Disclaimer: All characters and things associated with The Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins and Lionsgate. This writing is for pure entertainment only.

Summary: Peeta's lie about Katniss' pregnancy is tested by the Capitol, leaving the Lethal Lovers only one option going into the Quarter Quell.

CHAPTER 2

KATNISS POV:

I sit with Peeta and Effie on the couch in our living room area. We are all waiting silently for Haymitch to return, hoping he will come back with the best news we could think of: that the Games are called off. That we can go home.

"What's taking him so long?" Peeta sighs after more time passes.

"Well, it is a big decision they are discussing. I am sure it will take more then five minutes," Effie says, and for once I am surprised at how levelheaded she is being. She then glances at me and reaches out for my hand. I can see tears in her eyes. "I hope they make the right decision."

Again, I want to tell her the pregnancy is a big fat lie, but I am cut off by the elevator door opening and Haymitch stepping in. Any ray of hope that was on Peeta's face or mine when Haymitch walked in was quickly defeated by the look on his face.

"It didn't work?" Peeta guessed.

"Well…it might have…maybe…" Haymitch sighs and fills himself a drink from the table before coming around and tossing himself on the couch between Effie and myself, effectively breaking the hold she had on my hand and causing me to shift closer to Peeta.

"What do you mean?" Peeta pressed.

"Well…they don't want to make an official decision until they can confirm that Katniss is actually pregnant…which is a…problem," Haymitch says slowly.

"A problem? Why, that will be easy! Just have her take a test," Effie seems to smile and wave this off as if it is nothing.

"They want her to…tomorrow morning," Haymitch locks eyes with me.

I sigh and toss myself back into the couch. "Well…it was worth a shot."

"Katniss, just take the test and you and Peeta can go home," Effie says.

"I would, Effie…but I'm not really pregnant," I say.

Effie seems slightly confused and looks between Peeta and I for an explanation. I don't bother to go any further, I let Peeta handle it.

"I lied about it, Effie…I thought…maybe they would let us go home if they thought she was pregnant," Peeta runs a hand through his hair. "It didn't work though."

"Well, it could have. If she was actually pregnant," Haymitch reminds us.

"So what do we do now?" I ask.

"Well…they still want you to take the test tomorrow," Haymitch says.

"That's stupid, they will know we lied. The Capitol could take it out on us in the arena," I say, thinking we have just given Snow another reason to put a bigger target on mine and Peeta's back. The Public will see us for what we are: liars, actors. Now, we are lying about a huge part of our relationship. What else have we lied about?

"Yeah, they could. The Public won't be happy…" Haymitch confirms what I was already thinking.

"Great…just add it to the list," I say and launch myself off the couch, moving to my room and slamming the door hard behind me,

I an angry, but I am not sure who I am angry at. I can't be mad at Peeta, he tried his best to save us, and I can't be mad at Haymitch for bringing me this news. I'm just so angry; frustrated. Everything Peeta and I try to do to save ourselves only seems to hurt us more. I want everyone in the Capitol to pay for this, but more then anything, I can't help but be angry with myself. I let myself, for a second think that I was going to go home. Stupid me.

PEETA POV:

I watch as Katniss storms off and slams her bedroom door behind her. I flinch at the noise and so does Effie. I feel awful; we are going to have a bigger target on our backs in the arena and it is my fault. So far, if keeping Katniss alive is my plan, I am doing a pretty poor job at it.

I put my head in my hands. "This is my fault."

"You tried something, Peeta…you couldn't have known this would happen," Haymitch gives me a reluctant pat on the back.

I glance up at my mentor. He promised me that he would keep Katniss alive at all costs and he had better keep that promise. "What should we do?"

Silence falls between Haymitch and myself. I nearly forget Effie is in the room until she breaks that silence.

"She has to get pregnant," Effie says simply.

Both Haymitch and I look at Effie as if her golden hair has suddenly gone on fire.

"What?" I manage out.

"It's true. If she goes down there and they find out she is pregnant, it could stop all of this!" Effie says, smiling as if she has solved the world's greatest puzzle.

