I know this pretty much the same as Mockingjay, but don't worry. It's going to change more bit's kinda necessary.

Disclaimer: If I owned The Hunger Games, I would have a lot more money than I do now. Since I don't, I clearly own nothing.

Chapter 6

Demands

Once again, I wake up screaming.

Someone is by my side, trying to calm me down. Someone with blonde hair and blue eyes. First I think it's Peeta, but it can't be. He is too far away to hear my screams, several halls away. Besides, this persons hair is too long.

It's Prim.

"Katniss! Katniss! Katniss, wake up! It's ok, it's just a dream, Katniss!"

I hate to see her in so much pain. I force myself to wake up.

"Alright, Prim, I'm awake," I groan.

"Are you sure?"

I sigh.

"Yes Prim, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. I get them all the time."

"I know, but…" she shook her head, then looked at me again. This time, the look on her face was caring. Hang on, when did this happen? Not that long ago, she was a small, twelve year old girl who couldn't keep her dress tucked in. So much had happened since then, and my little sister had been forced to grow up. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I-" And I realized that I did want to talk about it. I needed someone to understand what I was going through. "Prim, I've decided to be the Mockingjay."

"I knew you would. But, what has that got to do with your nightmare? Or are you worried that you'll have to go out there, and have to... and see…" She stopped talking, but I knew what she meant. I would have to go out there, and fight. Probably have to kill again. I would see all of those people…

"No, that's not it. You see, Prim, I worried about Gale."

"Ah. You know, I'm sure he'll be fine. With you as the Mockingjay, the war will end sooner than we think it will, and then Coin will let him out of the Capitol-"

"But Prim, that is exactly what I am worried about! What If, when I am the Mockingjay, the war ends. You saw what Gale said on the T.V! Coin would have him executed as a traitor!"

"I don't think she would."

"Prim-" I begin, exasperated. But she cuts me off.

"No, Katniss, really. I don't think Coin would hurt him. Maybe she would punish him a little, but not too much."

"But, I… What makes you think that?"

"Because he is your family."

"Prim, everyone knows that's not true!" I start to panic again. There are quite a few flaws in her logic.

"Well, he is almost your family. He is your best friend. I am sure Coin will not harm him; by doing so she would alienate you from her cause."

"But, what will she need me for when the war is over? I won't matter any more! All she needs me for is to encourage people." Prim stops for a minute, thinking.

"Then maybe you could ask her. Tell her that you will only be the Mockingjay if she promises not to hurt Gale. You have more influence here than you realise, you know." It was pretty much the same as what Peeta told me back in 12. That I shouldn't just be wallowing in misery, that I should actually do something. Because I have the power to get it done.

"That's, that's a really good idea."

"Thankyou. Now that we have that sorted, do you think you will be ok to sleep?" No, I don't. I know I won't. But I don't want to worry her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You go get some sleep now. We'll have a lot more work to do about the place, now that your little pampered Prince is here." She smiled, and crawled into bed.

When her breathing slowed, I got up, and tiptoed to the door. Then I walked through a couple of hallways before I came to it. Room 412. There is only one way that I can have a decent night

I hadn't been in here before. When we first got to 13, Peeta and I were in rooms near the hospital, as we still had wounds from the games that needed to be patched up. Now though, we had been given rooms with our family. As Peeta has no family, he has been given a small room by himself. That's why he is so far from us: his room is with the other singular ones, while we are in a family room.

I pushed open the door, and closed it quietly behind me. I could see him on his bed. He was sleeping.

As I got closer, noticed he was shivering, and covered in sweat.

"Katniss! Katniss! Where are you? Katniss! Run!"

"Peeta! Wake up!" I sit next to hi on the bed and shake him awake. "Peeta! It's OK, I'm here."

"Katniss!" He stares at me with wide eyes. Slowly, he calms down. "You're here."

"Really? I didn't notice." He ignores my joke.

"Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Nightmares?" I nod. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me down against his chest. "Do you want to talk about it?" This time, I shake my head. I don't think he would be too happy about Prims plan. "That's ok." He leaned down and pressed his face against my hair. I smiled, and snuggled against his chest.

I felt like a pressure had been lifted from me, somehow. I guess it's just that, finally, I am able to sleep.

