A/N: Another chapter for all you lovely readers! Thank you so much for all of your support, and the amazing reviews. I'm more appreciative then I can possibly express. Please keep letting me know what you think!

Oh, and I don't own this universe, or any of these characters, I just enjoy toying with their emotions.

I land a hard kick to his face as I scramble away quickly; "Katniss!" he shouts from behind me, "Stop!"

I can hear him chasing after me, but I don't stop.

"Katniss! Help, help me, Katniss!" Her screams intensify, they seem to surround me, but I just pound further into the jungle, praying that I can find her in time.

When Johanna had told me about Wiress' niece, I had believed her. I had believed that Wiress had heard the voice of her niece, and I agreed that it was unlikely that the Capitol had actually put our loved ones in the Arena with us. But that logic did nothing to stop the escalating panic seeping through my veins.

My little sister's voice echoes around me, begging for my help, terrified and alone. "Prim!" I scream, my voice sounding shrill even to my own ears. "PRIM!"

Suddenly my face hits the dirt and I can taste the soil in my mouth. Strong arms hold my torso to the ground, while their legs straddle my thighs—effectively pinning me face first on the ground. "Finnick, get the fuck off of me!" I yell, not worrying who hears me.

"Katniss, you need to calm down, and stop screaming. You're going to draw out the other victors and get us all killed!" He tells me firmly, I try to bite him and he actually laughs.

"It's my sister, Finnick. My sister! Please, just let me go to her," I cry.

"Katniss, take a breath," A calm voice says behind me—Johanna.

Tears threaten to fall as I hear the screams continue on, further off now. She's getting away. "Jo, please. Make him let me go—please help me."

She kneels beside me and gently pets my hair, "Just think for a moment," she whispers. "You know it isn't her. She isn't here."

"I'm not crazy, I'm not. I can hear her. I'm going to lose her if you don't let me go."

"Katniss, we've just about hit the final five—they have to keep her alive and available for interviews right now," she reasons, and I believe her. I know she's right. "She's safe."

I relax slightly, and Finnick moves off of me. I sit up slightly and can see them share a look before he walks back towards the rest of the group.

"How did they get her voice?" I ask slowly, my own voice shaking desperately. "How could they have gotten her scream like that?"

Johanna just wraps an arm around me, and helps me to my feet, "She's okay Katniss. Just focus on surviving—she's going to be okay."

"Why didn't anyone else hear anything?" I ask quietly. Now that I'm scraping the mud from my face I feel foolish for reacting like I did.

"You and Finn were the only ones they targeted this time. We all heard the screams, they just didn't affect us because they weren't for us," she explains carefully, "Finn heard his girl, Annie, but then the game makers had a malfunction. He started hearing Mags as well. He may have lost it worrying about Annie, but he knew that the recordings weren't real because Mags couldn't be screaming like that.

"Yours were different anyways. Finn heard Annie calling, Wiress had heard her niece scream. But yours—well yours were a lot more gut-wrenching, and a lot more convincing. I think they may have used recordings from your first reaping."

I just nod numbly. That does make sense, but it doesn't calm the dread that has filled me. I just want to know she's okay—but I won't know that unless I survive. I look towards the young woman walking ahead of me.

I want to reach out to her, grab her hand. I don't even know if she feels that way for me, not really. Haymitch seems to think so, but can I really rely on that? She may have just been having a final moment before the games, and can I really fault her? Still, it doesn't stop my hands from twitching when I'm near her, desperately wanting to take her hand or smooth her hair.

I can't let her die—not for me. I can't kill her. No matter how right it may be, and no matter how much my sister—and Panem—may need me, I can't do that to her.

I can't survive.

I realize that I need to leave them behind soon after we return to camp. Beetee has a brilliant plan to kill the final two careers, but then what? I had thought that it was only Johanna that would cause me problems, but as Finnick approaches me, apologizing for tackling me, I feel a weight lift off of me. I'm glad that my friend isn't upset with me for kicking him in the jaw, and I'm glad that he knows I'm not upset.

That's when I see the problem.

Finnick is my friend.

Beetee is a nice older guy, and almost a friend.

Johanna is… beyond contemplation right now, she's just Johanna.

I can't kill any of these people, I can't do it. There are two careers left, and then it's over it's just the four of us. I need to get away now, find a nice little nook to hide in, and disappear.

