A/N: Wow. Over 15 reviews on one chapter, and now we're over 100 in total. You guys are so incredibly awesome, I don't know how to say it otherwise. I love you all. Kim, I truly appreciate your reviews, and to the one who call's themself 'My Greatest Fan,' I am touched that you love my work so much. Seriously, it makes my day when I see your review. Moving on, sorry for the longer than usual delay, with Good Friday and Easter this past weekend, I didn't even get a chance to start this chapter till the beginning of the week. Someone mentioned a few spelling errors here and there, particularly with "Capital" vs. "Capitol," I have been going back through the chapters as I continue the story to edit this and other errors I've made. I'm good at proof-reading, but not right after I write something, I just don't have the perspective to do it that quickly. So if you care to read the chapters more cleanly, just wait lol, I've been editing them for a while and will continue to do so. That said, I'm glad you are all liking this adventure into their 3rd round of the Hunger Games. The next few chapters are going to be tough, and painful for some, but they're a lot of fun to write and there will be a little something for everyone... :) So get ready, it's time for some action!

Change of Fate

Chapter Fifteen: Divergence

Katniss

We are all leaving the cave and I feel great as the early morning sunlight gently hits my skin. I appreciate it for what it's worth, because I'm sure in a few hours the same sunlight will be melting my skin. But I feel good, loose, and ready to go. I'm even kind of laughing as Finnick tells a joke. All of that changes as we exit the cave. Coming up the ridge at the exact same moment are the careers and their tiger mutts, and my heart stops. My eyes meet with those of Cato's and I see a remarkably vile and distorted look of anger on his face.

"MOVE!" Boggs shouts.

We all comply and head to our left, the only viable way out of this mess at the moment, but not before I take an arrow and sending it whizzing towards Cato, which he only barely avoids. I quickly turn and begin our escape. Johanna is further ahead with Cressida and Annie, with Finnick right behind them. Peeta is struggling to move as quickly because of his leg, but behind him are Boggs and Titus. I trail back to help him, but there's not much I can do.

"No don't," he says and I look taken aback, "I'll be fine. Keep moving."

"Peeta, I'm not gonna let you fall behind," I say pulling his arm forward.

"You can't make me run any faster! You can't give me back the leg that Cato ruined, so please... Just keep moving," he says, almost pleading. Our eyes meet, and I understand what he's saying. He doesn't want his limitation to become my limitation. It's funny though, because in this moment I realize that in some ways he himself is my only limitation. I would do whatever I had to do in order to keep him safe, even risk my own life. As I have just now. Out of the corner of my eye I see something shinny speeding towards my head. Only at the last possible moment did I realize it was a throwing knife that came from the hand of Clove, and I fall to the ground as it clinks against the rocks above where I stood not seconds ago. "Katniss run!" Peeta exclaims.

I don't hesitate this time, especially after I see Boggs and Titus sprinting up the path as well. I'm not sure how we're going to get away from the Careers this time. They're too close. I begin thinking though as I run. We're going uphill... Which means that if we can find a suitable place, we'll have the high ground. With my bow, I should be able to pick off one of them, and with the throwing knifes Titus has, maybe we can kill a few of them. Getting the high ground is to our advantage. As long as we can find a solid vantage point somewhere along this path, we can turn our fortunes around.

I glance back at Peeta to see that while he's struggling, he's really pushing himself and keeping up. All those running drills with Finnick are really helping him right now, and I feel immensely grateful to Finnick in this moment. As I swivel my head back around to look forward, my eyes are caught by the sight of the cliff that is to my right. Easily a several thousand foot drop off is what awaits us should we take one misstep, so I'm careful now to keep my eyes ahead of me. Peeta can take care of himself, of that I'm sure.

I round a corner and my thoughts are interrupted when I see Johanna wielding her axe in attack position, looking over the pass below us which we had all just ran through. I see Peeta scurrying upwards, and I bring him into a warm embrace as he arrives. This is the high ground I was looking for, we have a clear view over the area in which the Careers will be running past any second. As we overlook this section of the mountain, there is a large rock formation behind us with two other larger roads winding on either side of the mountain. Here is where the road diverges, and if we can slow down the careers just enough, they'll be unable to tell which way we've gone, "Brainless, get out your bow, you should use one of those explosive tip arrows. Once Boggs and Titus pass by, you need to fire it," Johanna tells me.