"Yeah…and then she would actually be pregnant," I shake my head at Effie. "That would result in a baby…"

"Yeah, and lets be honest, Katniss shouldn't be allowed around anything that can't defend itself," Haymitch jokes.

I shoot him a dirty look. That is not a statement, joke or not, that I agree with. Despite what Katniss may think of herself, I know she is caring and loving and gentle. I have seen her with Prim. But that's not the point; she's seventeen and any notion of getting her pregnant is insane. The idea that we would have to have a fake wedding was hard enough, but a fake family. Katniss would never go for that; I am not sure I even would.

Haymitch seems to be thinking Effie's words over now and then shakes his head. "Katniss would never go for it."

"She might. If it stopped these Games…kept everyone safe," Effie says.

"At the expense of a child's life?" I am shaking my head; this is a stupid idea.

"If it happened tonight, would the test show it tomorrow?" Haymitch asks.

My jaw hits the floor. Is Haymitch actually thinking about Effie's suggestion? Is he insane?

"Oh yes, Capitol tests are instant…not to mention she can drink a tonic that will…make sure she conceives. The Capitol women use it to make sure their time is now wasted when they want to have a child. She could be pregnant by morning," Effie says.

Haymitch looks to me as if for approval and I can tell he is already leaning in the direction of Effie's idea.

"No way. Katniss will never agree to that…and it doesn't even mean the Games would be cancelled for sure," I say. I don't want to add the fact that it would crush me if Katniss turned me down, which she more then likely would. I know I don't have her heart; it belongs to Gale. She is just stuck with me to keep her family alive, and after the arena I will be gone and she can go back to the life she wants; the life with Gale.

"But it might," Haymitch reasons.

I shake my head again. "This is my fault. I got us into this…I can't expect her to do something she doesn't want to in order to get us out of it. Can't we just say she lost the baby?"

Effie shakes her head. "The Capitol will know it's a lie. Those tests show the hormone levels of a recently pregnant woman. You told Caesar she was pregnant tonight, which means even if she were to lose the baby in the next few hours, the tests would detect that she had been recently pregnant. Right now…they will show nothing."

Again my head drops to my hand. I am grasping at something, anything that will fix this awful mistake I made. I thought I had been calculating, cunning even. I had never imagined it would only create more problems for us.

"I screwed up," I say into my palms.

Again, Haymitch gives me an awkward pat on the shoulder. "But we can fix this…"

I glance up at Haymitch. I know what he is saying and I won't allow it. "I can't ask Katniss to do this."

"Fine, I will. If it saves your lives…" Haymitch stands.

"No," I am on my feet just as quickly. I know Haymitch will go in their barking orders and Katniss will not take any of it in the right way. At any rate, this is my fault, not Haymitch's and I can't make him bare the brunt of her anger if this is something we are actually contemplating. I need to be the one to talk to her. "I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Haymitch asks and I know he has a good idea of how Katniss will react.

I nod and slide past him, taking a deep breath as I move toward Katniss' door and give it a soft knock, hoping I can handle whatever Katniss I face on the other side of the door.

KATNISS POV:

I curl up onto of the silk bed sheets and want the whole world to leave me alone. For a split second, I really believed Peeta and I would be going home. I am angry I let myself believe that so easily. I should have known the Capitol would have wanted to make sure I was actually having a baby before they cancelled the Games.

Now, I am going to be broadcast as a liar and so will Peeta. It will blow any chance of our love story saving us now which will only make getting Peeta out of the arena even harder for me.

I can feel a few tears rise in my eyes but I fight them off. No use crying in frustration. What's done is done and now I need to think of a way to deal with the consequences.

A knock on the door startles me. I glance up, expecting Effie to not wait for me to invite her in, but the door does not open.

"Come in…" My voice sounds foreign to me.

Slowly, the door opens and Peeta sticks his head in. "Can we talk?"

I snort a bit and wipe my tears up as I glance back out toward the window, but I do give Peeta a little nod.

Peeta slowly closes the door behind him and makes his way to the bed. He sits down quietly on the edge for a long moment and it makes me want to scream. He looks like a wounded puppy, and he was the one who asked me to stop looking at him as if he was wounded. It's hard when he looks like this.

"I messed up," Peeta says.

My brow furrows at him. "What?"