"Katniss!" I hear next to me, and I'm jolted back into my current reality. It's Johanna and she looks mildly annoyed. "Would you like to join the land of the still-living?"

"Sorry," I say softly, shaking my head. "What's up?"

"Beetee is going to set things up by the tree, and Finnick is staying to protect him. That leaves you and I in charge of laying this wire down to the beach. But we need to move fast."

I nod and get to my feet; I suppose I can wait a few more minutes before vanishing. She's looking at me though, and I can tell that she knows. She may not know exactly what I'm planning, but she can tell it's something.

We walk silently for some time, passing the line between the two of us. Suddenly she stops and I nearly stumble in to her. She tosses the wire to me and turns around, "Alright, what's going on?" she demands.

I grow cold, and keep moving, we're nearly to the beach now, "What are you talking about, Johanna?"

"You've been acting oddly ever since the Jabberjays. You've been distant with me, and floating about in your own insane little world. What are you planning, Everdeen?"

Something about the way she uses my name just pisses me off, and I pick up my speed, hurrying to reach the beach so that I can get away. "I'm not planning anything, you're being paranoid."

When we reach the beach I quickly dig a small hole and bury the remaining coil, just as Beetee instructed. I ignore Johanna's searching eyes as I work, and when I stand up, I don't meet her eyes. Dusting the sand off of my knees, I move back into the jungle, trying to put some distance between us. Apparently, she isn't going to put up with that. Without warning she grabs my arm, spins me around, and presses me up against a tree trunk.

"What the hell?" I snap.

"Enough," she whispers, "I don't know what's going on with you, but I'm not going to spend my last moments alive with you biting off my fucking head. What did I do to piss you off?"

I sigh, the guilt seeping in through my skin. "Nothing," I whisper, "You didn't do anything wrong, Jo."

She looks at me carefully, studying my face, searching for a lie. "Then why are you pushing me away."

I laugh and look down at my feet, "What world are you in right now? I have to push you away. This is the Hunger Games. It's not the best place for forming lasting friendships."

She steps back a pace, her expression is pure heartbreak, "So you're distancing yourself because you know you have to kill me," she whispers.

"No!" I shout, blushing at my own outburst. "I wouldn't do that Jo, I wouldn't ever do that. I just—when it comes down to it, I can't kill you; I can't kill Finnick or Beetee. So I need to get out of here, I need to hide, and hope—hope that you make it out of here alive. But I can't fight you, I could never fight you."

She groans loudly and spins around for a moment, clawing at her hair. "This isn't fair," she mutters. "I can't do this. Damn it. I can't hurt you. This wasn't supposed to be so hard."

"Sorry," I say with a small smile, and she laughs slightly.

She turns back to me, and looks me directly in the eyes, "I…" she starts, but pauses, all words lost to her. Sighing with frustration she runs her hand down my face gently, and repeats the words that she said so recently, "I wish I had met you sooner."

Then her lips are on mine and my back is pushed up against the tree as the bark rubs my skin raw. I cling to her desperately, trying to absorb every ounce of emotion I can—knowing that I will have to let go soon, and that I won't ever have the chance to see if this could be love—if this already is love.

I won't have the chance to see what life with Johanna could be like in a moment when our lives aren't on the line. See what life could be like if we weren't both completely mentally shattered.

"I'm so sorry, Kitten," she whispers against my lips, and I can feel the tears falling down her face.

"What are you?" I start, but then a blinding pain hits my temple and I scream as my eyes are blinded by white light. "Jo?" I call confusedly, what just happened?

I can hear her voice whispering apologies incoherently, and that's when I realize. She's going to kill me, she has to.

Darkness begins to creep through my subconscious, mulling my thoughts, slowing my reflexes. My heart feels the strangest sensation as it breaks and soars simultaneously. I smile dazedly, realizing that she is going to live, and that is all I've wanted for her from the beginning. She will survive and have a life. I couldn't wish for anything more—but she is also killing me. She is going to let me die, despite the feelingswe share.

I feel the sharp pain before I realize what she's done, and I'm screaming as she covers my mouth. She carves my arm open and all I can think is, Why is she mutilating me? Why isn't she just killing me? And then I know the answer, I was wrong. Johanna had played her game again—the same game she had played and won years ago. She had fooled me, and now she was going to kill me.

She is a murderer.

Thanks for reading! Please review!