"Are you serious? That's too close, we could all get thrown by the blast!" I protest.

"You got a better idea?"

The truth is I don't and I shake my head. So I get ready and take my aim. To my right is Peeta, Annie, and Johanna, to my left is Finnick and Cressida and I wait till I see Boggs and Titus run past my mark. As soon as they do, I take a deep breath and the moment I hear the pattering of the footsteps from the Careers, I let my arrow fly. I soon realize that was a huge mistake.

The blast does in fact hurt us as well, just as I predicted, only the consequences become far worse than I'd imagined. The explosion causes the rocks from behind us to begin crumbling and sliding forward. I lunge to get out of the way as the cliff begins to collapse downwards. I am hoping with all my heart it took out some of the careers as well, if my arrow didn't already do the trick. Yet it is when I stand up that I begin to question my actions. I look around, and I only see Boggs, Cressida, Finnick, and Titus. Where are Annie and Johanna? Where is Peeta? I feel a swelling of fear and horror gathering deep inside of me and I look over the cliff, "PEETA!"

It is only then that Finnick realizes that Annie is not with us either, "ANNIE!"

"PEETA WHERE ARE YOU?"

There is no response. Oh my god. I may have just sent the boy I love tumbling thousands of feet to his death... "PEETA!"

Peeta

"PEETA!" I hear a voice say. "PEETA WHERE ARE YOU?" It asks me. I am too disoriented to respond. What the hell just happened? I open my eyes to see Johanna holding the edges of my face, slapping it hard as if to get my attention, or see if I'm there at all.

The voice becomes more clear, "PEETA!" I hear Katniss scream.

"KATNISS!" I shout back, needing her to understand I'm ok. "Katniss, don't worry about me! I'm fine!"

I lift my head off the ground and find a painful ring echoing throughout my mind. I'd had this feeling once before when I was younger. My brother Rye and I had been wrestling and he threw me a little bit too hard and when I hit the ground I'd woken up with this ringing sensation in my head. Later it was deduced to be a concussion. That is the only thing it could be right now.

"Peeta, can you stand?" Johanna asks quietly.

"I think so..." I use my hands to lift myself up and I'm taken by my light headedness. I see the earth wobbling below me, and I'm quite certain that I'm concussed. "What happened Johanna?" I ask as I look around to see her and Annie standing beside me.

"Katniss used one of her explosive arrows to put some distance between us and the Careers, only it seems to have backfired..." She says. I have no recollection of this. Or anything that's transpired recently. The last thing I remember is being in the cave sharing stories with everyone. I guess that's gone. Oh god how all I want to do is hold Katniss right now - or rather be held by her.

As if she can read my mind from wherever she is she shouts, "PEETA WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS?"

Before I can respond, I hear Finnick's voice as well, "ANNIE ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" I wonder how far away they are from us. We need to regroup with them.

"FINNICK!" Annie screams back.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" Johanna exclaims, clearly over it. So am I though, my head hurts too much to take anymore screaming and yelling. "WE ARE FINE! Take your path up the mountain! We'll take ours, hopefully we'll meet back up somewhere ahead!" Johanna states plainly. There is no response, and I am glad, my head probably couldn't take it. But my god do I just want to be with Katniss right now. Johanna scuttles over to me and says, "Peeta, do you think you can manage to keep moving? We're separated from the Careers for now, but I'm not sure how long we've got. We have to keep moving and try to meet back up with the others. I know you took a rough hit, but we've got to move..."

"I hear ya," I retort. "Well, what are we waiting for then? Lets go."

We both make to start uphill, but Annie lets out a whimper. Johanna rolls her eyes and makes to start scolding Annie, but I hold up a hand to stop her. They may have been friends for a few years, and probably know each other better than I do either of them, but I'm a people person. Even in my concussed state, I'm better with words than most people, and certainly better than Johanna.