~~0~~

I wake up to a pounding on the door.

"Peeta! You better get up now or I'll bash down the door!" Haymitch. Of course. "Get up!"

I groaned, and tried to pull the covers back over me.

"Alright then, be that way! I'll just have to tell Coin and Katniss that you were too lazy to come to the meeting!"

I felt Peeta move beside me.

"What's going on? Is the Capitol attacking?" He moaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Nah, it's just Haymitch."

Peeta looked at me and smiled.

"Good morning."

"Don't you good morning me!" Haymitch screeched. "I still need to go get your little girlfriend after this, so you- " he barged through the door. " –had better- Oh. Hello Katniss."

I glared at him.

"Anyways, the two of you have to get up now. Coin's called a meeting, and you two had better be there in two minutes, or-"

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry, we'll be there." Peeta got out of the bed and stretched.

With one last glare, Haymitch walked out of the door with a gruff "You'd better."

As soon as he was gone, I ran over to the door. I still needed to go back to my room to change.

"See you in two minutes, Peeta!"

"See you Katniss."

I ran back to my room, gaining a few odd stares from the people wandering about. It wasn't every day they got to see their Mockingjay sprinting through the hallways in her pyjamas. Not that I was officially the Mockingjay yet.

When I was ready, I went down to Command. Peeta was already there, as was Haymitch. It looked like I was the lat to arrive. Again.

When I took my place beside Peeta, Coin started to talk.

"So. As I am sure most of you have realized, we are here to complete the meeting that was… canceled yesterday." I blushed, remembering how I had hid in a linen cupboard while Coin had her men look for me. "So." She turned to me. "Straight to the point."

I expected her to be rough, to tell me that I had to be the Mockingjay, or she'd kick me out of 13 or something. But she surprised me. Her face softened a little, and her voice lost some of its coldness.

"Katniss, I understand what you are going through. I think most people here do. I know that I never went into the games. But I have had many people I love taken away from me by the Capitol. I know how that feels. You might think that everything is over, but it isn't. There are some people that can't help when bad things happen. But they still try. Then there are the people who can, but give up. Don't be one of those people, Katniss. You can help. You can lead this rebellion. You can lift people's hopes, she them what they are fighting for. The people we have lost, they went down trying to stop this madness. Don't let them have died for nothing."

What is she talking about? Gale isn't dead. I have lost Madge, my Father, Rue. But they didn't die fighting the Capitol. Well, I don't know about Madge. And what was that she said about leading the rebellion? I thought that was her job?

Then I noticed something. Although her voice and expression had softened, her eyes had not. They glared at me with… Hatred? Anger? I'm not sure. But it didn't seem nice. Then I realized what she was doing.

She was just being persuasive.

Trying to force me to do something wasn't going to work. She must know that. She'd seen my Games. All a person needs to do is look at my face as I hold out those berries to know you can't force me into anything. All you need to do is talk to me. She is trying to get me to think that she's being nice, so I'll trust her, then she'll turn around and start bossing me about, possibly injuring my friend after the war.

I've spent way to long in the arena to fall for that one.

"So, what do you say? Will you be our Mockingjay and win this war, or will you sit on the side lines, safe and sound, and come out, disgraced, marked as a coward at the end of the war?"

And suddenly, I know what to do. Prim was right.

"Can I have a pen and paper?" Coin stares at me. "Please? It will just take a moment." She nods, and Boggs passes it to me.

I start to write down my demands.

First on the list is obvious. Gale. I need him to survive.

Next I think of my family. Prim. I need to keep her happy. So, I write down the next thing. Buttercup.

Think, think, I tell myself. What else do you want?

And the answer is simple. Peeta. I need him with me to do what I am going to have to do.

I can't think of anything else, but I don't want my list to comprise of only two things. This could be my last chance. I look around the room for inspiration.

And my eyes rest on Finnick.

Finnick, Finnick, Finnick. He has lost just as much as I have. Sure, his home hasn't been destroyed, but he's lost Annie. I add her to my list. She has been confirmed as a prisoner of the Capitol, like most of the other Victors, such as Johanna. The Capitol isn't sure what they will do, but as we have quite a few here is district 13, they aren't taking any chances.

I cross Annie off my list and replace it with another word. Victors.

