Disclaimer: Hunger Games= Not mine.

Note: Mockingjay Spoilers! (Thanks, Kenzie!:)

I will see all my old opponents. Cato, Clove, Marvel, Foxface, Glimmer… They're all alive, someway… somehow. And while I was undoubtedly on the Careers' watch two years ago, I'll surely be the first one on the list this year.

But I won't be alone. No, I'll have Peeta. And Rue.

Rue the sweet little 12-year-old that I was so distracted by in the Capitol before. The way she stood. Just like a bird. On her toes, arms slightly extended to her side as if she was ready to take flight at the slightest of sound. The way she looked. Dark hair and skin-nothing unlike her district partner, Thresh. Thresh had kindly let me live after I told him that I had sung to Rue until she passed. Both were undoubtedly experts in agriculture, for that was District Eleven's specialty.

"Haymitch," I begin, lost in both disbelief and bewilderment. "How… how could it be possible? To bring back the tributes, I mean?"

If there was any chance of Rue having another try at life, I'd have to be the first to know. Suddenly, I am overwhelmed with Rue's last few moments 2 years ago. Her killer, Marvel, desperately trying to extract my silver arrow from his body, and then drowning in his own blood. His cannon came minutes afterward. Rue had asked for only two things: for me to sing to her until she died and my victory of the Games. Both as to I gladly did.

Haymitch makes himself comfortable at the wall facing Peeta and I, his slant body leaning on the barrier that separated us three from the hallways. After a long moment of silence he continues.

"Well, Sweetheart, since the Capitol doesn't specifically like me either, I don't have that answer. But I have a handful of guesses. One being the Capitol received the data from the dead tributes and implanted them into new bodies, so they could motivate even after death. Or they could have even used their technology as well as District Three's and District Six's drugs."

One part of my brain is pounding, hard, but the other is actually agreeing with our old mentor. He may be a drunk, but he's usually right- with the Games that is.

"Peeta?" I inquire, questionably. He hadn't said a word, and he didn't really seem to be that much surprised about the news either.

Peeta nods, staring at Haymitch, he asks. "When do we go back? To the Capitol I mean."

Haymitch rises, slowly and quietly. "Tonight," he says when he's satisfied of his height. "We leave tonight." He brutally ignores our shocked faces, and heads to the door. "And since there's no Snow lurking around there, we should have a safe trip…" Except for the new president. He opens the door and turns back one more time. "And if all goes well: We'll have a safe trip out. Now start packing, we leave around midnight." And he slams the door shut, leaving Peeta and I in the ghostly room.

I wonder what he means by packing. It's not like we get to bring anything up there but the clothes on our back and maybe a token. Mine being, of course, the pin that was given to me by my now dead friend Madge.

Peeta jumps from my side. "I'd better start…" It seems like packing isn't such a good use of wording now. "…gathering up I guess."

He gives me a simple kiss before exiting the room in a goofy way. He might be just as distracted as I am about the arena coming into our lives for the third time. It'd be hard to ignore it; no one could wish they'd be back there, I don't even think the Careers could.

Especially not Cato…

I can hear Peeta's footsteps fade, and then there's a noise that sounds like a door slamming. Afterwards, everything goes absolutely mute. I check the clock sitting on my dresser. 8:42. Well, I might have enough time to get some rest. But sleep was actually the last thing on my mind.

I slide far up on my bed, ignoring the fact that I still had my hunting boots on, and drifted off.

I wake up to loud footsteps in the hall. Immediately, my eyes shoot open and I jerk my head up to see Peeta opening the entrance to my room.

He sees me straight away, and then blushes a bright red. "Oh, sorry…" He says, he stands frozen, most likely deciding on whether he should leave or not. "Were you asleep?"

"No…" I lie. "I was just lying down for a bit. No biggie."

I notice he doesn't carry anything, nothing to remind him of our District. The same place we'd be presenting again, despite our home's destruction….

"You don't have a token?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No. Why should I? There's practically nothing left of any of it…"

I ignore his question and remove myself from my bed. I grab my Mockingjay pin with ease, and note the time. 11:08. A thought crosses my mind. "Peeta, does the rest of Panem know we're going back?" I know he hasn't been told anything, but I have the urge to ask anyway.

"I don't doubt it." He answers. "Word travels fast in the Capitol. If the outlying Districts don't know now, they will later…"

He grabs a remote from the top of my dresser and hits a small red button. The T.V.'s black screen instantly blooms with color, and Atala, the woman that had run our training from our Games, comes into view.

