Alright, So I could give you about twenty reasons as to why I haven't updated in a while, But I'm sure you don't want to hear them. So I won't bore you with the details.

Oh, and by the way, thanks to all of you who are reviewing. It's great to know this is working out okay. :D

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, it still wasn't mine.

Chapter 16

Blood

"Peeta! Katniss!" Finnick waved us over from where he was eating breakfast. "I'd like to introduce you to Annie Cresta. Annie, this is Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark."

"Hello," whispered Annie shyly. Already she looked better than she had when I first saw her three days ago; there was a but of color in her cheeks, and her hair was sleek and shiny. She seemed to have gained a little weight too, which could only be good after weeks of imprisonment.

"Hi," said Peeta friendlily. "Finnick's told us all about you."

"Good things, I hope," she smiled, getting over her shyness a little. It was hard to be shy when talking to Peeta; he just made you feel comfortable.

"Only the best." Grinned Finnick. "We have great news!" he announced.

"Really? What?" I asked.

"We're getting married!"

"Congratulations, guys!"

"Thanks, Peeta," said Finnick, joy plastered across his face. I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. Finnick Odair, getting married? For my entire life, Finnick had just been the pretty Victor who moved from one girl to the next with less thought than a rooster flitting onto the next hen. Of course, I know now that it isn't true, and that the Capitol had been selling him off, but it still felt weird.

Then I saw the look on Finnick's face when he looked at Annie. It was the look I had seen on my father's face when he looked at my mother, on Peeta's face when he looked at me. And it no longer felt strange; it felt perfect.

"When?" I asked.

"After Finnick's trip." Grinned Annie. I looked at Finnick questioningly.

"After the mission," he whispered. "I don't want her to worry." He added in a way of explanation. Then he said in a louder voice; "It was Coin's idea; she reckons it'll boost morale; and who are we to complain?"

"Well, congratulations again," said Peeta, smiling at Annie. "You're very lucky."

"I know," she whispered.

~~0~~

The next few days were spent in planning and training, then before we knew it, we were off to District Two. I couldn't keep the dead weight of dread forming in the pit of my stomach; what if something went wrong? What id some-one got hurt? What if, god forbid, Peeta got hurt? What would I do?

Peeta seemed to sense that something was wrong, and squeezed my hand.

"It'll be fine Katniss. Nothing is going to happen." I nodded.

Out of the hovercraft window, I could see pretty much the whole of District Two. Two is a large, mountainous district, with villages spread out all over the place. In the center is the largest mountain of all, which has a couple of entrances all over the place. This mountain, nicknamed the Nut, used to be a mine. But when the Capitol lost District Thirteen and started to look for a new military stronghold, they found the Nut; strong, seemingly harmless, almost impossible to penetrate.

Of course, that might be a bit of an issue for us.

Our main plan is to find a way to get the Nut out of business, cutting it of from the Capitol. Then, we need to get the people of Two over onto our side; if we are to destroy the Capitol, we are going to have to get as many people as we can, and District Two has the largest population out of all the districts, as well as the most weapons and military training; if we could pick any one district to have on our side, this would be it. Ironically, it was the only district still against us.

When we landed, we were all hurried over to a small village. It had been abandoned for a while, as most people in Two prefer to live in the villages near the Nut, closer to the main square and the center of the District. Behind the village, in a small field similar to my old meadow back in Twelve, several tents have been erected as planning areas. They didn't want to go inside the buildings or even the small town square in fear of cameras.

This isn't the main base, it's just a smaller one of to the side. The main Conflict has already started; Coin thought it best if we were to arrive late to keep the main focus off us; she didn't want us hurt, just filmed. We were to stay behind the lines, but try and get a little fighting done. We would be around other soldiers, also fighting; but they would be under orders to help us if need be.

We just milled around outside the tent, waiting our orders. In a matter of minutes, Boggs came out of a tent and came over to us.

"It's time." He said.

Peeta put his arms around me and rubbed my back.

"Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I muttered, shrugging out of his arms. I grabbed his hand and my bow, and we followed after Boggs with Finnick, Cressida, Messalla and a few other soldiers that were to be our guard.

