Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or Kim Possible. Any characters or plotlines that appear in The Hunger Games series are property of Suzanne Collins, Scholastic, and Lionsgate. Any characters or plotlines that appear in Kim Possible are property of Disney. I am not writing this story for compensation, simply for enjoyment and practice.

A Sitch in Time: Secrets of Panem

By LuvPurple99

Chapter 4

Middleton General Hospital, Middleton, Colorado

"There is no District Twelve."

Katniss listened silently as Gale told her about the fire bombs that were dropped right after the Games. Gale had tried to lead as many people out as he could. But thousands had died. The damage was unimaginable. The District was caked in coal dust… fire would have caught and spread easily.

And it was all her fault.

"Katniss?" Finnick said hesitantly. Katniss turned to him, but she seemed to look right through him.

My name is Katniss Everdeen. I am 17 years old. I am a murderer. I should be dead. I should have died, and they could have lived. I should have never taken those berries. I should have never shot that arrow. I should have never…

"Katniss," Haymitch said, his voice commanding her attention. "Don't go there. You can't go there." He knew. He knew what she was thinking. He always knew.

Silence reigned in the room, the group from Middleton shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot. They had no idea what to say to these people from a world with so much violence.

Coin was the first to break the silence. "Miss Everdeen, we will avenge District Twelve. I promise you. But first, we need to get the two of you back here and in Thirteen. Fire is catching, Katniss. The people are ready for this rebellion. They need this rebellion. The oppression, the Games… it all has to stop. Whether you meant to or not, you made yourself the face of this rebellion with your defiant acts in your first Games. The people look up to you, Katniss. We can help you become that leader. But we need to get you back here first."

Katniss wanted to believe the woman's words. But she couldn't separate the image of her beloved home disintegrating into ashes from her acts in the Games. She didn't feel like a rebel or a leader. She felt like a traitor.

All she had wanted to do was save her sister. How did this get so twisted?

"How do we get back?" Finnick asked, shifting the attention away from Katniss. He was grieving, too, for Annie. But they had to focus if they had any hope of saving the people they loved back home.

"We're still working that out," Beetee responded. "As advanced as we are, I've never seen or heard of anything that could create the temporal rift necessary to transport you back here. I have no idea how we would induce such a dimensional vortex."

Induce a dimensional vortex. Kim and Ron shared a look.

"Ahem," Ron coughed nervously. "We might be able to help with that."

Beetee raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Go on."

"We've dealt with something like that before. It's called the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer. I know the scientist who invented it. I'm sure he would help us," Kim explained.

"Excellent," Beetee said. "We'll start there. In the meantime, we will do our part here in District 13 to prepare. We will hopefully see you both soon."

"Katniss?" Gale said quietly, willing her to look at him. When her eyes met his, he gave her a sad smile. "Try to keep it together, yeah? For your sister." It almost wasn't fair, him bringing her up like that. But he knew her too well. He knew the thought of getting back to Prim would keep her fighting.

The room was silent again after the group from District 13 hung up. All Katniss could do was look at her hands.

Finnick suddenly looked troubled. "Beetee said they found us through my tracker…"

Katniss looked over at him, following his train of thought. "If they know, then it won't be long before…"

Without hesitation, Finnick grabbed a scalpel from a nearby tray, stabbing it into his forearm to dig out the tracker. Dr. Possible, Kim, and Ron gasped in shock.

"Dude! What are you doing?!" Ron yelled, raising his arms to block his view of the gore.

In answer, Finnick produced the small computer chip, holding it up briefly before cracking it in two. Dr. Possible immediately moved to staunch the flow of blood. Kim looked between Finnick and Katniss, who seemed unfazed by the sudden violence.

"Where… what kind of world do you live in?" she asked, a bit wobbly on her feet.

"You don't want to know," Finnick responded, holding his arm out as Dr. Possible wrapped a bandage tightly around it.

"I… I think we need to know what we're dealing with. Why did you have a tracker in your arm? Who are you fighting against?"

"President Snow," Katniss whispered. "The Capitol. They're the reason we're in this mess. They're the reason my home has been burned to the ground. They're the reason for it all."

"But why the tracker?" Kim continued.

"To keep tabs on us," Finnick responded.

"In the Hunger Games," Katniss finished.

"The… the Hunger Games? I'm guessing that's not a pie eating contest…" Ron mused darkly.

Finnick barked a harsh laugh. "Far from it."

"It's a way for them to keep control over us. So we don't rebel again." Katniss told them about the Dark Days, about the institution of the Hunger Games. How every year, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 must enter the arena and fight to the death. How the winner is showered in fame and riches. How it's meant to suppress and oppress them. How Finnick had won 10 years prior, the youngest Victor at just 14. How she had volunteered to take her little sister's place. How she had beat the Capitol at their own manipulation game and won, for the first time, with her District's partner, Peeta. How this year's games took Victors from the previous ones to thin the herd and prove that even the "strongest and bravest among them are no match for the Capitol."

How it had ended. And how Peeta and Annie were now in enemy territory.

Ron and the two Possible women stood in silent shock and horror. Tears ran down Dr. Possible's face as she imagined her own children – just 12 and 17 themselves – having to take part in such a slaughter.

"But… you're just children. They are just children," she managed.

Katniss shook her head sadly. "We've never had the luxury of being just children. No one in the Districts does – not even from the Career Districts. They start training for the Games as soon as they can walk. And then they volunteer. And they almost always win. They're the Capitol's pets."

"No one decent ever wins the Games," Finnick added.

"Peeta did," Katniss said quietly. "Peeta did… and now they have him."

"And Annie, too," Finnick said.

It didn't take much to conclude that Peeta and Annie were their sweethearts, even if Katniss wouldn't admit it. Kim knew how she'd feel if Ron were in the hands of people so violent, so willing to stoop to unimaginable levels.

They were out of their depth with this situation. But Kim was stubborn, and she was determined to do everything she could to help. She shoved her emotions into a mental box and adopted the comfort of her mission mode.

"I can't even begin to imagine everything you've both been through," Kim started, "but we're going to do whatever we can to get you back so you can save your friends and your country." They made plans to have Katniss and Finnick discharged into the Possibles' care. The next day, Kim and Ron would visit Dr. Bortel and see what could be done about the PDVI.

They just hoped this would work.