Chapter 5
The Victor's Tour and District 11

Author's Note - I am grateful to anyone who offers me critiquing advice, and in many cases I do take it to heart. Unfortunately on the advice of " ~ " I know it annoys many of you, it irritates me to no end, but due to how the Fanfiction site presents its writing engine, the "Copy and Paste" doesn't allow me to keep my indentions. The same goes for when I try to load it directly to the website, this is an issue I've run into since I started on this site under a different alias almost 8 years ago. So to keep my sanity, I will continue to use " ~ " until the engine used for loading my fictions is properly repaired to include the indents I have all ready prepared for it.

On another note, I understand that my way of writing seems a bit... Wordy... This I will not apologize for, this is simply how I write and how the words flow. I cannot take out that part of me. So, if it means that you as my readers cannot continue reading my fictions due to these two issues, I'm sorry to see you go, but neither of these will be changed.

Finally, I was messaged a few days ago, asking me if I was a graphic writer. I can only assume that what was meant was do I write lemons? I do. None of my stories; past, present, or future are for the faint of heart or for young teenagers. Everyone was warned of the fiction's contents at the beginning, please heed my warning. I will not be making another. Thank you.

~The days passed by in a blur, there was more primping and costume sorting, all eventually leading up to the inevitable Victor's Tour. Katniss went through the motions of caring, answering questions not pertaining to her conversation with President Snow when asked, and played her part for the cameras, even if it was all hallow. But the night the train was to leave District 12 for District 11, a light flurry of snow had begun to fall and Peeta found Katniss standing in a furred parka and dark blue princess dress, just outside the view of the cameras.

~He was in a black tuxedo, his hair slicked back stylishly with a pretty, white scarf threaded with glitter silver bits that twinkled whenever light caught them. There was deep concern in his eyes when he found Katniss hiding in her dark blue, close toed heels that night, so much so that he knew better than to make any of his usual charming jokes.

~"Tell me what wrong, Kat. You've been quiet and distant to everyone since the night President Snow paid you a visit. Did he say something to you?" He watched her wordlessly nod her brunette head that was braided with bits of silver ribbon to match Peeta's scarf. She was insanely beautiful, even with her befuddled, almost grim expression plastered to her face.

~"what did he say to you?" Peeta was getting the idea that she couldn't tell him-or anyone for that matter- exactly what was said without repercussions. "Was it bad?"

~She nodded.

~"Was it about your mother and sister?"

~She couldn't say it was about just them, because it wasn't, it encompassed them all, though mostly just Peeta. Instead, she looked up at him and shrugged.

~"Gale?"

~She shrugged again.

~"Me?"

~Her eyes locked on his, praying he could understand, wishing with all she possessed to force him to know.

~He smiled, something akin to quiet consensus filling his sparkling ocean colored irises and he took her hand to lead her to the train and out of the cold. "We won't talk about it anymore." But for some reason, Katniss knew Peeta understood somewhat of her position.

~The train ride to District 11 would take only two days and during the ride, Katniss spent most of her time nearly skin grafted to Peeta's good leg. She avoided her prep team with a vengeance to Peeta's immense amusement, and hid out in his room on his bed while he sketched.

~A thought occurred to her the second morning after waking up beside an abnormally restless bed partner. He complained about the heat and cracked the window slightly to let in a cooling breeze from the outside, climbing to his good leg and hopping to a nearby chair.

~Katniss crawled to the end of the bed and watched Peeta lift his pant leg up to reveal the still healing stump that had been caused by a sword from a previous tribute in the last games. It always intrigued her how often she forgot he was even missing a limb. He didn't so much as gimp with it like some of the others back home did, and he always wore some form of pants to hide it. If one didn't know Peeta personally, one would never know he was even missing a leg.

~"What's your favorite color?" Katniss asked as Peeta finished with the final straps. He put down his sweat pant leg to hide his missing part and looked up at her questioningly.

~"Orange, why?"

~"Like Effie's wig?" Kat laughed shortly and giggled more when he pinched the bridge of his nose, scrunching together his eyebrows.

~"No, not like Effie's wig. Like sunrise orange, more muted and calm. What about you?"

~"Green. Forest green."

~"Late summer or early spring?" In District 12 the season's colors changed drastically, signifying the end of winter, to the beginning of fall and all the colors in-between. And to Peeta who painted, it was a legitimate question.

~"Late summer," she answered, meaning she liked the lush dark greens when everything was in full bloom and at the pique of life. Peeta had to agree with her, late summer colors were a good shade.

