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 17

PEETA POV

It's been two days since the Capitol Hovercraft lifted Johanna and I out of the arena and we have been left on the ship, wounded and in the dark. We have no idea what is happening, no idea where we are going, and no idea if the rebellion has begun. The only thought that is keeping me conscious is of Katniss. I hope she makes it out of here safe; as long as she is safe I will take whatever is coming at me; as long as she and the baby live.

We hear banging going on outside of the ship, or at least, we sort of do. My hearing is still slighting damaged from the explosion in the arena.

"What is that?" Johanna asks.

I don't turn to look at her. I can't see her in the dark hull of the ship but I can feel it, we are moving again and it seems down. "I think we are moving."

We a thumbed as the ship suddenly lands and both of us groan. We are still banged up pretty good from the arena and they have only thrown one bottle of water in for us to share the last two days.

"Fair assessment," Johanna says and even if I can't see her, I know she is rolling her eyes.

"Where do you think we are?" I ask.

"Nowhere good," Johanna assumes what I figured already but did not want to say.

Suddenly, the door to the back of the Hovercraft flies open and two Peacekeeper's board with broad batons in their hand.

Instantly, Johanna and I are each thrown to the floor and our backs are beaten with the sticks before our hands our bound behind us.

"What a welcome committee…" Johanna mocks when we are dragged to our feet.

The Peacekeeper says nothing but he does smack Johanna hard across the shoulder again indicating she should be silenced.

The Peacekeeper holding me then speaks. "Move…forward…"

Johanna and I hobble off the ship and into the bright light of day. I look up as we get off and realize we are in a bottom-landing base for the Hovercraft. The sky is at least fifteen stories up from us.

We are ushered forward down a long hall and ordered to stand against it for at least an hour.

"No sign of Katniss," Johanna says.

I look at her and nod. She is right. I did not see Katniss either.

"If she isn't here with us it must mean she got out safely…" Johanna whispers.

I can only hope that Johanna is right but there is no way to know that until we have a better idea of what is going on, and right now we have no idea.

"Stand," The Peacekeeper orders us.

Johanna and I do as we are told and stand. The Peacekeeper then grabs our wrists and cuts the binding.

I pull my hands to the front and flex them, seeing that the rope has cut deep into my wrists.

"You try anything funny and we will kill you. Once we get across the walkway…into the living quarters we will tie you back up. Again, don't try anything," The Peacekeeper orders.

Johanna and I are both equally confused by these strange requests. If we are in the Capitol, why would they be putting us in living quarters? Surely by now they have figured the rebellion out. Shouldn't they want us dead? Suddenly I feel my heart sink in my chest. Maybe the rebellion failed; maybe something happened to Katniss. If that is the case, I want them to kill me. I can't live without her.

"Why not just keep us tied up then?" Johanna asks the practical question with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

"Can't let the crowd see that," The Peacekeeper says.

"Crowd?" I ask, clearly confused.

"Move it," The second Peacekeeper finally speaks and Johanna and I are pushed forward, out double doors, and are met with the bright sunlight and the blaring noise of cheering crowds.

The noise is alarming but I can hear the crowd chanting my name, smiling, and waving. I don't understand this warm welcome and look straight ahead, where President Snow is waving at us from a makeshift stage near the entrance to the living quarters we had used before the Games.

"Welcome…our only true Victors! Let us hope they can endure and bring us the same calm they have always, even in these troubled times!" Snow's voice is loud over the crowd.

His words are cryptic and confusing and his smile is unmistakably uncomfortable. I know, behind that smile he is glaring at me which means only one thing. Katniss is alive and she is safe and Snow is worried about that.

KATNISS POV

My eyes flutter open and the light in the room seems far too bright. The last thing I remember is shooting the arrow at the force field and the explosion. Everything else is a blur.

I realize I am hooked up to a breathing apparatus and immediately panic, my hands flying to my flat stomach, wondering if the explosion from the arena hurt the baby. There is, of course, no way for me to tell.

I take in my surroundings now and remove the breathing mask from my face. I sit up and realize there is an IV in my arm as well. I quickly yank it out, unsure of what the Capitol has been pumping into my veins while I sleep. I realize I am on a Hovercraft and panic. Did the Capitol pick me up? Surely they did.

I look around and see Beetee laying next to me, still asleep. There is no sign of Peeta or Finnick or Johanna anywhere, but there are also no guards.

I know I need a plan. I need to get away from the Capitol, I need to find Peeta, I need to get home which means I need to get off of the ship.

I glance around for my bow and arrow but know that it would be too much to ask for to find them. The only thing that remotely resembles a weapon is a needle sticking out of a bag in the corner. I move and grab it. It may be my only defense.

I am cautious as I move down the hall of the hovercraft. I hear voices at the end; they are muffled and hard to recognize but I brace myself as I move closer. Whoever is in there will surely be surprised I am awake and this may be my one chance to break free.

As I approach the door it opens and I immediately and shocked by who I find,

Finnick and Plutarch Heavensbee are standing at a long table. Part of me expects Finnick to be with the enemy, I should have never trusted him, but the third person in the room shocks it. It is Haymitch.

"Morning sweetheart…" Haymitch grins.

I don't think, instead I lung at Haymitch with the needle. He has betrayed me; he has betrayed Peeta. He is with the enemy.

Haymitch, however drunk he may be, is quick on his feet and grabs my extended arm, gently pushing me against the wall, holding both of my arms in place over my head so I cannot hurt anyone.

"What are you doing with them?!" I spit in his face.

"Relax there, sweetheart…think about the baby…" Haymitch's wide eyes look down at my stomach.