We didn't go to the Nut, but to one of the surrounding villages. It looked like a big one, and there were quite a few people running all over the place; some running from the rebels in fear, others running towards them, looking for a fight. Luckily, there didn't seem to be any peace keepers about; Coin believed that they would all be bent on defending the Nut.

I think that the plan was to destroy all of the entrances to the Nut except for one; that way, all of the people inside would be forced out that one entrance in a steady stream and get picked off. Even though we were outnumbered, we would have a slight advantage, as the small tunnel entrance would force the peacekeepers to come out in a thinner trickle, rather than all at once. However, they would be fresh with reinforcements, but Coin was hoping that we could overcome this by being more prepared.

We, on the other hand, are just going to be back here, herding the civilians. Of course they'll put up a fight too – this is a career district, they all know how to fight - but they stop training when they get too old for the Hunger Games, and they most certainly won't be as experienced as the peacekeepers. But all I have to do is remember the look on Cato's face as he ran towards me…

I shuddered. This was Cato's district. I killed Cato. I as good as killed Clove. And if it weren't for me, Finnick probably wouldn't have killed Brutus either. There are going to be a lot of people out there today, thirsting for my blood.

Soon we were on the outskirts of the village, about to enter the fray. Gun shots were going off everywhere; the rebels may have been under orders to contain, not kill, ad not even capture, as Coin wanted to at least try to gain their trust, but that didn't mean the citizens of District Two were doing the same. In their eyes, we weren't there to destroy the Nut and take down the Capitol; oh no, we were there to kill their families, destroy their homes and steal their livelihoods. I could understand this point of view. I never did think that this was the best of plans.

"Ready, Miss Mockingjay?" whispered Finnick in my ear.

"I guess," I said.

"How about you, Mr. Mockingjay?" I felt a blush creep up my neck, and turned away from Finnick. Mr Mockingjay? Seriously? I don't even know why I blushed; it was just a stupid comment. Peeta remained silent, pretending he hadn't heard.

"Peeta? Come on, I was talking to you!"

"Oh, you meant me, did you?" grinned Peeta. "'Cause you know, it's usually the woman that changes her name."

"Right you are, then." Chuckled Finnick, trying again. "How about you, Mr. Mellark?"

"What can be expected?" He asked, then turned back to the village. Joking moods couldn't last long here. I was surprised they had surfaced at all.

Boggs ushered us forward, and we entered the village.

We didn't seem to do much; the other rebels were doing all the work. Cressida was grumbling about how she couldn't get any good shots of me when I was surrounded by guards. Boggs seemed to have the same thoughts in mind, and, according to the communicator I had in my ear, Haymitch did as well.

"You need to get her in more action!" He was yelling. "She's not doing anything!"

"I know," Muttered Boggs. "But we have our orders."

About half and hour after we first entered the village, Haymitch's muttering stopped and everything was silent.

Then we heard a humming in the background. Then the humming became a rumble. And then the rumble became a roar.

"No," said Peeta, looking up at the sky. "Not again."

"Katniss, get out of there!" Yelled Haymitch.

"But… they wouldn't bomb here! They'd risk damaging the most important District!" I cried.

"Wrong," growled Haymitch. "They wouldn't bomb the Nut. They have no qualms about losing a village or a couple of hundred civilians if it means they could wipe out the Mockingjay. I froze as it sunk in.

"Then I can't leave," I whispered.

"WHAT?" Haymitch was past yelling now; he could only be described as screaming. "You'll get killed! Peeta, make her listen!"

Haymitch was asking Peeta for help? Well, things must be bad. But I shook my head.

"I can't. They already know I'm here. If I leave the village, they'll be able to target me better. If I stay here, then I can help, Cressida can get some footage, and it'll be harder for them to find me."

"Harder for them to… Katniss, they wouldn't mind destroying the entire village! They don't have to find you!"

"Then it sounds like I'm dead whatever I do. Look, I can't run; you won't be able to get the hovercraft in and there is nowhere to hide. In fact, if I leave the village, I'd be doing them a favor; that way, they can kill me and not lose any of their loyal people of District Two! If I'm going to die anyway, at least let me help! Let me die fighting! I don't want to die like a coward. Mu father didn't. My sister didn't. My father died at work; my sister saving the life of something she loved. So don't you dare tell me to run and hide, and get killed like a scared rabbit!"

