymitch. It's not nothing."

"I had less in the Arena."

That night, the televisions came on, all over Panem. The Capitol Anthem played.

Johanna found that Peeta was holding her hand as Snow came on the screen. The box was brought out, and Snow selected the nearest one. They were numbered carefully.

"They have enough cards for centuries of Games." Peeta scowled.

Katniss had come to Peeta's house. Gale had delayed his doomed uprising, and she was grateful for it. The dead of winter was not an option for rebellion, or escape to the deep woods.

She had been in the woods herself, and hunting had been scarce enough to drive her back to the fence, and Peeta's kitchen.

If all our families had to run; we'd starve. I can feed myself in the woods, but there has to be something to hunt. Katniss thought. Peeta saved Gale's life.

She had come to his house to tell him so, and to thank him… And to see if Peeta and Johanna knew about her plan to Volunteer. She could hear his voice coming from his bedroom, and Johanna's answering. Katniss knew not to interrupt; so she stayed downstairs, moving silently through his house like a ghost.

Her usual spot was the kitchen hearth; but as she went, she heard the television snap on. Her house only had one. Victor's Village had at least three per house.

Katniss paused at the kitchen door, watching as Snow opened the card with due ceremony.

Snow's voice, which was fast becoming a sound that turned her stomach, rang out clearly as he read The Card. "On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from their existing pool of victors."

It took Katniss a few moments to process what that meant. District Twelve only had two Victors. Peeta and Haymitch. Johanna had gotten there just in time to give the District a female Victor.

Snow's putting Johanna and Peeta back in the Arena.

Katniss swallowed a sudden lump in her throat and her feet were moving before she was aware of it. The homicidal screech rang out before she made it halfway up the stairs. She sprinted to the master bedroom, just in time to see one of Johanna's throwing axes slam into the screen. Johanna stormed out of the room, eyes blazing. She swept past Katniss instantly, not even registering her.

Katniss went into the room anyway and found Peeta, staring at the dead screen blankly. "Run." She told him. "I can take you to the woods. The lake is the boundary of what I know, but there's an old logging cabin out there that my father used to take me to. Run. I can teach you how to survive."

"Katniss, think for a second. A load of Peacekeepers came in with Jo and me on the train." Peeta said logically. "They've been regular customers in my family bakery since they arrived. Why do you suppose they picked that spot? I run, and..."

"Who cares? Your family has been horrible to you. They don't deserve you. Ditch them and stay alive. Just... stay alive, please?" Even as she said it, she knew it was a lie. After all, didn't I come here today because the dead of winter is hard to hunt through?

Peeta sighed hard. "It was always going to end this way, Katniss. Victors never die of old age."

This was true. At least once a year there were rumors of Victors having public gaffes, long stints in rehab; failed suicide attempts… The Capitol always patched them up and made them perform again.

And that will be Peeta's life. Katniss thought, the realization hit her like a ton of bricks for the first time. With or without me; survive or lose the Quell… He'll never be free of the Arena.

Long silence.

"I never came to see you, after the Bread; because I couldn't pay you back. I feared I would live in your debt forever." Katniss said softly. "I know you would have traded places with Prim in a heartbeat, and that's a debt I'll never pay off. I can't save you, Peeta. I can't…"

"I know." He said, not looking at her. "Tell me honestly: If things had been different, what kind of odds would you have given you and me?"

"I have no idea." She admitted. "It's not fair, but fairness has nothing to do with our lives." She straightened her back like she was about to march into battle. "Go to Johanna. I don't think it should matter, but if it makes a difference: you have my blessing. A Victor's Life needs another Victor; and that's what she is. Have three months full of love and affection and marathon make-outs and a warm bed instead of cold-sweat nightmares. You're very good at making goodness grow out of dust and stone. I don't know where it comes from, but I hope it never dies in you."

Peeta finally turned to face her. "Katniss…" He drew her name over three syllables again, like the sound of her name was some wonderful flavor to be savored.

Katniss kissed him before he could speak. It wasn't passionate; it was sad; and it was over in less time than it took Peeta to realize what it meant.

Peeta stared at her. "This is goodbye, isn't it?" He breathed. "You're leaving."

"Peeta, I can't stay here anymore." She said seriously. "This? I can't watch this happen again. I just can't do it twice. It will break me to watch you go back in the Arena. I'm sorry that you have to, but you've always had the stronger heart."