"Annie, I know you're scared," I begin which only elicits a louder sob. "I am too, and while she'd never admit it, so is Johanna," I add with a smirk, "So all I need you to do, is take a deep breath. I need you to take a deep breath and realize that we've got to keep moving so that I can get you back into Finnick's arms. So that I can hold Katniss in my arms..." I say this as my mind drifts off to having the comfort of her touch on me once more. The soothing feeling of her hands on my face. The seductive draw of her lips on mine. "I promise you Annie, that I will get you back safely to Finnick, ok? But I need you to trust me. I need you to trust Johanna. I don't know what we're going to face, but I will protect you both from whatever dangers we encounter, I give you my word... Do you trust me?"

Her tears have stopped, as have the sobs, and I see a smile form from the corners of her mouth. Finally she nods, "Yes."

I return the smile, "Good, then we should really get a move on."

As I turn around, Johanna gives me an approving nod, and the three of us head uphill once more. Almost as soon as we begin hiking, my lightheadedness returns and I'm struggling. There's no getting around it. I find myself leaning against the mountain for support and stopping for a water break more often than I should, yet doing so gives me pause. I realize that I have the five gallons of water and the spile. I understand that if I don't keep plowing ahead and make my way back to Katniss and the others, they could all die from dehydration. I refuse to let that happen because of a small little concussion. So I redouble my efforts, refusing to give in. The heat is really starting to pick up, it's easily 90 degrees already and I don't see how it could be any later than ten o'clock in the morning. I can only imagine what this afternoon's heat will bring. We've already been hiking for a few hours, and for all I know we could be going in the opposite direction of the others. The three of us continue in our trek with no real end in sight, only knowing that we have to meet back up with the others, there is no other choice.

Eventually, during a water break I can feel the despair settling in amongst Annie and Johanna. I feel like it is and always will be my job to be the unreal optimist. Even in the darkest of situations, it is called upon me to make others feel better. I'm not sure why this is, but I relish in the opportunity to brighten the moods of others. I guess you could say I was born to help people, and that's not far off. Indeed, my father always used to tell me things like that. "Look you two, I know that it's getting pretty damn hot out, and I know we're not any closer to the others than we were two hours ago. That's ok though, because we're still together, and we're still safe. We can only assume that since no cannons have gone off, that the others are safe too," both of them slightly perk their heads at this news. The reminder of the cannon signaling a death hit both of them like it was news that we are in fact in another round of the Hunger Games and not just in some sort of twisted hunt where we are the prey. I chuckle to myself, at it's core isn't that what the Games were always about anyways? "So come on, perk up. I think I see a ridge line around the bend, maybe we'll be able to see something up there."

We all take our last swigs of water before I begin marching upwards once again. Before long though, Johanna sneaks up from behind me and says, "You know, you really are a magician with words. It's a wonder it took so long for brainless to fall for you..." She says with a sad smile.

I return the look, "No... I know why it took so long."

She gives me a curious look while tilting her head, and glancing back I can see that Annie's interest is also piqued. She may be quiet and a little different, but she is certainly present. "Oh come on Peeta, you're not gonna leave us with that are you?"

I laugh, "No, I guess that wouldn't be fair. Well, you guys know about our story with the bread?"

Johanna rolls her eyes, "I think every damn soul in Panem knows that story by now, Peeta. If you're gonna use that as an excuse as to why she didn't fall in love with you sooner, you really are a whipped-ass-lover-boy," she adds playfully.

I give her a smirk and a shake of my head, "Just listen you impatient brute..."

I pause for dramatic effect just to piss off Johanna, but before she can say anything, Annie speaks. "Peeta if you don't want to tell her, can you at least tell me? I absolutely love hearing love stories!" She exclaims.

I chuckle to myself. It's pretty funny to have these two eating out of the palm of my hand even in a situation as gloomy and sweaty as the one we find ourselves in. As we round a corner coming into the shade, I continue, "Well, so that day when I gave her the bread, I knew I should have gone over to her and given it to her. I should have gone over and told her that I wasn't going to let her starve, that I wasn't going to let her die... Instead I chickened out. I just tossed it to the ground..."

