DISLCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN OR CLAIM ANY RIGHTS TO THE HUNGER GAMES TRIOLGY.
A/N: Sorry this took so long to upload been really busy at school! Only 2 chapters to go! ^.^ Please review! J
The next three weeks go painfully slowly. They were able to unite the Districts quicker than they had anticipated. I was somewhat able to help, but with Peeta in isolation and no way to help him I force all my efforts into training for the rebellion. Eat, live and breathe the workouts, drills, weapons practice, and lectures on tactics. A handful of us moved into an additional class that gives me hope I may actually be a contender for the actual war. The soldiers simply call it the Block, but the tattoo on my arm lists it as S.S.C., short for Simulated Street Combat. Deep in 13, they've built an artificial Capitol street city. The instructor breaks us into squads of eight and we attempt to carry out missions – gaining a position, destroy a target, searching a home – as if we were really fighting our way through the war. The thing's rigged so that everything that can go wrong for you, does. A false step triggers a land mine, a sniper appears on a rooftop, your gun jams, a crying child leads you into an ambush, your squadron leader – who's just a voice on the programme – gets hit by a mortar and you have to figure out what to do without orders. Part of you knows that it's fake and that they're not going to kill you. If you set off a land mine, you hear the explosion and have to pretend to fall over dead. But in other ways, it feels pretty real in there – the enemy soldiers dressed in Peacekeepers' uniforms, the confusion of a smoke bomb. They even gas us. I'm the only ones who get their mask on in time. The rest of our squad gets knocked out for 10 minutes. And the supposedly harmless gas I took a few lungfuls of gives me a wicked headache for the rest of the day.
When I finish training for the day I see Boggs walking over to me slowly. "Boggs?" I say, it comes out more like a question.
Blindsided. That's how I feel when Boggs tells me. I fly down the steps to Command, mind racing a mile a minute, and burst right into a war meeting.
"What do you mean; I'm not going to the Capitol? I have to go! I'm the Mockingjay!" I shout.
Coin barley looks up from her screen. "And as the Mockingjay, your primary goal of unifying the Districts against the Capitol has been achieved. Don't worry – if it goes well, we'll fly you in for the surrender."
The surrender?
"That'll be too late! I'll miss all the fighting. You need me – I'm the best shot you've got!" I yell. I don't usually brag about this, but it's got to be at least close to true. "Gale's going."
"Gale has shown up for training every day unless occupied with other approved duties. We feel confident he can manage himself in the field," says Coin.
"And you think I can't?" I almost scream now.
"We all know you're smart and brave and a good shot. But we need soldiers in the field. You don't know the first thing about executing orders, and you're not exactly at your physical peak." Says Boggs.
"That didn't bother you when I was in two, or in the Capitol for Peeta. I counter.
"You weren't originally authorized for combat in either case. You went against your orders in the Capitol and jeopardized the entire District." Says Plutarch, shooting me a look that signals I'm about to reveal too much.
No, my intervention in 2, and smashing the pin-pad at the GCH were spontaneous, rash, and definitely unauthorized. Suddenly, I see myself through his eyes. A smallish seventeen year old girl who can't quite catch her breath since her ribs haven't fully healed. Disheveled. Undisciplined. Recuperating. Not a soldier, but someone who needs to be looked after.
"But I have to go." I say.
"Why?" asks Coin.
I can't very well say it's so I can carry out my own personal vendetta against Snow. Or that remaining here in 13 waiting for Peeta to die or live is unbearable. But I have no shortage of reasons to want to fight in the Capitol. "For Peeta."
The President thinks about this for a moment. Considers me. "Well, you have three weeks. It's not long, but you can continue your training. If the assignment board deems you fit, possibly your case can be reviewed."
That's it. That's the most I can hope for. I guess it's my own fault. I did blow off my schedule almost every day unless something suited me. It didn't seem like much of a priority. And now I'm paying for my negligence.
But in the hospital, I pass Johanna on my way to Peetas observation room. She's in the same circumstance and spitting mad. I tell her about what Coin said. "Maybe you can train too."
"Fine. I'll train. But I'm going to the stinking Capitol if I have to kill a crew and fly there myself," says Johanna.
"Probably best not to bring that up in training," I say. "But it's nice to know I have a ride."
Johanna grins, and I feel a slight but significant shift in our relationship. I don't know that we're actually friends, but possibly the word allies would be accurate. That's good. I'm going to need an ally.
As I walk up to his room I hear the alarms and sirens that could only be coming from Peetas room. And I know exactly what that means. He is either dead or awake. I sprint down the corridor and see Haymitch waiting there outside of the door. "Haymitch!" I yell out.
"What's happening?" I ask, anxiety bubbling within me. I can feel the sweat beginning to bead on my forehead and the muscles in my legs beginning to move. I push past Haymitch but he has an iron grip on my shoulder and throws me back. "You can't go in Katniss, Just let them do their job." Haymitch says.
"I can't. I need to be with Peeta, is he dead!? Is he awake!? Someone just needs to tell me what is going on," I yell desperately.
"I don't know anything." Haymitch says calmly. "All I know is about 30 seconds ago alarm bells from his machines starting going off. He has the best medical team with him. They will do whatever it takes to save him. Just sit down and relax." He says sitting me down in a chair against the wall facing Peeta's room. I hear muffled yelling and alarms but I can't make out anything there saying.
I don't know how long I had been waiting there until of all people, Boggs walks out holding a hospital gown covered in blood. I gasp and place my hand over my mouth at the sight of all the blood. Peetas blood.
"I swear that kid only has one word in his vocabulary." He says with a smile. Haymitch looks at Boggs with a grin.
"What does that mean?" I ask confused.
"He woke up, on his own." Boggs says. "We weren't able to slowly pull him out of sedation like they had planned. His body went into shock because of the ventilator and all the tubes he had running off him. But he is stable now, and guess what was the first word he said when he woke up?"
"Katniss." Haymitch says with a chuckle.
"Does this mean it worked?" I ask.
"His blood work came back better than we expected. It looks like he will be okay, Happy." Boggs says with a reassuring smile.
"Well, what are you waiting for sweetheart, your boy with the bread awaits." He says with a grin.
When I walk in, the room is the name but the boy within it, isn't. His eyes instantly lock onto mine, and the bright blue hold the same love and hope as they always have. "You're awake." Is all I can manage.
Peeta gives me a smile that I had memorized, in the fear of never seeing it again.
"Yeah," He says with a light laugh. "Are you going to come over, or stand there like you're looking at a ghost?" For a second I believe him, this situation almost seems too good to be true. After every single hurdle Peeta and I have jumped for his survival, we made it. He is alive, and he will survive.
"It just..." I trail off trying to swallow back the sobs that are bubbling up within me. Something between a cry and scream for him comes out my mouth, and I run into Peeta with all of my might. "This just seems too good to be true." I say crashing into his arms.
"Why are you crying Katniss?" Peeta asks slowly and softly.
"I never thought I would be able to be with you again." I say as the tears become almost controllable.
Peeta squeezes me tightly and whispers, "Me too Katniss, me too."
It feels like it is only us in the world. Invisible from all the danger, pain and despair that could ever be thrown at us.
"When I first got back from the Capitol you said you loved me, real or not real?" he asks hopefully.
"Real." I whisper bringing myself out from his chest and meet my lips to his.
I didn't want to break away but we both had to, to catch our breath. "I never want to lose you again." I whisper.
"You never will." He says softly, bringing my lips to his once more.