I won't even try to explain my long absence. I'm back, and thankfully not dead. Um. Sorry, y'all. I suggest rereading the early chapters (ch. 2-9) if you're confused about Quince. Also, you may want to reread the last few chapters if you need a refresher on what's happening in the story. Read on, my lovelies!

She pulls the key back out and opens the door. There's more than one person in there.

"Johanna."

She looks up from where she's sitting next to Haymitch. "Hi, brainless," she says. "Hi, medic."

"Johanna? What are you doing here?" I ask, confused.

"Well," she begins sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "the doctors thought it was a good idea for me and Grumpy-pants to room together." She points to another bed across the room which is obviously hers. "They thought we could 'help eachother with our problems'."

"Sounds like it's working real well," I reply dryly.

Prim squeezes my arm and leaves, whispering, "You'd better handle this one."

"So, um, what have you been up to?" I ask tentatively.

"Nothing," croaks Haymitch, suddenly and unexpectedly.

Johanna frowns at him. I am suddenly suspicious. "What are you hiding?" I demand.

Haymitch's stubborn side returns. "Nothing, I said. Now will you please freaking go away?"

"No," I say defensively, "Something here is happening and I want to know what!"

Johanna interrupts: "Katniss? Will you sneak me out of the hospital?"

I'm a little taken aback, but recover quickly. One has to be on their guard around Miss Snarky Face.

"Um, sure," I reply, "Let me go talk to Prim."

I quickly find Prim working at a little table built into the wall. She's copying information from a computer into a pad of paper, as far as I can tell.

"Prim?" I ask.

She jumps and whirls around. "Who—Oh! Katniss!"

"Listen," I whisper into her ear, "Johanna wants me to sneak her out of the hospital but I don't know how. Is there a back exit anywhere?"

To my relief, she nods. "When you come out of their room, turn to the left and go all the way down, there's a door on the right side that lead to some stairs. If you go up two flights, there's a locked door that leads out on our floor. You'll have to type in a code, though. The code is 2-3-7-3. You need to be back by 3:25, that's when Dr. M will check on them. If you go now, I'll distract them."

I mouth a quick thank you and dash back to their room, grabbing Johanna by the arm and hissing, "Come with me!"

Johanna is about to protest but then she understands, but Haymitch does not. He swears at me until the two of us vanish from sight. We make it to the stairway unnoticed. Just then, I see a familiar face.

"Out for a walk?" asks Dr. M cheerfully. Johanna gulps but I say slowly, "Yes, sir."

He smiles. "Have fun, then!" As we pass, he adds, "Be back by 3:25."

We make it to my floor unnoticed, thankfully. We hurl into my room and I lock and bolt the door. I also add a chair under the doorknob for extra safety.

"That was close," Johanna says.

"Yeah, it was," I agree, sitting on my bed to catch my breath. "So what's up with Haymitch?"

"I don't really know. I think it's a combination of a few different things." Johanna describes her days in the hospital with some choicey words. "I think it's a little about his whole alcohol thingy, but I really don't know. Why am I even telling you this?" she asks with a bit of a scowl on her face.

"Um," I say, "because we're, um, friends?"

Johanna rolls her eyes. "Sure, we're friends, brainless," she says in a voice that is dripping with sarcasm. "Heck, I don't even want to be near him, but I don't really have anyone to stay with. Anyways, I better go back. It's almost 3:25."

She gets up and crosses to the door. I sit on my bed. It's barely three-o-clock. Johanna must have something she needs to hide, too. Before I can stop myself I shout "Johanna! Wait!"

She pops her head into my doorway scowling crossly. "What? I was just heading back to my beachy retreat," she snarls.

"Come room with me," I say. I don't know why, I blurt it out quickly.

A shadow crosses her face. "I can't." She turns and leaves.

"J-Johanna?" I run to the hallway. A figure dashes down and turns into the stairs that lead to the hospital. "Why, why not?" I whisper as I sink back onto my bed.