I stitch my eyebrows together but I know Haymitch is confirming that my baby, Peeta's baby, is still okay. He even nods his head slightly and I do feel some relief. The idea of having the baby scares me, but the idea of losing something that is part Peeta scares me more. Still, I need him to acknowledge it out loud. It makes it more real.

"The baby…?" I say quietly, asking more then making a statement.

"Is fine. Just as stubborn as you are, Sweetheart," Haymitch says.

I nod; allowing the information to sink in and then turn to look at the others in the room, then back at Haymitch.

"Why are you with them?" I ask again, motioning toward Finnick and Heavensbee with my chin.

"It was part of the plan. Relax, Katniss…" Finnick tells me.

"Plan? What plan?" I am confused now.

"The revolution, Katniss. Our plan was to always rescue you. You are our Mockingjay," Heavensbee speaks up.

"You're what?" I look at Haymitch for some explanation.

"The Districts are rebelling. The revolution is coming and you are the symbol for it. Some of the tributes were in on it, to keep you safe, to get you out alive," Haymitch explains.

"Revolution?" I shake my head, trying to absorb Haymitch's words.

"We couldn't tell you, Katniss. Not with everyone watching you. It was too risky," Haymitch says. He releases my hands and pries the needle from me, though he keeps himself between Heavensbee, Finnick, and me.

I am so angry he kept this from me. It would have been so helpful to know they were using me as a pawn. And knowing the other tributes knew only made it worse. Then, suddenly I remember the one person who would have never betrayed me and I feel awful he had escaped my thoughts for the moment.

"Where's Peeta?" I ask quickly.

"He knew the plan, Katniss…" Finnick speaks.

"Shut up!" I growl at Finnick and then focus back on Haymitch and repeat myself. "Where is Peeta?"

"He still had his tracker in his arm…Johanna managed to cut yours out," Haymitch points to my wounded wrist.

"Where is he, Haymitch?" I ask a final time, a panic flowing through me since Haymitch refuses to give me a straight answer.

Haymitch sighs and looks back at Finnick and Heavensbee.

"Tell her. She needs to know," Finnick says.

The tone in Finnick's voice, the sigh in Haymitch's throat. Both of these things cause my body to go numb with possibility. Something happened to Peeta, I know it. Haymitch doesn't want to tell me, but something happened. Instinctively I wrap my arms around my flat stomach as if to guard the only thing I have left of Peeta.

"Tell me what? Haymitch? Where is he? Where is Peeta?" I ask quickly, in a panic.

"In the Capitol. He still had his tracker in…so did Johanna. The Capitol got them both, and Enobaria…" Haymitch says.

The panic and numbness that flow freely through my body when Haymitch tells me Peeta's fate are quickly replaced with rage and anger and disbelief.

"You son of a bitch!" I am suddenly like a rapid dog. I lung at Haymitch, scratching at his face and arms, and anywhere I can sink my nails into him.

"Why didn't you get him out!?" I am screaming and crying all at once. "I NEED HIM! I NEED PEETA!"

Haymitch doesn't fight me off, but rather lets me continue to rip into him.

"I NEED HIM! THIS BABY! I—I—I NEED PEETA! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I am hysterical now.

And then everything starts to go black. I feel something sharp in my back and I know Heavenbee has moved to sedate me.

Haymitch lowers me carefully onto the floor, but the last thing I remember is the blood forming under my dirty fingernails as I dig them deeply into Haymitch's torn up skin.

PEETA POV

Johanna and I are ushered into the living quarters that had been created for the Victors and taken up to the Penthouse that Katniss and I stayed in. No words are spoken between us and the Peacekeepers, not even when they lock the door behind us.

I glance around the Penthouse. It looks exactly as it had before Katniss and I left, before the Games.

The sight overwhelms me because it does remind me so much of Katniss. The bedroom to the back, her bedroom, was where we forcefully conceived out child, and even though it was not the way I wanted, those memories still flood back into my mind.

I close my eyes, trying to hold onto the images of Katniss and when I open them, I realize a small tear has formed to the side of them I need to know Katniss is okay.

"Don't cry on me now, lover boy," Johanna says to me as she flops down on the couch.

I follow her, sitting into the soft furniture and allowing it to swallow me up. I didn't realize how sore I was until I sit. Now, every bruise and bump aches through me. I run my fingers over the cuts on my wrist from the handcuffs.

Johanna watches me and laughs a little. "You look like hell…"

I glare up at her, but realize it is ironic because she is right. We both look terribly bruise and beaten and against the beauty of the Capitol furniture we look ridiculous.

We both laugh, and I don't even know why. Maybe its because this is all too much, maybe because we know we are in great danger, maybe because we know we may die, or maybe it is simple because we are still alive. Our bodies are bruised, cut, and damaged, but we survived the arena.

Once we manage to calm down, I glance around once more and take a deep breath. "Why do you think they kept us alive?"

Johanna shrugs. "No idea. President Snow's cryptic words when we arrived may have something to do with it. Apparently, we are the true Victors. Whatever the hell that means…"

I want to ask Johanna if she thinks Katniss is okay, if she thinks the Rebel's plan worked, but I know it is too risky. I am not stupid, this Penthouse is complete tapped and I know the President can hear everything I say.

It doesn't matter though, because as I wrap my mind around this simple fact, the door to the Penthouse opens and President Snow enters, surrounded by four Peacekeepers.

Johanna and I straighten up in our seats and I know we both feel uncomfortable when President Snow wordlessly pulls a chair up across from us and gives us an eerie smile.

"My dear Victors…" President Snow continues to smile.

"President…" I nod curtly, realizing that I am more nervous now then I have ever been in my life.

"Come now, Peeta…no need to be so jumpy. I am not going to kill you…not yet anyway," President Snow continues to smile as he speaks the threatening words and I feel the back of the hair on my neck stand straight up.