There was no reply. I think I may have just rendered the great Haymitch Abernathy speechless. Yay for me.

"I think she's right." I turned to see Peeta, staring at me with intensity. "If we're going to go, we might as well bring as many of them as we can down with us."

"No-one is going to die," said Haymitch. "And as much as I don't like this… I think you're right too, Katniss."

"WHAT?" This time, it was Boggs' turn to exclaim in horror. "We can't let her – you - do this! What if you-"

"Relax. She's as safe there as anywhere, and wasn't the point of this trip getting her to fight?"

"Yeah, I guess so, but-"

Before he could finish, there was a huge explosion to my right, and the world erupted in flame.

I was thrown to the ground, and something landed on top of me. I felt a scream leave my lips as I realised what it was.

It was one of the soldiers assigned as our guard. Or, at least what was left of him.

His head was missing, and so was his left arm. The body was smoldering a little, and there were great big burns everywhere.

I was covered in blood.

I pushed him off me and ran. I didn't care where – I just ran. I had seen some pretty awful things in my life; but I don't think that even seeing Cato ripped to shreds by a pack of mutated wolves could even compare to that. Maybe it was because it was so like how I had imagined my father dying - engulfed in flames and blown to bits.

I could hear someone following me, and stopped in my tracks as I realized what a stupid move I'd just pulled. I'd just run away from my group, alone, into enemy territory with bombers zooming around the place. And not just any enemy territory either; as mentioned before, there are most likely more than a few people in this district that are after my blood.

Pushing the unhappy thoughts out of my head, I spun around and nocked an arrow, ready to dispose of my tail.

A person burst around the corner and I was about to let loose when I recognized the head of blond hair.

Peeta.

Thank goodness he was okay.

He sprinted towards me, panicked, and wrapped his arms around me.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!" he growled. "I didn't know… I thought…" Then, he gasped, and pulled away from me, noticing the blood. I was completely drenched. He began searching me for a wound, asking me over and over if I was okay.

"I'm fine," I said in a hollow voice that sounded nothing like my own. "It's not mine. I guess the guards must have been between us and the explosion, and ended up shielding us."

But Peeta didn't look relieved; he might have even looked worse. He pulled me towards him again and held me tight.

"But are you okay?" he asked. This time, I knew he didn't mean physically.

I didn't answer. I just pulled him closer to me, and laid my head on his shoulder. We stood there for a while, oblivious to the stench of burning flesh, the tremors in the ground, the screams of children and the people yelling for us. I tired to make myself forget everything. It was just Peeta and I, nothing else.

An explosion to our left broke me out of my trance as the shockwave pushed us off our feet. We both stumbled back up, and I grabbed Peeta's shoulders.

"Peeta, we have to help," I said desperately. "We have to do something!" He nodded just as Cressida and Messalla ran up to us.

"Oh, thank goodness!" cried Cressida. "We're all so worried! Finnick and Boggs are out of their minds, they don't know where you went!"

"Cressida!" I yelled. "Calm down! We have to help, okay?" Cressida nodded. "Good. Do you reckon you'll be able to film us?"

"Katniss, I don't think-" Peeta began, but I held u my hand to stop him.

"I agree with you, there are more important things that making propos. But if we don't get out of this alive, I don't want this to have all been for nothing. Let's at least get some good footage of us fighting, doing our bit to help this war! Then maybe, just maybe, the rebels will have a bit more of a chance!" Peeta nodded.

"Of course," said Cressida, "We've been filming this whole time. I agree with you; we should do what we can."

"You do your thing, we're behind you all the way," added Messalla.

"Great," I said. "Let's go."

I seemed to enter a trance similar to the one I was in back in Eight. I shot my bow. I chased a couple of peacekeepers that seemed to have gotten out of the Nut. We helped a couple of injured rebels get back to a safer area.

The whole time, there were explosions going. I tried to ignore them, but it was impossible. I couldn't help but wonder if Finnick was okay. Surely fate wouldn't be so cruel to have him die before he could get married?

No, I told myself. Nobody is going to die.

Every so often I would shoot upwards with an exploding arrow, and sometimes I'd bring down a jet. But hardly ever. I think I got about three.

