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12
Katniss
About 4 hours later, we're stopping for a break where we hear a loud whirring sound. We jump into bushes and suddenly Glimmer taps me on the shoulder, pointing upwards. Shit, it's a massive fucking hovercraft. I groan and begin whispering hurriedly, "Guys, I'm so sorry, this is entirely my fault…" but Cato shoves his hand over my mouth as two ladders drop down, each with 5 people on them. I kiss Cato quickly, worried this may be the last time and suddenly the bushes break. "You're alive!" someone exclaims and I look up to see Gale looking down at me. More specifically looking at the hand I am holding, the embrace I am in.
I jump up and hug him, screaming, "Gale! What are you doing here?" He hugs me back, whispering, "Hey Catnip. You're safe now. I've come to save you." I pull away and raise my eyebrows, saying, "Save me? You're about a month too late. We've been stuck here for weeks. And I'm not in danger anyway." He looks at me angrily, "You're surrounded by Careers…" "Who aren't that bad once you get to know them," I finish and I take Cato's hand again. His eyes harden and he turns to the others, shouting, "They're all here." When he spins back, he's in official mode, barking, "We're the rebels of district 13. You need to come with us."
I walk beside him, Cato on my other side and he says, "Catnip, I'm sorry, I've been busy, dealing with… Plus we thought you were dead. We only got a signal from the Capitol a few days ago, saying that you'd blown up the forcefield. Well done on that, by the way." I go back to something he said first, "Wait, what? Dealing with what?" He hesitates before answering me, "Look, hun, the Capitol heard about the rebellion and wanted to stop it. They wanted to make a point, like… So they destroyed its weakest link. They blew up 12. I'm sorry."
Both Peeta and I are sobbing now. I'm leaning against Cato's chest, trying to stop screaming for long enough to ask Gale, "Everyone?" He shakes his head, knowing instantaneously what I am asking and he replies, "Two survivors. Peeta, your dad and one of your brothers are still alive. That's it, I'm sorry." Peeta gasps and hugs Clara tight, smiling now, but still grieving. His mom is dead, as is mine. And Prim. Oh God. I'm furious now, not sad and I turn on Gale, shouting, "You promised to protect them! And you couldn't even save your own family. I don't believe you; I don't believe the Capitol would do this. How would you survive, if they wanted you dead? Who really blew it up?"
At my last question, Gale's face flickers and I gasp out loud. "Oh. My. God. It was you. It was all you. You're the reason the Games stopped and you're the reason she's dead. How could you, Gale?" He panics and begins shouting, "I had no choice! Sacrifices have to be made," but I interrupt, "NOT THOSE SACRIFICES! NOT MY FAMILY! They were all I had…" Instantly I feel movement around me, as Cato, Thresh, Clara and Rue stand beside me and all say, "You have me." Gale takes a step forward and says, "And me too, Catnip. Now we can be together, like we've always wanted." Cato, Thresh and Marvel form a shield around me and at first I think it's because they want to protect me, but when Clove restrains me, I realise I'm the danger, I'm the liability. This thought lingers for only a second before I scream, "YOU? I will never want to be with you, not after what you've done. I… I hate you. I'm in love with Cato, because he understands me like you never will, and he would never hurt me. You are a dickhead and you're dead to me." He laughs harshly and a shiver goes down my spine – I've never seen this side to him before. He leans close to me and, just quiet enough that the rest of the Rebels can't hear, murmurs, "I will win you back. You'll have to work with me anyway."
"Why?" Clove asks and Gale snarls at her, "On the rebellion, you stupid bitch." Cato finally snaps and punches Gale bang on the nose, shouting, "OI! No one calls her a bitch except me!" Gale falls to the floor unconscious and Marvel and Thresh pat Cato on the back as I say, "I'm surprised you lasted so long under the circumstances," before winking and kissing him quickly. Clove slaps Cato and hugs him and soon everyone is laughing, happy to be out of the arena. However, I don't feel happy, and soon my eyes meet the only person who understands how I'm feeling. Peeta.
I walk over and sit down beside him, taking his hand and leaning my head against his chest. He strokes my hair as I cry, "I'm so sorry, Peeta. It's all my fault, I led Gale on and now your family is dead." He stopped and pushed me back, growling, "Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. I know you're trying to mask the pain with guilt but it won't work in the long run. It's not your fault – its Gale's. Please don't hurt yourself over this." I nod and he kisses my forehead before standing and letting Cato take his place. He lets me cry myself to sleep.
Cato
This is too much for her to deal with, especially when she's ill. Clara and Clove have been watching her on shifts but I haven't left her side in about 36 hours. Clara is trying to get me to sleep and I might attempt that if it wasn't for Kat waking up every 45 minutes, screaming. It pains me to see her in so much pain, but there is nothing I can do. Peeta is popping in every 2-3 hours, just to check on her, and Thresh and Marvel are here every 6 hours, for 2 at a time. Everyone cares so much for her, but nobody can help her now. Because the one she needs most is the one that hurt her the most. I need to talk to Gale –but not until she wakes up.
