"Run! Run, Katniss! Run!" Peeta yelled as he entered the screen. Katniss blinked and nodded, she stumbled forward and, clutching her backpack, bow, and arrows. I held my breath and focused on Peeta's screen.

Livid. Garen was livid. He grabbed Peeta by the collar and punched him in the face.

Well, guess that's the end of Peeta.

"I-" He punched him once more. "trusted-" Garen kicked Peeta in the gut as he tried to fight back against Garen. "you! Give me my sword!" Clove scrambled to hand him the blade and Garen let Peeta go for a split second.

"Idiot." Haymitch muttered and I felt sweat prickle on the tip of my nose. Garen would not miss a chance to kill. He swung the sword down, but not into the head or heart. Garen sliced half of Peeta's leg open. Peeta screamed in agony as blood began to gush from the wound.

Dying in pain. What a great method. If he survives, he's going to have to get a new leg.

"There. We'll see how long you last." Garen growled and wiped the blood from his sword as Peeta crawled away.

Send him something. A bandage or gauze.

"We should send-"

"No." Haymitch cut through and shook his head. "The Careers will probably take it and we can't waste funds on a lost cause."

Where in the deep abyss of Haymitch's heart was that speech lurking?

I don't know. I shook my head and watched Katniss fall over in a dead faint. The girl with the curly hair scampered forward and I held my breath. She began to chew leaves and spit the mixture onto Katniss' stings.

"Well fuck the system, she's helping Katniss!" Haymitch guffawed and shook his head. I nodded and sent a silent thanks to the girl.

Rue. Her name is Rue.

What a weird name. Katniss was not moving, so I took a deep breath and nodded to Haymitch.

"I'm getting some air," I muttered and I walked outside to calm my nerves. A few Mentors whose tributes had died passed by and nodded to me.

I walked around the quiet building and reached the District 2 Mentor Room. I opened the door and walked in. Enobaria and Kelsa were busy typing away at their computers.

"Hi, Cato. We're just buying a coffee and tea set for Garen and Clove." Kelsa said as she set her computer down. "What's up? I see you only have one tribute left."

"Two." I muttered and Kelsa raised an eyebrow.

"For now. Coffee?" She asked and pushed her short hair back. I nodded and sat down in one of the chairs.

"So, how's life?" I asked and Kelsa shrugged. She handed me a cup and Enobaria ignored us.

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old. I don't want kids, but my husband does."

Ah. That's interesting.

I raised my eyebrows and Kelsa shook her head.

"I'm busy watching children get slaughtered, I don't have the time or sanity for children." She shrugged. "Guess that's one of the millions of cons about winning the Hunger Games." I watched the Careers kill a boy.

"Hey, how is your husband holding up?" I asked and Kelsa shook her head. Enobaria snorted and answered for her.

"How do you think? His best friend's daughter is in a fight to the death, and with competition looking like that, the stakes aren't very high for her. She's deadly, but not big enough." She remarked and Kelsa nodded.

"Another reason why I don't want kids." I watched the screen and saw that they had assigned the boy from 8 to rewire the mines.

"That's new." I commented and both Kelsa and Enobaria looked at me.

"It's smart, but too risky." Enobaria muttered and I raised my hands in mock defeat.

"Cato, would you like to come over here for dinner tonight?" Kelsa asked and pointed to her tablet. Katniss was still in the exact same position she had been in. I nodded and exited the room, heading towards mine.

Will she come out alive? Or will she be found by the Career pack?

Shut up! I trudged back to the room to where Haymitch was sleeping. Sitting down, I watched as Katniss finally stirred. She sat up and rubbed her head. I watched as she walked a bit and found the girl, Rue, up in a tree.

"Hey, they're not the only ones that can form alliances, you know." She called up and Rue climbed a bit lower. "Come on, I won't hurt you." Katniss said, and Rue came down.

This won't end well. If it's only the two of them, then Katniss will have to kill Rue.

Then Rue will have to die.

But how?

They hunted together, ate together, and Katniss even gave her more food. This really was not going to end well. After Rue and Katniss made the plan to destroy the Career's food supply, Hymitch returned from his tour around the other Mentors' viewing rooms.

I glared as the redheaded girl hopped her way through the traps. She grabbed the things she needed and ran off. I knew she knew where Katniss was. Why hadn't she done anything?

Katniss notched her bow and sent an arrow straight at the bag of apples near the top of the pyramid. It took her two arrows to get the apples to fall and when they do, the mines underneath them exploded.

Katniss was thrown backwards and everything went up. Katniss looked around with a dazed expression. She had enough sense to quickly hide in some bushes before anyone arrived.

Wonder how Garen will react?

Very badly. The boy they had left to guard the Cornucopia was shaking. He returned just as Garen came sprinting back.

"What the hell happened?!" He yelled and the boy just quaked.

"Shit, all of our food!" Marvel growled and Garen snapped the kid's neck.

"Marvel, Clove, go looking for the bastard that did this. When you find them, skin them alive." He commanded and I raised my eyebrows.

Skin them alive? A bit too painful a death, hm?

Katniss began to run as soon as Garen turned his back to her general area. She whistled for Rue and received no reply. There was a knock on the door and Finnick stepped in.

"Hey, there." He sat down next to me. "I don't like what's going to happen." He muttered and I nodded.

"Katniss! Help me! Katniss!" A shrill voice screamed and I exhaled.

"At least she won't have to kill her." I muttered and Finnick nodded. We watched as Katniss cut through the ropes that held Rue.