I shut my eyes. I have three demands. Anything else? I feel my hand move across the page, writing out three words by itself, like it has it's own mind. When I open my eyes, I look down to see what they are.

I KILL SNOW.

Well, looks like I've got my fifth demand. Well, four really. The first and the fourth are pretty much the same.

"Are you done, Katniss?" Coin asks I nod. "What's your answer?"

"Yes. I will be your Mockingjay." I wait for all of the exciting murmurs to die down. Coin can tell I'm not finished. She frowns. "But, I have a few conditions."

A moan runs through the room. I can almost see it spreading around like a shock wave.

"And what might they be?" Coins voice is back to normal, maybe even colder, if that were possible.

"First," I began, deciding to start with the easiest one, "My family gets to keep our cat." There were, of course, a few objections. But Coin batted them down.

"I'm sure that can be arranged. What else?"

"Peeta. I'll need him with me to do this."

"With you how? By your side at all times? Will you continue with the star-crossed lovers?"

"I think that is best for appearances sake," Spoke up Plutarch. I hadn't even noticed he was there.

"Agreed. What next?" Coin looks at me expectantly.

I too a deep breath. Well, here goes.

"My friend, Gale, and any Victor that has been held prisoner by the Capitol, including Johanna Mason and Annie Cresta will be pardoned for whatever they might say against the rebellion."

Coins answer was immediate and seemingly unquestionable.

"No." But I won't give up that easily.

"Yes. It's not their fault they were captured. Who knows what the Capitol is doing to them?"

"They'll be tried as war criminals and treated as the tribunal sees fit."

"They'll be granted immunity!" I all but scream at her. "You will pledge this in front of the entire population of District 13. Today. It will be recorded. You'll hold yourself and your government responsible for their safety, or you'll have to find yourself another Mockingjay!"

As I was speaking I realized that I had to say that. If she didn't announce it in public, she could easily go back on her word.

I can hear people hissing to each other. I can only pick out a few words, things such as 'inspiring' and 'perfect'. I have no idea what they are talking about, but I don't care. I'm watching Coin.

I can almost see her brain working. If she give the victors immunity, there will be many people who will have something to say. If she gives Gale immunity… She could lose the respect of her citizens after what he had said on T.V the other day. But if she doesn't, she'll lose me. And she can't just find herself another Mockingjay. She knows this. The closest thing she's got is Peeta, and while he may be amazing with words, it just isn't the same. He wasn't the one that held up those berries. He was going to eat them, sure, but out of love. Not many people in the districts believed the same of me. I was doing it to deny the Capitol.

"Fine." She snapped. "But you better perform."

"I'll perform when you've made the announcement."

Finally, she turns away from and addresses a man on he left.

"Call a national security assembly today," She orders. "I'll make the announcement then. Is there anything left on your list, Katniss?"

"Just one more thing. I kill Snow." A tiny smile played about Coins lips.

"When the time comes, I'll flip you for it." I shrug.

"Fair enough."

"I'll leave her in your hands, then, Plutarch." And with that, she and everybody else files out of the room. Well. Almost.

I sit there, staring at the patterns on the carpet. Peeta wraps his arms around me.

"You were great." I allowed myself a small smile. Then Plutarch cleared his throat. Once again, I hadn't even noticed he was there.

"Katniss, I have something to show you." He pulls out a sketch book and passes it to me. I open it, and see some of the most wonderfull drawings. Drawings of me in armour. But not just any armour. It's black, but there is a slight fullness to the sleeves that allows the white underneath to show. It's Mockingjay armour. And there's only one person I can think of cabale of designing something so beautiful.

"Cinna."

"He made me promise I wouldn't show it to you until you had decided to be the Mockingjay yourself." Said Plutarch. I nodded, carefully turning the pages. "We don't just have the sketches," he continued. "We have the armour too. But I can't show you that now. There is something else you need to see." He stood up and went to the door. "Well, come on then!"

Peeta pulls me up, and takes my hand. Plutarch leads us through a series of corridors, then into an elevator. He presses a button, and we shoot down, even further bellow the earth than we already are. When we stop, Plutarch leads us to a door labeled 3908, and twists a key in the lock.

There, huddled on a small couch, is my Prep Team.