"Tell you the truth, it doesn't feel like it." Peeta laughed bitterly. "I won't let your mom go hungry. Gale and his siblings either. Y'know, if that still matters to you at all."

Katniss winced at the suggestion and turned to go. "Good luck, Storyteller."

She made it to the backdoor in the kitchen, and found every cabinet and cupboard open, with Johanna rummaging through them. "He really doesn't have any booze in here, does he?"

"I was going to Volunteer." Katniss said roughly.

Johanna stood upright so fast Katniss jumped back. The Victor looked at the Mockingjay, and saw that she was deadly serious. "Okay." She said softly. "Come take a walk with me. Outside."

"If you think the house is bugged, we've already given them enough to hang us all."

"They are hanging me. I'm going back in the $%& #^ Arena." Johanna told her. "And the house is bugged; we pull half a dozen listening devices outta there every week. I took the conversation out here because we're about to discuss some things that I haven't told Peeta yet."

"Oh." Katniss looked down.

"You were going to volunteer?"

"If I could win, I'd get close enough to kill Snow." Katniss rasped; her voice was changed. Made harsher, colder.

Johanna couldn't help the wry smirk. "I had the same thought, once. Trust me; even your reflexes ain't that fast." She slumped a bit. "But I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"Guess not." Katniss growled. "I want in. Whatever you're hinting at, whatever 'cell group' you're part of; I need to be in the middle of it."

Johanna scowled. "The thing about building a Resistance is that the only way it wins, is if it's a sure thing before they know we exist." She looked over at Katniss. "That's why Peeta had to keep Gale from trying anything. And it's why I wanted to see you shoot. I was recruiting you." She shook her head slowly. "All our plans just got thrown out the window."

"Mine too." Katniss said grimly. "I've been practising my 'pleasure to meet you, President Snow' face for weeks, and now I'll never get to use it." She turned back to Johanna. "But since we can't do that, consider me recruited. Tell me where to go, Johanna."

Johanna made one last look around. "District Thirteen survived."

Katniss jerked like she'd been slapped. "They were right?"

Johanna's eyes flashed. "They who?"

Katniss bit her lip and finally decided to tell Johanna everything. "When I was a kid, my father showed me an old cabin out past the fence. It's barely holding together, but it's where I've been shacking up whenever I'm not here. When the snowstorms got bad, I met people there. Two kids out of Seven. They thought the footage of Thirteen was faked, so they decided to run there; cross-country. They figured if the Capitol was keeping something hidden, it must be something good. That's where I was when the winter got bad. I was teaching them how to hunt and navigate through the snow."

Johanna looked around one more time. "Okay. You follow the border between Twelve and the Quarantine Zone. There's a river about sixty miles past the fence. You won't miss it, because it mostly runs parallel to the border. If you can make a raft or something, it'll help; because the river goes a long way. Follow it downstream; that'll take you to the ruins. I haven't been there, but I'm told they moved underground. The complex is another two miles east of the burned out Justice Building you see in the vids. Look for a mountainside with a forest on top of it. They'll find you."

Katniss nodded and repeated it back, committing the directions to memory.

Johanna chewed her lip. "You can stay and fight." She said seriously. "It's a hell of a hike, Katniss. You can survive the wild, but it'll take a lot of luck. What kind of luck do we usually have?"

"I know. But I have to do something. Something I know how to do."

"What about Gale?" Johanna asked pointedly.

Katniss took a shuddering breath. "I don't want to leave him, but he can't come without half a dozen others, and I can't wait for Spring."

Johanna nodded. "I'll handle it."

Katniss' eyebrows lifted to her hairline. "You'll handle Gale?"

"You can be jealous, or you can be possessive. You can't be both if you're leaving."

"No." Katniss admitted. "If you wanna get drunk, Haymitch always has enough to sink a ship."

Peeta came looking for Johanna almost immediately. He found her at the door to Haymitch's house. "Jo!"

She turned, and pulled him inside. "Whenever you've asked me what was really going on, I always told you: One thing at a time."

Peeta nodded. "We don't have time to do one thing at a time anymore."

"No." Johanna agreed. "Come in. I'll tell you everything; and then I plan to get very drunk. I invite you to join me for both."

Gale got the news as soon as his shift ended at the Mine. He sprinted the entire length of the town; until he reached Victor's Village. He came to the fence, and found Peeta waiting for him. The look on his face was enough; and Gale stopped running, bent double from the exertion. Peeta said nothing as he gasped, letting him recover his breath.