~Katniss pulled her knees to her chin, "you turn. You ask one."

~"I thought I just did," he was smiling teasingly.

~"That doesn't count."

~"All right. Then, what is your favorite thing to eat?" He leaned forward on his thighs, settling his arms together to listen better.

~She thought about it for a moment, chewing on her lips and pursing them together as she searched her brain, "that's hard. I like about anything, but I love lamb stew and those cheese buns you make."

~For once, Peeta looked surprised, "you really like those?"

~"Yeah, when they're right out of the oven they melt in my mouth."

~"I can make more when we get back if you'd like."

~The young woman smiled with appreciation, "I would like that."

~"So, why the questions, Kat?"

~"If we're going to get married, I should get to know you better, right?" A rapid thumping on the door distracted them from their game and beyond the threshold came Effe's loud, Capitol accented voice.

~"Peeta! Peeta, is Katniss in there with you? She needs to see her prep team immediately!"

~Peeta charmingly smiled and pointed under the bed, "you could hide under there and I'll cover for you."

~"No, I'll go face the relentless hair pulling and plucking. I swear, when they're done I feel like one of those Capitol peacocks."

~"You know those peacocks are all males right? They're pretty to attract a female mate."

~"Fine then, you can wear the dress and I'll wear the pant suit."

~The conversation had taken a light-hearted, comical turn, made only funnier as Peeta couldn't come up with a good comeback to wearing a dress, leaving Katniss to climb to her feet and make her way towards the door.

~"I don't need to look pretty to find a mate, I've all ready found mine."

~His words froze Katniss' hand in midair over the knob. Her heart clenched tightly, squeezing out a mixture of elation and sadness. She turned to him and before he could ask her why she was crying, she leapt into his arms, burying her face into his neck. The harrowing emotions over this past week had wrung her dry, leaving her feeling hallow, haggard, and empty, but one corny line from her chosen fiancé left her emotionally filled to the brim until she overflowing.

~Peeta may not have fully understood why she had need for tears, but he knew she needed the cry and held her until the sobbing ceased and the hiccups calmed. In some way, he knew she mourning something, even if he hadn't any idea of what it was.

~"Shh, it's all right," he ran his fingers through her hair, messaging her back with his free hand. "I'm here. I'll always be here."

~Haymitch's words echoed in her mind like a gong, mixing with bits of President Snow's conversation. " 'You could live a thousand lifetimes and still not deserve him.' 'Prove your love for him'." She pulled away to look into Peeta's oddly apologetic ones so deep she could drown in them. "I love you." There was no pause this time, no stuttering or false starts. She had said it smoothly because she meant it.

~"I love you too," his concerned expression changed to one of blissful surrender and he leaned up to capture her lips softly with his own. It was a short kiss, interrupted when Haymitch came bursting through the door without knocking. He spied the two startled teens, Katniss straddling Peeta's lap with the boy's hands cupping her ass.

~Haymitch was suddenly looking everywhere but them, "please tell me you two aren't…" he let his sentence trail off for them to fill in the blanks and between severe blushing and throat clearing, Katniss hopped down and took off like a bat out of hell from the room.

~"Haymitch!" Peeta yelled out at length, jarring the hungover man's poor, hurting brain. "We were… I don't know, but she was opening up to me and you screwed it up!"

~"Sorry, kid, but Effie's yelling is far more terrifying then yours or Sweetcheek's blushing." He left Peeta to sigh heavily and go to breakfast alone.

~Katniss cringed even before the hair on her leg was ripped off, listening to Effie shrieking in the next box car about an unscheduled stop for two hours. The older woman's voice was just as painful as the current torture Katniss was currently experiencing, and she couldn't bring herself to care much about how Effie would have to apologize to everyone when they reached District 11. Although the Capitol woman's complaining was cut short when a loud crash resounded throughout the train cars, followed by an ear piercing shriek. For some reason, Katniss kept thinking an animal was dying in the next room, though when Cinna came in, all he could do was shake his curly, short cropped haired head.

~"Haymitch passed out and spilled red wine on-"

~"Effie's white dress!" Octavia shrieked appalled. She was donning her normal light green colored skin and hadn't changed in weight or appearance since Katniss had last seen her at the last Hunger Games. Her eyes were still jeweled and overly large and her nails, though a refreshing calm pink color, were still longer than any normal person should wear. She was absolutely a fashionista in the Capitol still. "Poor dear girl. That dress came from Brondus."

~"Who?" Katniss asked, the name being new to her.