Johanna stops me, "Peeta, you were what, eleven? Most boys are pretty shy at that age, especially around girls they like, even more so with a boy like you that was already in love at that point," she says the 'in love' part with great exaggeration. "Don't tell me you actually think - "

But I cut her off. "I do think so. I'm sure of it in fact. If I had been there for her when she needed me then, who's to say Gale would've ever been a part of her life? At least, in the manner in which he was a part of her life?" I let that question linger, as I question it myself. I've replayed that day over and over and over again in my mind more times than I care to count. If it had been me helping to take care Katniss and her family all those years ago, instead of Gale, things could have turned out entirely differently. I continue pondering it for a moment, before coming back to reality and remembering the situation we find ourselves in, and I smile, "But that's neither here nor there. Everything happens for a reason, right? Katniss and I ended up together anyways, so I'd say that it doesn't really matter why it took as long as it did for us to get together. I just want to focus on getting back to her. So shall we continue then?"

Johanna rolls her eyes with a smile on her face while Annie looks on in adoration. She really must love hearing other people's love stories. I privately note that I need to talk to her and Finnick about their love story eventually. But without any further delay, we continue our hike. It continues on in silence for a while before we reach the ridge line. But then, silence is drowned out by the sounds of Annie's familiar screams.

Let alone the fact we are thousands of feet above the ground, but it appears as though the Games has presented a new challenge for us. The ridge is not like the first one we encountered, straight and narrowing. It's is hilly, up and down and up and down, zigging and zagging back and forth, with many sharp edges and jagged rocks, and there appears to be different types of terrain on different parts of the ridge, but this is not what makes it so terrifying. There are large chunks of the ridge that are broken up, and they are rotating and moving in different patterns making new ways to move along the ridge. Shit. With my leg and concussion, I don't know how I'm going to do this, let alone Annie. Johanna is the most nimble among us, but I can already tell she is trembling with fear.

I take a moment to survey the parts of the ridge that are moving... It's like they are not even a part of the mountain range itself, the Capitol merely built this as a trap or trick for us. But I calm myself and begin watching for the pattern. I note that it seems there parts moving are in groups of four, each one of them moving and rotating in it's own unique way. But then it repeats as you go along the ridge. So the first moving part of the ridge shifts out to the right, rotates clockwise, moves in front of us, rotates again before going back to it's original position and then repeating the process. The next three moving parts all do some variation of this, and I feel more confident that we can get across. "Alright you two, I need you to each take a few deep breathes, calm down, and then follow my lead," I say with pride in my voice.

"You sure you'll be able to lead us Peg-leg?" Johanna asks.

Before I can respond, I hear voices quickly approaching from behind us. I hear the familiar cackle of the vicious Cato coming up the mountain. "Time to find out! Let's move!" I exclaim as I make my way to the edge of the ridge. As the first moving piece of the ridge comes up to us, all three of us get on. It's first rotation throws all of us a little bit, although it is fairly large so none of us were in real danger of falling off. I'm sure the further we go though, the smaller the platforms will be. We quickly scurry off of the first one and get onto a solid piece of land. I look ahead at the daunting challenge that lays before us, it's quite a doozy.

My thoughts are interrupted however, by the call of my name, "PEETA!"

I look back and see the glare of Cato's eyes directed right at mine. I look back at the girls and say, "We need to keep moving. They'll be on us in no time." I take one more glance back at the Careers and notice that not all of them are present. Some of the others must have followed Katniss' group, this only gives me more reason to keep moving. We swiftly move along this part of the ridge, scaling up sharp rocks and weaving our way through the windiness of it until we get to the next rotating part of the ridge. "When we get on to the next part, stay low. Keeping your center of gravity low will make it less likely you fall or something."

All they can do is nod. We're all out of breath to varying degrees, just trying to make sure we stay far enough ahead of the Careers. As we jump onto the next flying piece of rock, I hear Cato call out my name again. "Peeta! If you give yourself up, no one needs to get hurt!"