"-tributes will be back alongside Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark for this year's Hunger Games. The Capitol refuses to answer how these tributes are brought back, or how they have been dealt with." Atala steps aside to reveal the Capitol's domineering gates. "We'll have an update A.S.A.P. for all of you viewers in a bit. Now in other news-"

Peeta flicks the T.V. off and it goes dark once more. "Guess they do already." He says.

I grab my father's jacket that still is a couple sizes too big, and exit the room, Peeta right behind. I hear as he closes the door tightly.

"It's not midnight yet, Katniss." He says. "What are we going to do in the extra time?"

That puts me to a halt. It may be a 10 minute ride down, our rooms being one of the highest levels and all. The building was amazing alike the Training Center in the Capitol. Every room, every area of the place, resembled the Training Center from Diameter to height.

I think of one of the only suggestions I could get into my head: "We could go down to the Training Area."

"And train?" He asks in disbelief.

"No. To just… talk, I guess."

He nods, looking a bit confused. He offers me his hand and I grab it without hesitation.

Like everything else, the Training Area is designed to look like the same one we had to use in the Capitol. Even now I can still see our old competitors: Wiress and Beetee starting a fire, Cato practicing with his spears, even Woof sword fighting. But I know it's all in my head, and for some reason I'm hoping it's not.

Peeta sits down where I guess the Gamemakers were intended to be seated at the original center. I somewhat follow him. From up here we can see the whole Gym. No one's here yet, which makes me a bit more comfortable. If I'm alone with anyone, I'm happy it's Peeta.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Peeta asks.

I nod, reluctantly. "Yes, none too good though. But I'm not looking forward to going back into the original one."

I'm sure no one is, I tell myself, foolishly.

"Peeta gives me his famous smile, "I know,"

I don't speak to him for a while, so we just sit there as if we're not going to see our old enemies from the dead in the near future. After a while, my head starts to pound at the thought, and I feel horribly ill.

Peeta stares at me. "What's wrong?" He asks.

I shake my head, unsure but I tell him. "I don't know." Lie number one. "Maybe… maybe, I'm feeling strange because the thought of going back in the arena."

He shrugs, looking a bit concerned. "Or maybe because of the tributes?"

Yeah, that's the answer. But I can't bring myself to say it.

"What do you think? About the tributes," I ask him, trying to distract myself from the increasing pain.

He pauses, "I'm not positive. I hate it that we have to go against them again, but I keep asking myself: 'Is it right to give them another chance?' I mean, they could win, but if not then it's just the same as they ended up before…"

"…Dead" I finish. I know what he means. Another chance means another death.

"Yes, what about you?" He asks, "How do you feel about them?"

I'm still for a few moments. I don't know exactly how I feel. "I can't say. I'm not looking forward to seeing the Careers again, I know that." I try to give a faint smile, my lips twitching a bit more the harder I try.

Peeta laughs, "And Rue?"

I stop 'smiling'. Even at the mention of Rue my illness grows. Guilty. That's how I feel about her. If we haven't had teamed up would she had lived? A lot of things would have changed. My mind forms a mental picture of both her and Marvel dying, their cannons. I quickly brush the image away. It's probably not the time to think of that. "I want her to have a second chance," I admit. "But I don't want her to die again. I don't want her or Glimmer or Cato or Foxface to die again. Anyone. Even if we should have wanted them to in the first place. Just so we could win..."

"I know," He says. "I couldn't stand the feeling I received when I saw some of the tributes' deaths."

Effie Trinkets, green heels clicking on their way up the stairs, appears out of nowhere, "There you two are!" She says as angry as only Effie can. "We've been waiting for you two! Haymitch is about to have a fit!"

She still wears her strange pink wig that she had 2 years ago. Her Springtime Green dress has been replaced by a new neon orange one that could catch a dog's attention.

We stand up and follow her down the stairs, without a thought in mind.

It doesn't take long for the three of us to reach the exit. Haymitch is already there, like Effie had claimed, walking in full circles. He looks tired- well duh, it's midnight after all. He has bags under his eyes and his clothes are raggedy. "Where have you been?" He asks, or more like yelled.

"We-" I begin, but he cuts me off.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter. We need to get to the station. Prompt."

Only one thing crosses my mind. "Station?"

But Haymitch ignores me. He pulls open the doors without difficulty, revealing the rush of cold air, and that's when I realize that the storm hadn't eased at all.

Life couldn't get much better than this…

There you go. Now, I am going to re-watch Children of the Corn!

Isaac and Malachai FTW! He Who Walks Behind the Rows!

Ugh.