A/N: Okay, when i first reread this chapter, it was pitiful, and i'm really sorry. so i went back and tweaked some and added some, hoping you guys will like it a little bit better. let me know what you think, and i hope this is better :/

Chapter 18

President Snow sits at his desk, sipping his tea. He is very quiet and patient for a man who knows his days are numbered.

He knows there is a rebellion brewing, he has known it for a long time. The problem is, he had hoped he could delay it long enough to retire or die, then it would be someone else's problem. He has no doubt Panem will fall to the rebels, simply because their numbers are so big this time. He knows they will not rest until he is dead.

This time. He's not entirely sure why this time is so much different than last time or why he's so concerned with it. Ever since Panem rose up from what used to be North America, people have been dissatisfied with how things were run. Of course, the people who had built this country had tried to develop it in the way things had been in the old days, when people were trusted with power. But that hadn't worked.

People were too greedy, Snow thought, everyone always had their own agenda. It had become increasingly clear to him these last 34 years. Most people were okay with being ruled, but there were always some who thought they knew what was best.

As the afternoon slips away from him, he starts to remember how he came to power.

What a simpler time, he thinks to himself. The Hunger Games had existed about 40 years when he was named president. Only 40 years after the rebellion. 40 years was enough for adults that remembered the rebellion told their children of the severity of the Capitol. People still feared the Capitol.

The problem these days was people just forgot the stories, they weren't scared anymore. They had given too much power to the victors, who were getting fed up.

But back to the old days, Snow smiles. These people knew nothing of punishment. They thought a whipping was bad.

He had to admit, he was shocked when he was told what Panem had ran on. Deaths, threats, torture, prostitution...it wasn't exactly what someone would want to hear going into a presidency, but it had excited him. He'd never had power in his life, not once in all his years did he really have control over anything. So much power at his fingertips, and he'd gotten crazy drunk with it.

At first, he was afraid of covering his tracks, afraid someone would know. But as time went on, he'd realized how easy it was. No questions, and there was hell to pay if someone had gotten something wrong.

Wrong. The Hawthorne girl crawled back into his mind. While he hated the waste of resources, killing the baby would be necessary. It would teach her mother and father respect, and it would kill their spirit. And then for fun, he'd tell them to have another one or he'd kill the woman's sister she volunteered for.

Maybe he wouldn't take the baby. He could always make it look like a death. The baby could have so much promise if given to the right parents. To be honest, he could even take the child himself, just to torture the lovely couple. Make up some excuse as to why he could take their child from them. But he didn't want to give himself hope in case Mrs. Hawthorne got her act together.

He smiled again and sipped the tea, it was unlikely.

He had put the Peacekeepers on 24 hour watch just to make sure they weren't doing anything they shouldn't. He knew that they had probably caught on, the mentor wasn't an idiot. Abernathy, was it? Snow smiled again. He'd had so much pleasure in seeing his pain, year after year. He hadn't complied, so he lost everything. That was one thing Snow was giving Mrs. Hawthorne, a second chance with her love. Abernathy lost his girl first, and still didn't comply.

Snow was just waiting for the Peacekeepers to catch them doing something wrong, like hunting, then he'd have a reason for execution. And then, he smiled, he'd have their baby as a ward of the Capitol. That was probably the best scenario, actually. If he could execute Mr. & Mrs. Hawthorne on the spot, then he'd look like a hero as he took their child into his own home. He could probably change the entire rebellion…

At that moment, his big breasted, redheaded, blue eyed secretary burst in, "Sir. We have news!"

He smiled again at the shirt she was wearing. She always seemed to throw herself at him because of his power, and he liked it, "Yes?"

"The boy, he said something we can use."

The president smiled, "Get a hovercraft ready. I'd like to be there for this execution."

...

Peeta squirmed uncomfortably in his seat in the Justice Building. He knew the Peacekeepers were standing outside with loaded weapons, just as they had the day of the reaping. As he hyperventilated, he tried to convince himself it was all according to plan. And the plan had been his idea.

He couldn't lie, he felt like a downright jerk for making Katniss kiss him. She was married and had a baby, after all. The problem was her presence intoxicated him, consumed all of his thoughts and made it very hard to concentrate on what he needed to do and what he needed to stay away from. He hated that she was looking at him in this sort of light, as if he were a monster.