~"Oh, Effie's pretty little beau," Venia replied, painting another coat of sparkling bright blue nail polish on her charge's dolled up fingertips. She too, like Octavia was Capitol dressed, but had gone through a drastic change since the last games when she sported spiked aqua hair and tattoos over her eyes. Her hair was a muted blue now, having grown longer than last year and was laying down straight in what could only be abstractingly normal for her. She was still angular and thin, the opposite of Octavia, with her hawkish eyes, nose, chin, and high cheekbones, but her muted make up had softened those harsh features and she had a small black tattoo of a bird on her right temple. It wasn't until closer inspection lead Katniss to believe it was a mockingjay.

~"He's really such a nice gentleman," Venia continued to say.

~"A shame about what happened to his father," Octavia gossiped, mostly talking to Venia, but Katniss was listening in. This was a way to get to know more about the eccentric Effie Trinket, at least more than what little she had divulged about the woman herself, or what Haymitch said during his drunk or tipsy rants.

~Effie Trinket was a young woman, or so Katniss assumed as she had never been told her true age. From her soft appearance and gentle, upbeat personality, Katniss knew she couldn't be out of her twenties, but she'd been wrong before.

~Haymitch had once told the young female victor that Effie had done and still, upon occasion, did modeling for the Capitol's largest fashion magazine. She was one of the trendiest women in the Capitol and people there seemed to adore her and her fashion sense.

~From what Katniss herself had surmised, Effie didn't especially like being the escort for District 12 and constantly told her and Peeta whenever possible that she had wanted to move 'up' to a better district when she was able to. For that reason alone, Katniss knew she didn't have any fonder feelings for the woman aside from a strained acquaintanceship that neither of them tried to deepen. To Effie, Katniss was a crude, unpolished piece of coal that couldn't be anything but that, while Katniss felt Effie was an obnoxious Capitol woman who dressed absurdly and had a high-pitched voice that hurt eardrums.

~Flavius handed Cinna a piece of glittering blue cloth the same color as Katniss' nails, and the young woman wondered vaguely what they were planning to do with it.

~Seeing her imploring eyes, Cinna smiled gently, "your dress."

~"But it's not done yet. Will it be done by the time we get there?" She knew she wasn't an eloquent speaker, and most things she said came out wrong, but Cinna understood the young mockingjay girl better than that.

~"Let me work my magic, girl on fire. You just sit back and relax." The darker skinned man was gone in a flash, taking with him the tasteful gray, silk pants and cream colored, button up shirt. It occurred to Katniss then that Cinna didn't look bad in anything he wore. In fact, it was always the opposite. He could have walked around in a burlap sack and he would have made it look stylish, leaving Katniss eternally grateful that the man had asked for District 12. There were so many vulnerable points where she thought she was going to break but Cinna was always there, like a prospective older brother, or a young uncle who swept up the pieces and helped her glue them back together. He really was one of the kindest men she'd ever met from the Capitol and most definitely the best dressed.

~Ocatavia ripped off another wax strip, effectively ridding another patch of Katniss' downy hair to the oblivion of the waste bin and eliciting a loud, hoarse, mewling hiss to escape the victim's throat. Her prep team didn't even apologize anymore, the jerks. No apologies and never any warnings.

~Two hours later, the train was back on track, gaining speed to make up for lost time at the behest of Effie. Lunch was being served and it seemed everyone was present, including Cinna and the entire prep team, Portia and her medium brown skin tone and white blonde hair included. There was conversation flying in every direction, mostly from Effie, Octavia, and Venia, all talking about the Capitol and the new fashions coming out in the coming spring.

~Katniss had all ready tuned them out, peering over a bowl of buttered rolls at Peeta who was taking animatedly to Haymitch as the mentor sat poking with gusto at a piece of poor applesauce pork chops. He was still suffering from a hangover and was giving only the bare minimum of responses to Peeta with noncommittal grunts and noises.

~A server dressed in all white, an Avox, laid a sealed, white envelope on Effie's plate and backed away wordlessly. The quiet around the table was deafening, but when the paper was torn open and the letter revealed, the woman's bright aqua eyes lit up. "We're on time now! We should be arriving in District 11 shortly. I'll bet we can see the poppy fields now." She was the first to rise, the other of Katniss' and Peeta's prep team following in close, overly exuberant pursuit. They were clambering for the window looking out at the endless fields of red carpeting the ground as far as the eye could see. Every now and again as the train trekked on, there would be patches of yellow poppys, these pretty flowers dressed in bright reds or yellows with black centers, growing out of tall, green stems. They were surprisingly pretty things even though Effie explained they were an ingredient in the Morphling. A medical tonic to ease pain and illnesses, but the tonic's downfall was it had a very addictive personality, turning people with the inability to deny the drug, into ashen skinned addicts whose minds were too far gone to be saved.

