Ok, so, I know this was late in coming, and I know I could give you about twenty excuses, but I won't. I'll give you one word. School. Yes, does that cover it? Yay, now on to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own it. End of story.

Chapter 7

Weapons

"Okay, okay, I get it." I have been sitting here, in this room, for about three hours. Yeah. That's right. The amazing Mockingjay, head of the rebellion, who had just this morning made the president of District 13 agree to several demands, was having a makeover.

Alright, so I know I have had makeovers before. But that was before the Hunger Games. A television show. Yes, I get why I needed to look nice for those interviews, to get sponsors and stuff. But seriously. This is a war. Not some awful, sick form of entertainment for the Capitol. A full scale war.

And here I am, being told that I must not, under any circumstances, touch my face.

Because I'll smudge the makeup.

Wonderful.

To calm my mind a little, I think about what Haymitch told me before I came in here. So long as I sit still and be good, I can go down to special defense and see Beetee, who apparently has a surprise for me.

Wait, bad idea.

Thinking of Beetee makes me feel guilty. I still haven't seen him since that time on the hovercraft, and he was unconscious then. I feel so bad for thinking he had tried to kill us.

Shaking those unhappy thoughts from my head, I sorted through my mind, trying to come up with a slightly less daunting topic. The announcement? Oh yeah, cause that's going to be heaps of fun.

"And you're done!" Venia announced. I sighed with relief. "Ok, you can go back out to Plutarch now! Have a good day, Katniss!"

"You too guys." I walk out of the room – finally – and went over to Plutarch. Peeta was already there. As usual, it seemed his makeover took a lot less time than mine did.

Plutarch led Peeta and I down a heap of stairs and through a couple of corridors, until we reached a door marked Special Defence. I felt a surge of excitement run through me. I could only think of one thing that Beetee could have for me. A Bow.

The excitement suddenly disappeared, and was replaced by a feeling of uneasiness. Beetee. Uh oh. I am not looking forward to this.

Plutarch threw open the door, and we went inside. Beetee was sitting in a wheelchair, examining a cage full of small, brightly coloured birds. Peeta closed the door behind us, and as it clicked shut, Beetee spun around with reflexes born from being thrown into the arena.

"Ah, Katniss, Peeta, here to pick up your weapons? Good, good, come right through here." And with that, he stood up, and walked straight into the next room. No nice comments. No nasty (and well deserved) comments. No nothing.

It's making me even more nervous.

"Well, go on then." Urged Plutarch, shoving us towards the door, "It's rude to make him wait, you know."

Peeta pulled me gently towards the door. We had to go through a heaps of security checks, and had our DNA and fingerprints tested about twenty times, but we finally came to an amazing room full of some of the most amazing weapons I had ever seen in my life. There were guns, sure, but they were not the only things there. There were also swords, knives, tridents, cannons, nets, slingshots, maces, clubs, sharp discs that looked like they were meant for throwing, and many more. But the bows are what held my attention. They are sleek and shiny, incredibly beautiful. But not just that. They look deadly. These bows could kill someone.

Beetee does not give us time to gawk at all of these amazing things. He drags us through yet another door, where there are even more security checks, until we finally come into another room.

Sitting on the far wall, each in it's own stand, is a trident, a knife, an axe, and a bow. They all surpass anything that I have ever seen before, including the incredible objects sitting a hallway and a heap of security stuff away. I stare hungrily at the bow. Surely it is meant for me. It is black, and covered with intricate carvings. It is already strung, and I can just tell by looking at it that it is perfect.

Beetee steps forward, lifts up the bow, and holds it out to me.

I was right. It's mine.

I could hardly contain my excitement as I reached forward to take to bow. But just before my fingers brush the polished wood, a small voice in the back of my head starts to speak.

Why do you want this bow? I snorted. Wasn't that obvious? It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life. But, don't you remember what bows do?

Bows… bows kill. I shuddered. Is that what I wanted? Did I really want to go out there and kill people? I had killed enough already.

I was forced to consider a question that I thought I knew, but, I wasn't completely sure If my answer was good enough.

Why am I fighting?

Well, I want to stop the Hunger Games, obviously. Too many kids die every year just so that the Capitol can prove a point.

The words that Gale spoke to the whole of Panem came back to me.

"Everybody should stop fighting. In a war, thousands and thousands of people die. So far, the Hunger Games have killed less than two thousand. Wouldn't it make sense to stop the war and go back to the peaceful life we had?"

What if he was right? What if it was better if we all just stopped fighting?

No, whispered the voice. No, it wouldn't. It's not just the Hunger Games that you want to put an end to. You want to put an end to the way the Capitol treats the people of the Districts. You're not only fighting for the children's right to stay alive, you are fighting for their right to live. Because that is what the Capitol is doing. They are not just killing people. Living has so much more to it than just surviving. And the people of the districts can't live with the Capitol hovering over them like a great big bird of prey.