"This is my fault. I lied…and now everyone is going to know it. Its going to hurt our image…our chances of getting out of the Games," Peeta says.

I sigh. I don't want him to blame himself, especially because regardless of our chances, I never planned on surviving the Games. He needs to live, and I will do all I can to make sure he does, even though he has a point that it might be near impossible now. Our epic love story is about to blow up in our faces.

"It wasn't your fault…you were trying your best," I say and surprise, even myself, when I reach out to give his land a little squeeze.

Peeta looks down at our hands and I pull mine quickly away. I don't want him to get the wrong idea.

"Well…we can still make this work…Effie says we can anyway…" Peeta isn't look at me as he speaks and I don't like it. I know what is coming next. He is going to ask me something he knows I won't like.

"What?" I ask slowly.

Peeta swallows hard and for a second looks like he is struggling with himself to speak to me; as if there is an internal battle going on in his head. It is driving me crazy to watch.

Finally, Peeta speaks, his voice shaking. "We could…you know…get you pregnant…"

I can feel the color drain from my face at Peeta's suggestion. Is he crazy?

"But I understand not wanting to do that," Peeta adds quickly. "And I am ready to deal with whatever fallout there is over the lie. It's my fault…I told it…so if it means no allies, no sponsors…I am ready for it. I'm sorry I dragged you into it."

Peeta's words hit me like a truck. He's right, once this lie goes out to the Capitol, our entire love story will be seen as a sham and Snow will win. Peeta and I won't survive without sponsors in this arena, and no one will want to help two liars from District 12. I don't care what happens to me, I had never planned on getting out of the arena, but if we are seen as liars there is no way for me to get Peeta out alive either. Peeta has to live.

I suddenly realize, what Peeta is asking me, may be the only option I have left to make sure he lives through these Games. It might even mean I survive, maybe all the Tributes will. But at the cost of bring another life into this barbaric world; something I have never been interested in.

I never wanted children. Not now, not in this world, but bringing one life might be able to save hundreds of more. It will certainly make our love story seem real.

Suddenly, I lower my head into my hands and start to cry a bit at the decision I have ahead of me. I know, despite what I truly want, what the best decision is.

PEETA POV:

I freeze as Katniss begins to cry. I knew coming into her room and asking her to get pregnant was a mistake. She doesn't love me; she doesn't want to be with me, and she certainly doesn't want to have a baby with me.

Hell, I don't even want a child. Not now anyway. I used to think I did, but after all that I have seen, I am not sure I would ever feel comfortable having a child. Even if I decide I do, I certainly don't want one at seventeen. Yet, here I am, begging the girl I am completely in love with to do just that.

This is insane. What was I thinking?

I reach out cautiously and touch her heaving shoulder. "Katniss…just forget it…we can get through this…we will be fine."

My words only seem to make Katniss cry more. I don't know what to do, what to say to fix this.

"Katniss…please…" I hesitate, but then gently reach out and place a hand on her back. What's the worst thing she could do? Shoot me with an arrow? It wouldn't hurt me anymore then I already am.

Katniss flinches at my touch, but she does lift her face. Her grey eyes are pooling with tears and I feel so bad I did this to her. I should have just let her kill me in the first arena, and then none of this would be happening.

"Katniss…please…forget about it. I shouldn't have said it…we will be fine—" I start.

"No, Peeta…you're right…Effie is right…we don't have a choice," Katniss says, her voice sounding defeated.

I blink twice at her. Surely, I am not hearing her correctly. "What?"

"The lie is out there…if we don't fulfill it…" Katniss shakes her head. "It's the only way to keep everyone safe…my family…your family…"

"Gale," I say flatly.

Katniss nods.

I take a second to think about what she is saying. It is truly crazy. If we live up to the stupid lie I told and she does get pregnant, that means we are bound for life together. Sure, maybe we always were because of the first lie we told about being in love, but this is different. This is bringing another life into the lie; an innocent life.

"Katniss…you know what this means then, don't you?" I ask cautiously.

Katniss simply nods and pushes her hair off of her face. She doesn't make eye contact with me but I can see a few more tears forming in her eyes as she is coming to terms with what she is agreeing to.