A loud knocking wakes me up. I didn't realize I was sleeping, but I guess the session with my two swear-happy acquaintances must have worn me out more than I think. "Katniss!" a cheery voice says through the door. Plutarch. Great. "We've got some great news for you! Command starts at zero-nine-zero-zero today..I hope you'll be there!"

I glance at the clock. It is eight thirty. I quickly get up, throw my hair in a braid and get dressed in 13's ugly grey uniform. Before I know it, I am at the door of Command. I toss my braid back and enter.

The usual group of big-wig 13 and Capitol people are there. I notice Gale is missing. So is Haymitch. I'm not surprised Haymitch is gone, since according to Johanna he's a bit of a wreck, but I vaguely wonder why my old hunting partner is absent. He must have had some appointment.

"Katniss!" says a voice. I look and see Prim sitting at the table next to my mother. I walk over and sit next to them. "Why are you two here?" I ask.

Plutarch noisily clears his throat. "As you all know, Peeta Mellark is currently under a sort of drug that makes him hallucinate whenever he sees someone he's known for a long time. Two days ago, our doctors found a person who he is able to, well, sort of communicate with."

A man in a white coat stands up, he must be a doctor. "While Peeta was in the clutches of the Capitol, an Avox was assigned to bring food to him. This often happens in Snow's personal prison, however, the Avox was a rebel, trying to help. She helped him escape, but we believed her to be dead. Until now. He gestures at a young woman about Annie's age with red hair. At first I don't recognize her, but suddenly I do.

"Oh! You're-!" I blurt, pointing at her. She gives me a small nod as the doctor clears his throat.

"If I can continue," he says pointedly, glaring at me, "I want to say that we had her visit Peeta. Luckily, Quince is not one of the people the serum is designed to attack. We had positive results with both Quince and Mags, and Peeta is responding well." He sits down.

I struggle to comprehend. The redhead Avox girl finally has a name. Quince. It seems to suit her. Peeta is getting a little better.

"Well, I think that's it," President Coin says, gray hair falling around her shoulders. "Everyone is dismissed."

As soon as the last syllable is enunciated, I hurry over to the redhead—no, Quince. "Thank you for helping Peeta," I say sincerely. She offers me a small smile, and I try to smile back. I think back to before my first Games, where she cleaned my face after I broke the dishes. "Come to my room," I offer. "We can talk."

I take a detour to the school supply closet, which I found early here, right after Peeta fell into the coma. It's great, because nobody ever seems to need anything from it, so it's a great hiding place. Plus, I could swipe a piece of paper and pencil and it'd probably be three months before anyone would notice. I take the things and we come to my room.

I hand her the piece of paper and pencil. We both sit on my bed. We are silent for some time before I finally speak up. "I'm sorry."

'Don't be sorry,' she writes neatly. 'You couldn't have helped.'

"I could have helped. But I didn't." I say.

'It would have happened anyways. It's okay. I am safe. So are you.'

"You got your tongue cut out because of me!" I cry. "You're not okay if you get your tongue cut out!"

She swallows. Being an Avox, it takes her longer. 'Let's just forget,' she writes. 'Start fresh.'

I clear my throat. "Okay," I finally reply. Quince is too good for me. No matter how hard I try, I will never be as good as her or Peeta. "We'll start over."

I try a smile. It comes easier than expected. "Tell me your story." And Quince begins to write.

Watch for next chapter for Quince's story and more Peeta... :) I hope you enjoyed the longer chapter. I'm really sorry for my long absence, but I intend to hopefully get to the Capitol in terms of the story by December. And, as always, feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think. You can even rant me out for not updating in over three months. Fire away!

OH! And, I was thinking about including song snippets at the beginning of the chapter...to describe the chapter and you could listen to the song while you read...let me know if you have any thoughts on this matter.

And, if you're interested in beta-ing the story, PM ME. DO NOT LEAVE A REVIEW, PLEASE PM ME. I'd love to have one. :) So let me know if you are interested.

Your somewhat AWOL author, fuzzysocksandwriting