"Sh, sh, it's okay. It's okay." She comforted her. I saw a figure moving in the background. Marvel. Katniss noticed him and drew her bow. She let the arrow loose as soon as the spear flew from his hand. Katniss sighed in relief and I shook my head.

Dead.

"Oh my gosh, Rue!" She cried and caught the girl as she fell.

"Ka-atniss," she groaned. "You have to win."

"I will. I will. I will." Katniss let her tears fall.

"S-Sing for me." She whispered and Finnick nodded. Katniss began to sing a lullaby. I shook my head.

"She's vulnerable. Anyone could come and kill her." When Rue died, Katniss covered her wound in flowers. She placed flowers around the young girl's body and gave her a final farewell. She then put three fingers to her lips and raised them.

The sign, from your dream! It's her in the arena!

My eyes widened and I shook my head. Katniss began to run. She climbed up a tree and strapped herself in. Only the did she truly let the tears fall freely.

"Cato!" Enobaria and Kelsa burst into the room. "Turn the news on, now!" I quickly changed the channel and live footage of riots in District 11 were being shown.

"Holy shit." Finnick muttered. "What on Earth?!" I shook my head.

"11 of all places. They're rioting in 11." Kelsa growled and Haymitch glared at her.

"Kelsa, Enobaria." He gave a curt greeting and Kelsa glared back.

"Haymitch."

We watched as people began to burn down buildings. Peacekeepers were sent to still the riot. I looked over at Peeta's screens. He was camouflaged as a rock and still holding on.

When will he die?

"Attention, Tributes. Attention. The regulation acquiring a single Victor has been suspended. From now on, two Victor may be crowned. This will be the only announcement." Enobaria and Kelsa grinned and Finnick shook his head.

"Not going to work. They only need one Victor. The announcement'll be repealed later on, I know it." He stated.

"Well, why don't we send a gag so Katniss doesn't get herself killed?" Haymitch asked. I nodded at the joke. Katniss had been calling Peeta's name for well over a minute. She was tracking him based on where Rue had told her where he was.

When she found him, Katniss nearly screamed her face off. He had grabbed her ankle and whispered her name. She lead him to a cave and examined his wound.

"What was it?"

"Sword. Garen got to me." Peeta groaned.

"Hey, you'll be okay." She smiled and I suppressed a scoff. False hope wasn't healthy.

Nothing is necessarily healthy except for tomatoes.

Tomatoes? You're kidding.

I rarely kid.

Liar.

"Haymitch, I trust you'll do whatever is right in that brain of yours."

"Where'r you going?" He asked.

"Home."

~'~'~'~

"Cato!" Juna opened the door and hugged me. "Hi! It's been forever!"

"It's only been a year, Juna." I frowned and she nodded.

"Exactly! I'm 9 now! Come on, it's time for dinner." Juna lead me to the table where Father was waiting.

"Good, now we can eat." He smiled and we sat down. "So, I see Miss Everdeen is doing well." I gave him a scowl and returned to eating.

"She's going to win." Juna said as she buttered a roll. "I know it."

Your sister seems to have a keen sense for the future.

Or she's good at guessing.

I continued to eat while Father and Juna discussed this year's Games.

"I mean, the whole star-crossed lovers thing is really pointless." Juna stated I gave her a queer look.

Kid might actually be onto something.

"What do you mean?" I asked and Juna shrugged.

"When Winny and I watch the Games after our lessons, we like watching the parts with Kantniss-"

"Katniss, Juna. Not Kantniss. Katniss." Father corrected her and Juna nodded.

"So we'll find her interviews, her training score, and Father let us watch a bit of the action inside the Training Center." I raised my eyebrows at Father and he raised his hands.

Ooh, behind the scenes? Lucky girl.

"The President and I both enjoy seeing our little girls smile." He simply stated and continued to eat. Juna continued to speak.

"So when we see Katniss and Peeta together, she doesn't look at him the same way he looks at her." Juna explained. I blinked and leaned in a bit to hear more.

"So you're saying she doesn't like him?" I asked. "That all the kissing and stuff is just to get on Haymitch's good side?" Juna nodded.

I mean, everyone kisses ass to get on a Victor's good side.

"She doesn't like him, Cato. I think she likes someone else. Anyways, I'm going to watch the Games with Winny in the District 2 Mentor room tomorrow. Aunt Enobaria and Kelsa invited us!" She happily exclaimed.

"Well, I'll make sure to be there with you." I could collect Sponsor cash while on the way.

"Cato... the next Games, you will be home if Katniss wins." He began slowly.

That's not cryptic at all.

After dessert, father had Juna go to bed. We sat in the living room, each with a glass of whiskey in hand.

"You know I don't condone you drinking." Father muttered and I shrugged.

"Keeps me at bay." Father made no response that. "Father, will you stay here next year?" I asked and he shook his head.

"I'm not sure if we'll be moving back to District 2. Juna and I would have to come back for the Games, anyways. Cato. Next year, the Games... they will most likely be very different. The Quarter Quell was made to still rebellions and teach the Districts a lesson. District 11 has rebelled. If you can, refrain from being a Mentor. I understand Katniss will most likely be there, but try your best not to be a Mentor next year. I'll try to tell you what the card will say when I find out. Coriolanus wouldn't keep me in the dark for too long."

"Father, what you speak of is treason." I whispered and he nodded.

"I would do anything to protect you and Juna."