I scoff as I find that very unlikely. "Come on, lets keep moving!" I say as the platform brings us to the next part of the ridge. This part of the ridge has an entirely different feel to it. Much more tropical, with waterfalls running down the parts of the ridge we need to climb, with only a rope helping to guide us. There is lush green flora everywhere. How the hell did they manage this? I guess it's the Capitol and they do whatever they want, but this is getting ridiculous. I let Johanna take the lead this time because she is more nimble than I and I'd probably just slow everyone down. True to form, Johanna scales this part of the ridge in record time. Annie goes next, and while she is weeping practically the entire time she's climbing, she makes it up too. Finally it's my turn and things are going fine, probably because the adrenaline is pumping through my veins like I've only got minutes to live - which probably isn't far off - as I'm sure the Careers are closing in on us. I'm almost at the top when I see a terrified look on Annie's face.

"Peeta swing to your left!" Johanna shouts.

I don't hesitate and I roll my body into the waterfall on my left, clinging onto the rope for dear life. My eyes are open, and I see a spear whizzing past me. I glance down, clearly thirty or forty feet at this point, and see that the Careers are right there. Cato's hatred for me is burned deeply into his eyes, and he grabs hold of the rope just as I pull myself up with the help of Johanna. I make to keep moving, but Johanna holds off. "What are you doing?!" I exclaim.

She gives me that mischievous smile that I know so well as she still stands over the cliff. Annie and I walk back over to her and I think I realize what she's doing. Cato is climbing furiously and fervently trying to make his way up as fast as possible. I think the fact that we haven't run off in fear of him only drives him to keep moving. "You think the fall will break his leg?" I ask, somewhat hopeful.

Johanna cackles, "Only one way to find out I suppose... Would you like the honors Peeta?"

I grin and nod. With a swift movement I swing my sword onto the rope which then snaps, sending Cato tumbling back downwards. He'd probably already made it halfway. As I glance over the cliff, he is writhing in pain on the ground below us and clutching his leg for dear life. I can't help but feel a little giddy inside so I yell down, "Payback's a bitch, ain't it Cato?"

"I HATE YOU!" He screams back to me. I can't control my laughter. I feel so evil, but after he cost me my leg, I believe it's only fair that he loses his. Or at least has it fractured for the time being. The slope of the waterfall is such that it's still scalable so I'm sure the rest of the Careers with Cato, of whom I cannot tell who they are, will surely be moving on without him. But we have certainly stalled their pursuit of us.

We continue on with our climb, with the ridge we now find ourselves in resembling more and more of a tropical rainforest, much like the arena from the Quell. I find myself in awe that the Gamemakers were able to create something like this out in the middle of the desert. This is no ordinary arena, and these are no ordinary Games. We come to the next rotating chunk of flying rock and quickly jump onto it. Yet this time it does not seem to be going in the pattern I thought it would, it almost seems like it has a mind of it's own... No... But my worst fear is soon realized. The Gamemakers must've taken control of this individual platform, because we are zooming past the rest of the the ridge and making a beeline for a road I can see on the side of the mountain. As we get closer, I can see a group of people collected nearby. I take a deep breath, understanding what awaits us. What has haunted my nightmares for over a year now is finally about to become a reality. We are going to be fighting the Careers. There is no running this time. It then dawns on me... None of the Careers followed Katniss and the others, they were simply on this side of the ridge. I'm the target, I'm the one they want. Just as they did in District 8, the Capitol wants to use me to hurt Katniss... I can't let that happen. We get closer and closer until the rock slams into the side of the mountain and the three of us get thrown face first into the dirt. Ouch. That definitely does not help my concussion.

"I will finally have my revenge..." I hear a familiar low voice growl. I lift my head out of the dirt to see Brutus standing alongside Marvel and Glimmer. "You two can take the others, but this punk right here is mine," he says lifting up his spear into attack position.

I sigh as I pull out my sword and ignite it's flames. I never considered myself to be a fighter or a killer, and I certainly never wanted to be one. But I am a survivor, and I am a Victor of two rounds of the Hunger Games, I'll be damned if I die in my Third. "I killed you before Brutus, I can certainly do so again." The three of us spread out, with Glimmer lining up against Annie and Marvel squaring off against Johanna. I hope those two can hold their own, because Brutus is gonna be a challenge.