There was horror everywhere. Bits of people in the street, thrashing bodies in the mud. I wanted to just collapse on the ground and cry, but I held myself together. I am Katniss Everdeen, and I was not going to give up. I was going to try my hardest to get out of there alive.

After I have no idea how long, I saw a couple of peacekeepers run into a house. In a fury, I followed them, Peeta and my camera crew hot on my heels. I shot one of them down as I ran in the door, but the others escaped to another room. I followed the hallway and ran up the stairs, jumping onto the landing. Peeta had fallen behind a little due to his leg; he was just as fast as me on flat ground, but he'd always had a bit of a problem climbing stairs. I could hear the peacekeepers muttering in one of the rooms down the hall. Not wanting to leave him, I turned to see if Peeta was okay. He was about half way up the stairs. I was about to go help him get up a little faster when I heard a creak behind me.

I spun around, arrow nocked; ready to destroy the peacekeeper that had tried to sneak up behind my back. But what I saw was no peacekeeper.

Standing behind me, and expression of intense fear etched across his face, was a small boy. He looked about eleven years old, with dark hair that fell into his blue eyes, which were locked on the head of my arrow. He looked terrified yes; but that wasn't what held my attention. It was the small knife clenched in his fist.

I was about to let go of my arrow when something inside of me froze. This wasn't the enemy. This was just a little kid, trying to survive. He probably thought I was there to kill him. I felt horror surge through me. What was I doing?

I lowered my bow, and the boy relaxed visibly; though he kept a tight grip on his knife. I put my arrow back in my quiver, and slung my bow on my arm. I knew this was probably a bad idea with peacekeepers just down the hall, but I didn't want this boy to hurt me. Not just because I wanted to stay alive, but because I didn't want him to turn into a monster. I knew what it felt like to kill some-one. It wasn't glorified, or heroic. It was awful. Their faces came back to haunt you every night, you never got rid of the guilt; you spend the rest of your life turning it over in your head, trying to figure out if what you did was right.

I couldn't do that to this boy. He had probably been brainwashed by the Capitol. Hell, all kids had been brainwashed by the Capitol. Even I had when I was his age.

I took a wary step closer to him, and he raised his knife.

"Stay back," he whispered shakily.

"I won't hurt you," I said quietly. "I promise. I'm just here to help."

"How?" He cried. "How can you be helping when all you're doing is killing people?"

I sighed, knowing he was right.

"I don't know," I whispered. The boy looked taken aback. He didn't seem to have expected that. "But you see, if we do this now, we can stop the killing later," I continued, feeling supported by his confused expression. "The Capitol has killed lots of people in the Hunger Games. If we stop them, people won't have to go there anymore."

"You can stop it?"

"I can try."

"Then try harder," he said fiercely. "My big brother died in those games three years ago. He was sixteen, and he volunteered. I told him not to, but he didn't listen! Now, my sister, she's been looking after me, 'cause my Mother got sick after Trevor died. But she wants to volunteer at the next games, but I can't let her!" The boy was shaking with sobs now, and I reached forward to pull the knife out of his hands.

"I'll stop them." I said determinedly. He surprised me, reaching forward and hugging me. I put an arm around him stiffly.

"Promise?"

"I promise." The boy looked up and me, trust in his eyes. His smile was the last thing I saw before I heard the gunshot.

Pain. That's all I could feel. Blinding pain in my side, almost like I'd been stabbed with a white hot knife.

Despite this, I could hear the boy screaming at a young girl while she dragged him away, only to be stopped by Finnick as he ran up the steps. I could hear Cressida whimpering and Messalla yelling. But most of all I could hear Peeta as he scooped me up from the floor and held me close.

"Katniss! Katniss, stay with me! I love you too much to lose you! Don't you dare die on me Katniss! Stay with me! Somebody, go get help! Finnick! Cressida! Messalla, turn the damn thing off and get a medic! It's all right, Katniss, I'm here. I won't leave you."

I wanted nothing more than to tell him that I loved him too. I knew it in that moment, lying there in his arms. But the pain in my side overcame everything else and I passed out into blackness.

I hope that was satisfactory... I'm not sure If I did the raid on Two justice. But in case you're wondering what's going on with him, as I said before, there'll be a bit of Gale in the next chapter.