abugsaunt- Yes, I love always putting the tributes in just the right place because that adds to the drama :) Cato is evolving now, slowly but surely. I'm gonna say that Brutus and Enobaria were two of the mentors not initially aware of the rebellion. As for the rest of your awesome questions, you'll just have to read to find out :)

CupcakeSprinkles14- Thank you. It really does feel like something rips the ground from under you when you hear bad news about someone you care for.

Abysslullaby- I'm still unsure on my terminology, so I'll just take your advice and use "team" instead until I can get it all straight.

DrarryFrerard- Hehehe, Cato's so romantic when he's not being a bloodthirsty killer. I've seen that term "uke" before but I can't say I'm familiar with it. I'm curious to know, what does it mean?

sysi huhu- Oh, I will definitely continue, no worries. Thank you!

MangoMagic- I'm glad you liked it. Cato is growing into a more human character so he and Peeta can "talk" it out without spilling blood lol.

SLASHMONSTER eatin yo boys up- I think we all could use a Peeta in our lives, I really believe it would bring about world peace ;) I don't know if this next chapter is how you thought it would be but I made sure to put Katniss in it just for you. MUHAHAHAHA!

scheiGuy- Hmm, to kill Peeta off... have the Cato/Peeta story be about young love never brought to fruition, killed off by the cold hand of fate before it even had a chance... the rest of the story consisting of a despondent and tortured Cato battling his demons as the ghost of Peeta haunts him... having to live the rest of his days left with only the bittersweet longing of what might have been... an artistic expression of the old quote, "Love that we can not have is the one that lasts the longest, hurts the deepest and feels the strongest"... Hahaha, I'm just kidding. I wouldn't dare. I'm not that creative... or cruel.

Pale Is The New Tan- I see you have taken it a pun yourself to be very punny indeed. ಠ_ಠ ... we're even now. And I didn't mean for the end to be such a cliffhanger (blatant lie, I totally did).

"Word is he's been shot."

Cato started to feel himself losing it. He couldn't see anything and was overcome with a heaviness that buckled his knees. Just as he was about to fall, two pairs of hands embraced him and held him steady on his feet. He snapped up to see through blurred vision Clove and Marvel supporting his weight.

"Don't make a scene, Romeo," Clove hissed under her breath as she gripped her partner tight. "Look over there."

Cato was about to return to his anguish when all his distress washed aside by who appeared through the entryway.

Speak of the devil. Peeta appeared in the gathering space with the two other men from his team just in time to retort, "I didn't get shot. The bullet just grazed my arm. I say if it doesn't go in, then it doesn't count."

Cato couldn't help but be affected by the sight of the young rebel soldier. Peeta was standing defiantly on his own two feet and refusing assistance, dressed in black cargo pants tucked into black combat boots. A tight muscle-hugging black shirt was covered with a rugged bullet-proof vest; a machine gun attached to a sling hung in front. The boy was covered in soot and sweat and his left arm was dripping blood. Peeta looked exhausted but still had his trademark blaze of fight in his hypnotizing blue eyes. To sum it up, Cato was incredibly impressed by the sight and especially turned on. He was pulled from his thoughts by the district 6 boy suddenly running with panic towards Peeta.

"Peeta! Peeta! Are you okay? Oh, you are bleeding everywhere!"

"Hey Pip! I'm fine, it looks a lot worse than it is. I promise. The Capitol's gonna have to try a hell of a lot harder to take me down. Especially now that I have my partner in crime here in district 13 with me," Peeta joked as he rustled the young boy's hair. "It does me good to see you're okay kid."

"Of course I'm okay. All the tributes are okay. Thanks to you and district 13."

It was the mention of the remaining tributes that caused Peeta to shift his gaze past the younger boy to see, indeed, all the other rescued tributes before him were just staring at him. Rue first caught his attention with an excited wave, followed by Katniss who held her hand over her heart and smiled. Thresh gave him a respectful nod and Peeta continued to look down the line of tributes until his gaze rested upon Cato. Seeing the Career for the first time outside of the dangers of the Hunger Games sent Peeta's heart in a rapid flutter, seemingly extinguishing any pain he was feeling at the time from his battle wounds.

"Peeta!" the tour official quipped, snapping him out of his Cato-induced hypnosis. "Get out of here! You are bleeding all over the floor! Go to the infirmary this instant or I'll have you wishing the bullet went in!"

"Ha!" Peeta chuckled. "Yes, mam." And with that Peeta and his men took their leave of the other tributes and disappeared into an elevator to get stitched up.

Up in the infirmary, Peeta held off treatment so he could make his way around the hospital beds to his other injured comrades. He talked to and comforted them until a doctor was finally available to stitch him up. Sitting on a gurney, Peeta looked out into the hall to find Haymitch, Katniss, and Pip staring in at him.

His face lit up and he energetically waved them in with his good arm. "Well don't be strangers now. Come on in!"

The three gathered by his bedside as the doctor worked and Peeta pulled Pip up to sit beside him. "I'm so relieved to see you guys safe and sound."

"I can't believe you, Peeta," was the first thing out of Katniss' mouth. "I sat next to you in class every day for 10 years and you never even once bothered to mention you were a rebel soldier trained by the supposedly nonexistent district 13?"