He had wanted so bad to make it up to Katniss, that he'd approached Haymitch with this idea. It probably wouldn't end well for him, but he needed to find a way to get the Hawthornes out of 12 so the rebellion could finally happen, so everything could change.

So he and Haymitch had decided on this distraction.

Peeta had caused a "disturbance" of sorts, mainly saying very anti Capitol things around his Peacekeepers. He and Haymitch knew they were reporting directly to Snow, and Peeta hoped it would get Gale and Katniss's bodyguards off them for a moment or two.

Because of his disloyalty to the Capitol, Peeta had been taken prisoner in his own home, and now since Snow was in 12, he would be hanged. It was very important that most of the district (save for Gale and Katniss, who were on house arrest until they could prove they were loyal to the Capitol) was there to witness.

Haymitch had decided to watch the execution on TV with Gale and Katniss, so his Peacekeepers were free to go help out with the execution. He had also decided to kill both the Peacekeepers at the Hawthorne house and set off a bomb in both their houses during the executions so they could safely escape, and it would be believed they were dead. Gale and Katniss were sad Peeta was sacrificing himself, but their family came first, and Keegan's life was in danger.

So Peeta was being held in contempt. He hadn't cried yet at the thought of his impending death–this was what he wanted, and he was oddly at peace with it. Family came first for Katniss, and he would never matter more than Gale did to her. He accepted that.

As he heard footsteps down the hallway, he prayed long and hard that Haymitch had kept up his end of the deal.

He was led out to the square for the gallows that awaited him. He had the worst deja vu to the previous years, standing here being reaped and knowing it was a death sentence. The entire district was watching, except Gale, Katniss, Keegan and Haymitch. Well, that was good. He kind of figured Snow would drag them out to watch it, but he figured that Snow would've thought there would be some type of escape plan for Peeta.

Peeta was led to the noose, and a big burly Peacekeeper read his list of crimes. As soon as the peacekeeper finished the list, which was actually quite lengthy, he looked at the podium where the President sat with his group of advisors and bodyguards. He was sipping tea and smiling, as if he were watching a comedy on TV.

When the Peacekeeper asked him if he had any last words, Peeta spit in the President's direction and held his chin high.

As the noose was slipped on Peeta's neck, the Peacekeeper suddenly stopped and heard a distant singing.

Here in the meadow, under the willow,
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow...

Prim was singing to him. Others in the district who had heard the song sang with her, but it was mainly her voice, her mother's, and Hazelle's that rang the loudest. As she sang, she kissed her fingers and saluted him, then smiled as everyone around them did the same. He smiled back into Snow's eyes and stepped forward to his fate, praying everything was going to plan.

Then suddenly, as the Peacekeeper went to hit the trap door so Peeta would hang by the neck, a close explosion rang out.

Everything fell into chaos.

As planned, Rory ran to the stage and cut Peeta's bound hands free. He looked to the President and saw he was being ushered into the Justice Building

Bastard's afraid, Peeta thought. He should be. He ran with Rory to where Prim, Posy, Vick, Hazelle, and Mrs. Everdeen was waiting. The plan hadn't gone to plan; Peeta wasn't supposed to survive, he was supposed to already be dead by now. But that didn't matter, Prim and Rory had a job to do. They grabbed hands and he quickly kissed her cheek, knowing he would do anything to protect this beautiful, blonde haired, blue eyed girl.

They looked to Peeta and took off, running for the woods, each of the pairs grabbing hands, so Peeta was by himself. He took up the rear as Rory and Prim led them. A random Peacekeeper had noticed them running and yelled for the others behind him.

Peeta yelled for the party to run faster, faster. They hadn't even cleared the treeline before Peeta was struck by a Peacekeeper's rifle. Rory turned at his cry of pain and shot the man with a hidden pistol, probably from Haymitch. Vick and Rory tried to help him up and keep going to hide in the woods, but Peeta was grabbed and forced backwards, being hit in the head with a fist.

He dropped to the ground, yelling "Keep going! Get away!" between punches. Rory looked to Prim, his interests conflicting, saving Prim or saving one of the major parts of the rebellion. Peeta could see the argument with himself in his grey eyes and yelled again, "Leave me! Save them!"

He watched Rory take Prim's hand and led the party into the woods. He sighed relief as he was hit again and his world faded to black.