~People with dark skin similar to Cinna's and Portia's stood out in the fields, plucking away the flowers heads and stuffing them into giant bags at their sides. Beyond the fields were twenty foot high fences topped with gnarly, twisted, barbed wire to ward away those who would try to escape or steal the Capitol's precious poppy collection. To make things even more terrifying, in prompt order about every hundred yards was a large, fifty foot guard tower posted with stationed Peacekeepers, holding rifles aimed and ready to fire on anyone who breathed wrong.

~"Beautiful, aren't they?" Effie exclaimed and the prep team agreed like mewling lemmings, awing the next field of apples and fresh produce growing on the vine.

~"They have the best fruit," Octavia said, pointy a fat, stubby finger out the window and towards the gigantic fruit processing plants designed to look like large red barns that most likely could house several thousand people comfortably.

~Katniss was staring out the window, making mental notes of the vast difference from District 11 to the smaller, less guarded fences of District 12.

~"They look more like prisoners in jail rather than a district," Peeta stated, coming to stand directly behind Kat, his warm body pressing again hers. There was no way for the brunette to deny the foreign hunger gnawing in her lower body, that grew and blossomed throughout her nerve endings.

~"We all are," she whispered, struggling not to shiver with his hot breath fanning over the tender spot on her neck.

~"Are you all right?" Peeta was looking down at her when Katniss peered up wide-eyed. He had no idea what he was doing to her, his expression told her that.

~"Fine." She steeled her eyes forward to look at all the sights to be seen in District 11 as they rushed passed them. The quickly closing in tunnel system leading directly into the inner city walls of the district lay only a few miles ahead, but they were speeding towards it at an incredible pace. If Katniss had to guess they only had a few more minutes before they would be hustled onto a platform and led towards where Peeta and herself would be prodded to speak to a group of people the young woman didn't know if she'd be able to face. At least not without breaking down. This was where Rue and Thresh came from, two tributes in the games that had died, and though Katniss didn't know Thresh well she felt he was an honorable young man if he could have the humanity to allow her to survive where others had not. And than there was Rue, a sweet chocolate skinned girl with crinkle curls that fanned her face prettily. She would have made a beautiful woman had she been allowed to survive, but the games had cut her small life short, leaving behind only hurting memories of things left undone.

~Cinna took that moment's opportunity to steal Katniss away and scurry her into the pretty blue summer dress he'd expertly made in only a few hours time. With it on, the young fashionisto brought her some matching flats and tied her tight woven braid with a small bow for color, ushering her out into the train's hall where Peeta stood waiting with a small smile on his face.

~He wore just a pair of black slacks and a nice, cotton white shirt, plain in comparison to Katniss' garb, though he didn't seem in the least bit perturbed about his state of underdress, merely took Kat's hand and whispered that she looked pretty. He expected her to smile, but her eyes where staring off towards the train's windows, attention grasped elsewhere. They were coming through the tunnels now and the lit walls outside on the concrete encasement tapped off a steady beat of orange-yellow lights every few yards.

~Light. Shadow. Light. Shadow. Light. Something red flashed across Kat's vision and she gasped, tightening her grip on Peeta's hand. She'd seen it, could have sworn it was her symbol of the mockingjay. Shadow. Light. Shadow.

~The train came to a slow stop, its wheels gushing hot air in a low moaning bellow and the doors beside the teenage couple opened. Behind them, Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna had made themselves known and helped press the duo forward, even though they were hesitant. The door beyond suddenly seemed terrifying with armed guards standing at attention with electric taser guns at the ready.

~"Oh, goodness!" Effie exclaimed, clearly not expecting a military entourage, "I never." She felt Haymitch grab her arm and encircle it around his elbow in a gentlemanly fashion, though the notion was more to quiet the Capitolist woman before her mouth got them all in trouble. These men didn't look like they were here for bullshit, nor would they take any either.

~Haymitch hoped hard that Sweet Cheeks would be on her best behavior.

~As Katniss had thought, all of them were herded like cattle, just missing an electric prod, through a dingy building that looked old and worn and through the grand doorway to a podium. Beyond the rickety stage stood several hundred people, all dark skinned and curly headed and it was at that moment that the Everdeen girl's knees decided to lock up.