Peeta just laughed. "Well, all of that was kind of top secret, sweetheart. Of course I never mentioned it."

"Oh, Come on, Peeta," she chided him. "You know you could have told me. I mean, I was out breaking the rules all the time hunting with Gale in the woods. We would have loved to join. Especially Gale."

"Well it's not too late, sweetheart," Haymitch interrupted. "In fact, it's the perfect time to join the rebellion."

"If either one of you call me sweetheart one more time, I'm gonna lose it. Of course I'll join the rebellion," Katniss scoffed. "I really just want to get out of here though and check on Prim and my mother."

"We have special intel from our district keeping an eye on all the tributes' and victors' families. If they were in danger, you would know," the doctor sewing up Peeta's arm assured her. Katniss breathed a sigh of relief she didn't even know she had been holding. It was Pip's turn now to speak.

"We saw you hijacking that hovercraft on television," Pip whispered as he nuzzled in closer to Peeta. "You were amazing. All the Gamemakers just stood there, stunned."

"You saw me in the hovercraft?" Peeta was genuinely surprised.

"They had security cameras in them," Katniss explained. "We all saw the footage."

"You did good, kid" Haymitch congratulated his fellow rebel.

"Well, I have you to thank for that, Haymitch," Peeta replied. "You're the one who gave me the heads up about the escape attempt from the arena."

"That was another thing I wish I was let in on," Katniss grunted. "Having the arena's force field unexpectedly explode over your head was a nice early morning present… not. But, hey, I'm just glad to be out of the Capitol."

"I'm glad we're all out of the Capitol," Peeta smiled as he wrapped his good arm tighter around Pip.

"Yeah, but that was a risky move going back into the city for us, kid," Haymitch mildly scorned the young soldier. "Officials told me what went down. They said it was your idea and that you did the mission against Coin's better judgment."

"I didn't do it alone," Peeta defended. "I had an entire squad with me, plus Boggs and Mitchell by my side. The three of us were assigned together. We made a great team out there... as expected," he added smugly.

"Boggs and Mitchell?" Katniss asked.

"They're the soldiers from 13 that trained Peeta and the rest of 12's rebels in the woods for years," Haymitch explained. "Two of the best men I've ever had the honor of conspiring with."

"Yes, they're incredible," Peeta agreed. "So you should know better than to worry about me, Haymitch. I'm in good hands."

"Still, if that bullet struck you in the head instead of just grazing your arm, I'd probably drink myself to death from the guilt. You shouldn't be so reckless, boy. You have people that care about you too much."

"Haymitch, I wouldn't have even been alive today to do the mission if you and the other rebels hadn't saved me in the woods when I was seven. I'll always come back and save your ass. A thousand times over."

"I just don't want you dying for me, that's all," Haymitch concluded. "And I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way either."

Pip adamantly nodded in agreement with the district 12 mentor and Katniss squeezed Peeta's shoulder. "He's right. When they told us that you were part of the decoy squad still stuck in the Capitol, I have to admit that made me pretty upset. And then Cato started yelling and the tour lady had to calm us down and then they go and say you've been shot!"

Wait. Cato got upset over me? Really? Peeta seemed to be hung up on that bit of information before he composed himself long enough to assure Katniss there was nothing to fear anymore. They were safe. At least for now.

The young blonde said goodbye to his visitors as the doctor finished stitching him up. All those rescued from the training center had to report to the dining hall for a meeting. While they were gone, Peeta was given the green light to go get cleaned up and then come back so a nurse could put a fresh bandage over the doctor's handiwork.

At the dining hall, all the rescued victors and tributes were gathered and President Coin appeared to greet them.

"Hello, everyone. Welcome to district 13. My name is President Alma Coin and I've gathered you all to formally ask you to join in your districts' revolt against the Capitol. Back home, all your friends and family have united to fight for independence and justice. Some of you victors have already long ago dedicated yourself to our efforts, but for some of you, this is your first invitation. As prominent victors and tributes of the Hunger Games, you have a special opportunity to represent your districts in the takedown of the Capitol's evil regime. If you choose to accept your place among the rebels, we will gladly provide adequate training and weaponry to defend yourself in this war. Do we have all of your support?"

All the victors and tributes adamantly agreed to join and were soon issued training schedules that stated they were to begin first thing tomorrow morning at 8 am. As the meeting ended, the newly inducted members of the rebellion joined the rest of the citizens for dinner. They were the talk of the town as the natives of 13 ogled them the entire meal. When it was time to turn in for the night, all the tributes retired to their bunk compartments. Except for Cato.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Sneak?" Clove called to him as he was turning towards the elevator. He had heard the tour guide earlier today send Peeta off to the infirmary. He was hoping he would find his boy still there.

"Nowhere, Clove. Don't worry your annoying little head off. I'm just going to explore some more. I'm not tired yet."

"Uh huh, Right. Well, say hi to him for me, and ask him if he'd be willing to give me a few firearm lessons sometime," Clove winked at her partner as she turned around to go to her bunk. Cato couldn't help but smirk. That little bitch was such a know-it-all.

Here comes the long awaited confrontation between the two boys. How's it gonna play out? Violence or Romance?