With a guttural war cry Brutus thumps his free hand on his chest before charging at me. I wait till the last possible second to dodge to the side, letting Brutus overrun me. His momentum carries him so far he almost crashes into the side of the mountain. I swing my blade at him, but he counters with such ferocity I'm nearly thrown off my feet. He is jabbing, and using short strokes of his spear to try and get me. I'm far quicker than he is, it's like picking on an old cat. They want to bite you and they try to bite, but they just can't quite catch you. I smile as I realize the true benefit of all my sparring matches with Finnick back in Thirteen. When I swing my blade high, he dodges it and gets ready to thrust his spear into my chest. Much like a familiar sparring round with Finnick though, I use my newfound flexibility and lean back so far that I might as well be falling to the ground to avoid his spear. I shoot my body back up and using my momentum I plunge my blade on fire deep into the abdomen of Brutus. He glares at me as his mind is racing in shock of falling at my hands once again, and he tries to strangle me with what little strength he has left. It is of no use though, and I throw his lifeless body to the ground and the cannon sounds off.

I feel so victorious, and yet as I glance around horror consumes me. Cato, Clove, Cashmere, and Gloss have all reappeared, no doubt being moved here by those flying rocks. They helped Glimmer and Marvel overtake both Johanna and Annie, and the six remaining careers have my two friends on their knees at knife point.

Cato has a reinforced something around his leg, but even as he hobbles forward his smile glitters with triumph. "Well fought Lover-boy, I never liked Brutus very much... He seemed too much like a brute, if you know what I mean."

I ignore this statement. "Let them go," I demand.

Cato cannot help but laugh out loud and directly in my face. To be honest, if I were in his position, I'd do the exact same thing. "I don't think you're in any position to be demanding anything of anyone."

"You said that if I turned myself over to you, they didn't need to get hurt. Here I am, so let them go." I'm not really sure why the words are coming out of my mouth as they are, but I can't stop them. It's just who I am.

"I never said I'd let them go, did I?" He asks me with a cocky grin and I clench my teeth. We both understand that he's won. "I'll tell you what Lover-boy, since you are giving yourself up, I'll leave them right here. Hands and feet bound, with no water," my heart drops as he says this. "It's only about noon right now, so I give them a couple hours at most before they die anyways, heat is gonna reach well over a hundred and twenty degrees. If they don't die from dehydration, their skin just might boil! But I won't kill them in front of you if you'd prefer they die this way. Does that work with you?" My eyes meet Annie's, and then Johanna's. If I'm going to sacrifice myself, I want there to be at least a chance that Katniss and the others can rescue these two. I silently nod my head. "Excellent!" Cato exclaims. He ties them up and kicks them into the ground, taking great joy in doing so. "Come now, Peeta, it's time for you to meet your fate."

I close my eyes as I realize what's going to happen. Much like in District 8 with Thread, they are going to hurt me, they are going to torture me, they are going to break me in order to break Katniss. I sigh with great sadness filing my heart. It seems as though the odds will never be in the favor of the 'star crossed lovers of District 12...' "Fine. Let's go." I say.

Cato stops me as I walk up to him, and he puts a hand on my shoulder, and gives me a sarcastic smile. I know what's coming before he even does it. He slams his fist directly into my jaw, and just on the impact I'm sure that it's fractured in someway, shape or form. But as he makes contact, I coyly drop the spile into the dirt by Johanna, making eye contact with her one last time. I won't let them die from the heat, that's for sure. Then I'm snapped back to reality, "That's for my leg," Cato says scornfully. He gives me a good hard shove and we begin our long walk down the mountain back to the cornucopia I'm sure... Where they will broadcast my beatings and torture for the whole world to see. I'm trying to remain strong, but I feel a single tear trickle down my cheek. Life is cruel...

BOOOOOOOM! How'd you like that chapter guys? Again, sorry for the delay, but it was the holidays. With the end of the school semester rapidly approaching, I'm gonna be making posts less frequent unfortunately. Probably only about once a week as finals get closer and closer. That said, don't go anywhere! There is still lots more action to come in 'Change of Fate.' I've already begun work on the next chapter, so it should be up shortly. Please review!