~Cruelly, as if to taunt her mercilessly, behind the crowd were two projectors with Thresh and Rue's pictures plastered to them in high definition. In front of each picture stood families that Katniss knew to be none other than the tribute's. There was an old, grizzled woman clutching a cane in front of Thresh, while a mother and a litter of little ones stood in front of Rue's. The scene before Katniss had suddenly turned for the worst. She didn't know if she had it in her to say what needed to be said.

~From behind both Ms. Everdeen and Mr. Mellark, Effie cleared her throat and was attempting a nonchalant way of handing them their forgotten speech cards, which Peeta took robotically. He was just as lost as Katniss felt, even with his gift of charm, it didn't seem to prepare him for this situation.

~They stepped towards the prepared microphone and podium, hand in hand and Peeta cautiously smiled, beginning his speech.

~All sound seemed to drain away from Kat; Peeta's voice dissipated as did the sounds of the hushed crowd as they listened to the winners of the 74th Hunger Games. Armed guards were everywhere and people genuinely looked terrified to be there, but no one uttered a word.

~Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest. Her eardrums felt like they were going to explode, but then Peeta drew her out of her frightened reverie.

~"...winnings for the rest of our lives." She hadn't caught all of what he'd said, but by the way the crowd was now furiously whispering amongst themselves, the young brunette could only guess it had been something outlandishly Peeta like.

~Haymitch and Effie were fiercely murmuring things behind the victors, something to the tune of whether giving away winnings was possible, and neither of them seemed to know, but Haymitch was chuckling.

~Peeta turned and tried to take an immobile and scared Katniss with him, his body jerking back when she remained stiff as a board. He leaned down to her ear, quietly whispering, "come on, Kat. We can go now."

~Suddenly the girl's dam broke and with tears blinding her, she let go of Peeta and stumbled into the podium. She managed to catch herself before a catastrophic mishap sent her reeling off the stage, and with her victor mate now holding tightly to her waist for balance, she spoke.

~"I-I just wanted to say that I didn't know Thresh, but he saved me and let me live where others would have killed me. He... He was a good person." Her eyes glanced at Thresh's elderly grandmother and saw the stinging pain in the old woman's dark, hazel eyes. The older woman nodded gentle acknowledgment, understanding Katniss' emotional turmoil and watched as the young woman then turned to the other family missing a piece of their own flesh and blood.

~"But I knew Rue and she wasn't just my ally, she was my friend. I see her-" The bubbling emotions in Katniss' voice cracked her for a moment and she reached down for Peeta's hand, gripping to it as if to keep from losing herself, "I see her everywhere. In the flowers that grow in the meadow by my home. I hear her in a mockingjay's song. I see her in my sister Prim..." Tears were coursing down her cheeks, she didn't have enough strength to stop them anymore. Watching Rue's brothers and sisters weep for their dead sibling, and seeing a broken mother try to be strong simply snapped Katniss asunder. She didn't even care who saw her break. Snow or the Capitol, it didn't matter right then.

~"She was too young," Kat cracked out at length, "and I couldn't save her. I'm so sorry." There was a long, lingering silence for a time until someone whistled that song, the mockingjay's song and a white-haired, haggard man in his sixties kissed three fingers in that gesture of respectful goodbye. He held them high above his head, while behind him troves of others joined in on the event.

~It shocked and awed both Peeta and Katniss, bringing a touched smile to the corner of the brunette's lips, but suddenly the white dressed guards came forward, extending their clubs and made their way through the crowd to the elderly man.

~Katniss felt herself pulling away from Peeta and taking the few stairs to the ground, "no... No! Leave him alone!" She heard herself screaming, watching as the Peacekeepers dragged the poor man on his knees towards her, but others were pulling her away and back inside. Just as the doors were slamming closed in front of her, she saw the flash of a gunshot and watched as the now lifeless lump of flesh that had once been human slipped to the dirty ground, lifeless.

~Now Katniss Everdeen was screaming, breaking free of the guard's hold and racing towards the closed doors. She could hear Peeta yelling at her not to do it, could feel Haymitch's breath of hard liquor at her ear as he snatched her up and struggled to pull her back.

~She ignored all that and with some effort managed to slink out of her mentor's grip and reach the door. As she would have thrown it back to the scene before her, her common sense finally took hold and she froze solid. She had no idea what she was doing, couldn't figure out what she would do when she did open those doors. This was bad, she'd shown too much of herself and her emotions all ready. Now she was instilling a riot in only the first district, even after President Snow had warned her not to. There was going to be consequences if she didn't stop, and stop now.

