Author's Note/Disclaimer: Eeek! Thanks for the support so far! Here's the next installment and, as always, I unfortunately do not own the characters.
Katniss stopped at the door to Peeta's room and gave her sister a shaky smile. "Maybe you should go back to our rooms. You don't need to hear or see —"
"Katniss," Prim interrupted. "I've seen you almost die, more than once. And between the games and Healer training I've also seen….you know, other things. So I'm not leaving. And I'll try and make sure Gale doesn't try to beat down the door when he figures it out."
"When did you grow up so fast?" Katniss murmured, reaching a hand out to toy with a wispy curl that had escaped Prim's braid.
Prim smiled. "Probably when you did. Now go in there and get Peeta back," she instructed before returning to the rest of the group.
Once Prim was through the other door Boggs turned to Katniss. He didn't even comment on the fact that her jumpsuit was on backwards, the buttons now down the back instead of the front but he did check her emotional state. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"
Katniss nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Boggs sighed. "I hope this works. We'll be watching you and won't be long if you need help." And with that he unlocked the door and let her inside.
Peeta tensed up the second he realized it was her. His hands tightened into fists, his eyes turned darker, his breathing increased and Katniss's heart broke.
She wanted to leave but she wanted her Peeta back even more so she took a few steps closer to the table. "I take it someone told you what we're trying to do today," she finally said even though she knew he'd been told long before her mother went in to speak with him.
"They did. And they also told me you wouldn't try to kill me. I'm still waiting to see if that's true."
His snarky tone, so not like Peeta, was enough to spark her flames. "You'd deserve an assassination attempt after what happened last time I was alone in a room with you."
They glared at one another until some of the air left Peeta and he slumped against the chair. "So are you also here to tell me stories of my family and the district you destroyed?"
Katniss pulled out the chair across from him and slid into it. "Do you have any memories of me that aren't horrible?"
"Sometimes…sometimes I think I do," Peeta said, looking anywhere but at her. "But then everything gets hazy and I can't figure out what's real and what's not."
They sat in silence for a few seconds and then Katniss inched her hand towards one of Peeta's bound ones. "Can I try and remind you?" she asked as she gently brushed her thumb against the side of his hand.
He froze and then his whole body shook, curses flying from his lips. Most were aimed at her and tears welled in her eyes. She was about to rush out of the room but then he settled down and his eyes cleared. "Yes, please Katniss. Try to stop this," he pleaded.
She leaned forward but didn't touch him again. "This last games, after my wedding dress turned into a mockingjay and you lied about me being pregnant to try and get the games cancelled —"
"You told me to do that," Peeta interrupted. "You were always manipulating me."
"During our first games, yes." Katniss could imagine the groans issuing from the next room over. She was supposed to be helping Peeta, not admitting that some of the things the Capitol had told him were true. Only wasn't the truth what was best for Peeta?
Apparently so because he actually smiled at her. It was a tense "I knew it" smile but it was a smile none the less. "So you admit that you're a manipulative liar."
Katniss didn't even flinch. "I did what I had to do to get us both out alive. But during the Victory Tour things changed."
"Yeah, you manipulated me into agreeing to a sham marriage."
"Will you stop interrupting me and let me finish?" Katniss didn't even wait for an answer before she plowed on. "When we were on tour I realized how much I'd missed you. And then the Quarter Quell was announced and damn it Peeta, I asked Haymitch to volunteer if your name was picked first! I would have done anything to get you out alive and not just because I thought you deserved it or because I felt bad that Haymitch got sponsors for me and not you during the first time around."
Peeta leaned forward as far as his restraints allowed. Their noses were practically touching. "If those weren't the reasons then what was?"
Katniss shook her head. "That's something I need to say to my Peeta. And you are not my Peeta."
"So what are you even doing here? And why is your jumpsuit on backwards?" he sneered. "I don't think anything like that has happened before so it can't possibly jog my memories."
"It's what's under the jumpsuit that matters!" Katniss blurted, her face flaming.
Clearly that was not the response Peeta had been expecting and he just gaped at her.
Katniss looked the other way, afraid to see what emotions were displayed on his face. Would it be anger or amusement or perhaps a flicker of remembrance? But then she realized she was looking at Peeta's side of the two way mirror. She couldn't see anyone of course but she'd definitely have to ignore the fact that her family and friends were just on the other side of the glass and they could see and hear everything.
"Uh, Katniss?" Peeta finally asked, breaking her away from her worries and back into the present. "Were you going to take that thought farther or were you just hoping a casual mention of your…um, you know, would be enough to trigger some memories?"
Katniss smiled to herself. Even a Hijacked Peeta was uncomfortable talking openly about something as personal as undergarments. "Do you want to kill me right now?" she finally asked.
Peeta's eyes went wide. They sat in an uncomfortable silence for just over a minute before he finally responded. "I don't think so. Right now I'm more confused than anything else."
"What do you remember happening after the interviews the night before the Quarter Quell started?"