I reached out and grabbed the bow confidently. I know why I am fighting.

Beetee explained to me how to work my bow. It would activate upon 'hearing' the sound of my voice, and to deactivate it, I had to say 'goodnight'. When it was deactivated, it would not hit its target; the string would shoot the arrows off at a slight angle, no matter how good a shot the archer was.

"Now, these are your arrows. These ones are normal, these ones are fire, and these are explosive."

"Ri- wait, what? Fire? Explosive? Explosive arrows?"

"Yes, Katniss, explosive arrows." Beetee repeated in a tired voice.

"I, well, wow." I managed to get out. Explosive arrows! I could do some serious damage with these. If only I had them back when I was trying to destroy the career food supply in my first games…

"Peeta, I have made you this knife. It will never break, and will never grow dull. It too activates by the sound of your voice, and deactivates when you say 'goodnight'. When deactivated, it is no longer sharp. Also, if you throw it or drop it, press this button here-" Beetee pointed out a small button attached to an arm band that he wrapped around Peeta's wrist "-and it will return to your hand."

"Beetee, I-"

"I know you don't want to fight, Peeta. Don't worry, I don't think they will actually be sending you out there. It was meant to be just for show, Katniss, your bow too, but I figured that if I was going to make them, I might as well make them useful. Just in case."

"Right, thanks, Beetee."

I'm not sure whether to be relieved or angry about not fighting. I want to help, but I have killed enough people already… I guess Coin thins I can help in other ways though. Maybe that's best.

The door suddenly swung open and Finnick walked in.

"What did I miss?"

"Just handing out weapons, Finnick." Finnick's expression lightened when he spotted the marvellous trident. Beetee handed it to him, and explained what it did. It was similar to Peeta's knife: never dulls or breaks, comes back to his hand with a press of a button, and is not sharp when deactivated.

"Nice." Said Finnick appreciatively. "But, anyway," He started, turning to me. "I didn't come down here to get a great trident from Beetee." I raised an eyebrow at him. He chuckled. 'Well, okay, so it was the main reason. But I want to thankyou, Katniss."

"Me?" I asked, startled. "Why?"

"For what you did for Annie. You are getting Coin to give her immunity. I worry about her. I've been afraid, ever since I got here, that she would say something, or do something, and then Coin would say she had commited blasphemy or some such rubbish, and they would try to take her away from me, and-"

"Finnick, Finnick. Stop."

"Sorry." He took a deep breath, then looked me in the eye. "What I mean is, thank you. I don't know how I can repay you."

"I'm sue we'll think of something," I joked. "How about you get me out of the makeup?" I gestured to my face. He laughed.

"That wouldn't be doing you a favour. Then you would have to sit around so they could do it again. And, anyway," He grinned, and winked at me. "You need it."

I huffed as Peeta and Finnick burst out laughing. Beetee kept staring at the floor. I sighed. Finnick's 'thankyou' had brought to mind an apology that I had to make.

"Beetee… Beetee, I'm sorry." I he looked up, startled.

"You? Why?"

"For being so horrible. For thinking that you were trying to kill us, when really you were trying to save our lives."

"It's fine Katniss. I'm the one that should be apologizing. I was there, knocking you out with a stick and cutting into you. I wanted to explain, I knew that the Gamemakers had probably figured out what I was doing anyway, but I knew you wouldn't listen. I did what I thought was best, but you got hurt and-"

"It's fine. It wasn't your fault, I know you were trying to save us. Thanks for that, by the way." I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

"Well, that's that then. Katniss, Peeta, Plutarch will probably want you back now." We nodded, and then Beetee gestured towards the door. But then I stopped. There had been four weapons on that wall. I glanced over to the final weapon, and froze as the realisation dawned on me.

It's an axe.

"Beetee, that axe. It's for… it's for…" He nodded, knowing what I was trying to say.

"Yes Katniss. It's for her. If she gets out."

Another person that saved my life that I didn't appreciate at the time. Another person in the hands of the Capitol. Probably wishing that they are dead.

The four of us stood there, looking at that axe, we all thought of the same woman. A person that none of us, except Finnick, had truly had any feelings for until now.

And I knew that we had to get her out. Gale wasn't the only one. She had gone through hell and back as well. She had been in two Hunger Games just like the four of us. She had seen suffering and suffered herself, yet she sacrificed herself so that Peeta and I could get out. I owed her one.

That pushy, temperamental, mean, amazing woman.

Johanna.

Ok, so I know there was not much Peeta in there, but bear with me. There is more Peeta coming, I promise.