~It was Cinna who managed to get a hold of Katniss first, pulling her gingerly away from the door and to coax her towards where Haymitch was finally climbing to his feet off the floor. She didn't even argue when the middle-aged mentor began pulling both herself and Peeta to the decrepit stairs with questionable floorboards. All the while on the ground floor, Effie was nearly sobbing over the entire situation and throwing her hands in the air. She didn't even once mention the man who had just been shot in the back of the head for nothing, only complained about the bad press that would come from this. The woman really did sicken Katniss at times.

~"What the hell was that!?" Haymitch was yelling when they reached the old attic room, full of dust and cobwebs. It was evident this room hadn't been used in years, even if it seemed to be the mayor's house for the district.

~"He's dead..." Katniss was whispering, eyes wide and full of morbidity. "They shot him in the head." Her eyes eyes haltingly glanced down at her sky blue dress and she was horrified to find a spattering of rose colored blood staining the front. For a second it was as if Kat couldn't breathe, her lungs refusing to allow her air. In her mind, the girl was breaking again, turning back into the Katniss Everdeen that had come home from the games broken and soulless. She couldn't become that again, didn't want to. Her family, Gale's family, and Peeta were all depending on her being strong, but in an instant as a bullet sprayed the life force of some poor defenseless man across her dress, nothing seemed to matter.

~Katniss wasn't listening to Haymitch's tirade anymore, even as he was bellowing for her to listen. Everything came to her in muffled hushes with no clear definition in her brain. She touched the blood and rubbed it gently in between her fingertips, and then everything broke lose inside her. She tore at her dress, ripping off the sleeve first and reaching for the collar to get it off her skin. There was loud splitting sound as the delicately sewn collar gave way to her black undergarments beneath.

~Peeta and Haymitch stood in confused awe as their female victor lost her proverbial mind, clawing her way out of her solid blue gown until it was nothing but tattered shreds and she was nearly naked save her shoes, bra, and panties.

~She leaned against the wall and slipped to the dirty floorboards as the emotional waves crashed over her. The tears streaked down her face, running her mascara and makeup that could no longer take anymore waterworks abuse and she hugged her knees as close to her as she could muster, begging for everything to stop.

~It was Peeta who was the first to act, almost stumbling over himself to get to his love. He took the offered jacket from Haymitch and flung it around her for modest cover, hearing Cinna and Effie coming up the steps from the other side of the room. They looked on in quirking stares, but neither passed judgment on the girl as she bawled into Peeta's chest.

~"H-he's going to kill them!" She was saying through cracked sobs, ushering the male victor to hush her down until they all could understand her fully. It was a task, but when the hiccuping and rapid breathings cut down to a minimum, Katniss looked up at Peeta.

~"That night Snow came," she whispered, "he threatened to hurt my family if I didn't prove to him and everyone else that I love you."

~"But you do, don't you?" Peeta asked, touching Kat's cheek lightly.

~She nodded, "he told me that the districts were starting to rebel because of what we did with the berries and there was only one way to prove to him our love story."

~"What?"

~Snow's words echoed loudly in Katniss' skull, 'Don't tell anyone of our agreement, especially Peeta.' She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out, only a mousey squeak.

~"What, Kat? What do we have to do?"

~Haymitch saw the terror surfing around behind her steel gray eyes and using his hand, forced her to look at him. "You know none of this ends just because you both get back from the arena. This is all a game to the Capitol now, your personal lives will be broadcast on every radio, on every telecast that the signal can reach. You both are mentors now, Sweetcheeks, and every year you both will be reminded of that because you both are mentors now. I need you to be strong, Katniss. Can you do that for me?"

~She was nodding again, holding focus with Haymitch.

~"You do as your told, read the cards Effie gives you and be the best girlfriend—fiance-wife-whatever they want. That you can be. Smile for the cameras and follow whatever order Snow gave you." He reached for the young woman's hand and pulled her to her feet, motioning Effie to modestly take Katniss and Cinna to a place where she could be put in some clothes.

~"But what does Snow want?" Peeta asked to his previous mentor as his loved one was pulled out of sight.

~"She can't tell you."

~"How do you know?"

~"Because if she does things might get worse."

~"Worse? How can this get worse?"

~The older, dirty blonde turned to glare hard at Peeta, his years of experience in the Capitol's uglier side had taught him that until one was dead, everything could always get worse. And even death wasn't always a for sure...

Author's Note - Covered about everything up top. R&R thank you.