"She's gone, isn't she?" Gale asked. It wasn't really a question. "She didn't even say goodbye!"

"I know." Peeta sighed. "Gale, as much as we wish otherwise… Johanna, Katniss, Me… We're more memories than people now. Just us and our ghosts."

Gale scowled. "Look, I heard the announcement, obviously… What… How are you going to…" He hissed at nothing. "I don't even know how to ask the question."

"Come take a walk with me, Gale." Peeta said with a hard sigh.

The two men walked for a while, leaving other buildings far behind. Gale wasn't the only one looking for Peeta. He was a hero in the District. The family Soup Kitchen had been the only thing keeping the Seam fed through the blizzards. But eventually, they had privacy enough to talk.

"I shouldn't have listened to you." Gale said quietly. "I should have started the damn uprising a month ago like I planned."

"You would have failed." Peeta said quietly. "I've been to the Capitol, Gale. The whole country is a life support mechanism for it; and we can't win that way. Snow would have killed you a dozen times, and the hammer would have come down a whole lot harder the next day."

"So what else is there?" Gale demanded, and the frustration was a living thing in his snarl. "Because we can't keep living like this!"

Peeta knew the frustration well. It was his entire life, now. "I need a favor, Gale."

"Not sure what I can do for you at this point, but name it."

Peeta let out a breath, very slowly. "If I told you there was a way to make it stop, would you want to know it? Given the certain death and destruction you'll be risking?"

"Katniss is out of the District. My family faces starvation by inches; to say nothing of the Reaping. I don't seem to have a lot to lose."

"I thought that way once. Trust me, you've got plenty to lose." Peeta sighed. "But I don't have a lot of choice. I've got a few months until the Reaping; and the odds are barely a factor. You're safe. By the next Games, you'll be nineteen; out of danger. This is a blessing for you, really. You and everyone your age. If you want to-"

"I'm in." Gale said immediately.

Peeta smiled. "I knew you would be. Come over tomorrow night. Dinner with me and Johanna. Right now, she's finding absolution at the bottom of a bottle with Haymitch. Tomorrow we'll be training. We'll talk a little about the death of kings, toast each other's certain doom; and make a few plans."

"Sounds like a fun evening." Gale agreed. "If you're serious about training…"

"We'll need you. Anyone else who can teach us something useful, too."

Gale shook his head. "She just took off." It wasn't often Gale spoke disdainfully about Katniss, but for now it was clear on his face. "She just took off, and left you to… If she could have taught you even a fraction of what she knew before she left…"

"Katniss… is gone." Peeta said softly. "She left us both; and she's not coming back this time." He looked at Gale. "Y'know, it would have been easier if I didn't like you."

Gale smirked. "I made the same point to her, once or twice. My mom says you and I would have been good friends, if we'd never met Katniss."

"Almost certainly." Peeta agreed. "So, with her gone… Do you think we can still be allies?"

"Got news for you, Storyteller; we've been allies since you sat down at the Poker Table." Gale sighed hard. "And starting tomorrow night; I'm your Mentor, too." He took in an emotional breath. "I'll teach you well, I promise. All of you."

AN: About halfway through Catching Fire, Katniss took it into her head to start an uprising in Twelve, in the dead of winter; but the plan never got off the ground. In this fic, without her 'status' as a Victor, her plan went a lot smaller, to get herself to the Capitol. It's no secret that Johanna was planning to recruit Katniss into the Resistance.

Also, in the canon, the story about Peeta getting beaten by his Mom was never public knowledge until the third book. In this fic, Prim was the Tribute, and she told the story early. Mother Mellark was never seen or mentioned again in canon; but I figured Johanna wouldn't look the other way.

When I wrote the Reading of the Card twist, I had to answer two questions that were never made clear in the books or movies:

1) Was the Quarter Quell purely a response to the Mockingjay? The movies suggested yes, the books barely hinted. If it was to target the Victors, then I needed a reason. Having Jo move to Twelve, having the actions of the Victor's getting scrutinised; wondering if there was another reason? That did the same job for this fic.

2) When was Haymitch recruited? The movies made it seem like he had no idea this Quarter Quell twist was coming. So it would stand to reason that Haymitch wasn't part of the Resistance until the Second Games. In this fic, Jo and Haymitch were more in on it than Peeta was (Until now, at least) so I wanted the Card to take them both completely by surprise. All of the player's plans for their own endgame get overturned by The Capitol's move; which was Snow's whole goal here.