"Hey, babe," she whispers and I jerk up, glancing at the clock. 42 hours without sleep is a long time and she must be able to see it in my face. "Cato! How long since you've slept hun?" she asks, and I shake my head dozily, answering, "Um. I'm not sure. But it doesn't matter, as long as you're ok." She rolls her eyes and nods but before she can answer, I insist, "Ok, then you stay here, I'll be back in a few minutes and we can curl up together and catch up on sleep, ok?" She nods and stretches, blowing me a kiss as I walk out of the room.
When I knock on the door, it almost immediately swings open, and Gale stands there, bags under his eyes. I recognise his whole posture as someone who is waiting for news, and know he is worried about Katniss. And then it hits me – he looks like me. "She's fine," he breathes and I nod, raising my eyebrows and he says, "Would you be here if she wasn't?" He invites me in and I sit gingerly on a chair before turning to him, all my anger welling up as I shout, "You think you love her but you do this? How could you hurt her like that? Please, give me a reason…" Suddenly I'm sobbing, in anger and in grief, for Katniss. He sits down opposite me and whispers, "Everyone was getting in the way. Stopping us from being together. I had to do it, to even have a chance with her. At first, it was just a stupid idea, but when I saw her with Peeta… holding his hand… something snapped inside of me. I had to kill my family for her." I roared at this, "NO! You didn't have to kill your bloody family. If you had waited, she would have fallen in love with you naturally. That was the way her life was destined to go. Luckily, she met me, and I am the luckiest guy in the world, but if she ever wanted you more, I would let her go, because I love her. Unlike you." Gale pulled a disgusted face but before he could respond, I stormed out.
Katniss
I've been awake about 30 minutes and Cato has been gone all this time. About 5 minutes ago I heard a massive crash and I'm getting seriously worried. I've known him long enough to know he has a temper on him, and Gale is the same, so if Cato has confronted him… God only knows what would happen. Suddenly he enters, and he's breathing heavily, but he has an artificial smile arranged on his face as he moves across the room and clambers into bed with me, slipping his arms around me so we're lying face-to-face. "What did you do, Cato?" I ask, and he shakes his head but I interrupt, "No. Don't fucking lie to me. I don't need this right now – what did you do?"
He blushes slightly, and replies, "I just told the truth. I know you need him right now and the only way you can ever get him back is to make him see sense. So I tried, baby, but he's so deluded, he's managed to convince himself that you will love him now. I'm sorry." I'm overcome with emotion, overwhelmed by love and I kiss him passionately, before pressing my forehead to his and murmuring, "Oh baby, its fine. I thought I needed him too. But I realise now that I don't – because I have you." I kissed him again and we fell asleep like that, pressed together, as if we needed to protect each other. And the nightmares disappeared. Just like that…
We were jerked awake about 4 hours later by the rocking of the hovercraft. One of the crew stuck his head round the door, shouting, "We're under attack." Automatically, I grabbed Cato's hand and he pulled me close to him. We got dressed and went to try and help, but Gale shoved us back inside, whispering for us to stay hidden, which we did. The fighting went on for about 30 minutes before everything went quiet, except for the footsteps coming down the corridor. Closer and closer until the door swung open and President Snow's slimy voice reached me, making my skin crawl. "Katniss. I know you're in here. Now let's not make this difficult – I just want to talk to you."
I slowly stand up, revealing myself from the chest we've been hiding behind. Cato is upright in a second, and President Snow claps his hands, "And Cato too! A pleasure." Cato rolls his eyes and grips my hand tighter, growling, "What's going on? Are you going to hurt us?" Snow laughs and shakes his head, inviting us to sit down on the loveseat opposite him. I desperately want to curl up next to Cato, but at the same time, I don't want to appear weak, something Cato understands. Snow speaks, "Katniss. I'm sure you are aware that District 12 is gone. That your family is dead. This is the fault of the rebels, but luckily, we have managed to defeat them. You are on the last hovercraft of the rebels, and my team have just killed the last one." I choke at this and he smirks, "Yes, your friend. Gale, wasn't it?" I growl at him, "Don't say his name."
At this he laughs but apart from that, ignores me, continuing, "You will all now come back to the Capitol, to prepare for the Quarter Quell. 7 of you will be entering the arena again, but this time, on a vote. And you will be joined by 10 previous victors, drawn previously – two from 1, two from 2, one from 4, one from 7, two from 8, one from 11 and one from 12. Questions?" I ask coldly, "Haymitch?" Snow nods cruelly, "Yes. He'll be joining you. Others include Finnick Odair, Johanna Mason and Brutus, from 2?" Cato coughs, obviously in pain and I give an almost imperceptible nod of my head before continuing the conversation, "Ok, fine. Is that all? Only we'll need time to compose ourselves before seeing our prep teams again." Snow nods, back to the formalities of the Capitol, forgetting that only seconds ago he was condemning us to death. "Of course. Katniss, Cato, a pleasure. May the odds be ever in your favour." With that, he sweeps out, but before the door can close, the others are in, sitting around us, waiting to hear what happened.