Author's Note: After a very long wait, here is chapter four! I hope you enjoy it, even though it is long and still probably boring. But they will reach the Capital next Chapter, and we might get to meet a very well known consulting detective! ;)

And as always, thank you for reading my stories. It really does mean the world to me, whether you rate it and comment or not! 3

His world seemed to be spinning all around him, shrouded in mist so thick he could barely see his own hand held out in front of him. Cold seeped through his skin and down to his bones, sending shivers that wracked his body violently.

"Where am I?" he muttered to himself, shocked momentarily at how small and far away his voice sounded. He could feel panic slowly rising like bile inside of him, and shut his eyes tightly against his cold, relentless surroundings.

'This is just a dream, John. Get a hold of youself. It has to be! Where were you right before you came here?'

He kept asking himself that same question over and over, but his answer was the same each time. John had no idea. His mind was blank; only panic could be discerned and the healer was trying his hardest to keep that under control. This was a dream. It had to be a dream.

John kept telling himself this as he pinched his arms until red welts began to form.

John kept telling himself this still as the cold set in on him, surrounding him like a heavy blanket he could not shrug off.

If this was in fact a dream, he could not fathom a way of waking up any time soon.

John took deep, steady breaths to calm himself as much as he could. Instead of fresh air, he breathed in mist, sending what felt like tiny shards of ice through his nose and down his throat. Panic kicked into over drive, making his heart race and his whole body tremble as he succumbed to violent coughs to rid himself of the ice prickling at him.

"John..."

The voice seemed faint and very far away, but he could still hear it, clear as day. It caught his attention and the coughing ceased as he stilled to listen.

"H-Harry?" he called out, shakily rising to his feet, looking around desperately to find his sister through the ever present mist all around him.

"John!" Harry called back, voice louder this time, much closer. John hurriedly followed the sound, ignoring the persistent panic knawing at his heart. Harry was close. He would find her.

"John-Oh my God-JOHN!" her scream sent him running faster and more frantic than he ever had to run before.

"HARRY?!" He called back, eyes darting in every direction, helplessly trying to locate his sister in distress. Suddenly, he caught something moving in the corner of his eye. He whirled around to face it, and he nearly fell over at what he saw. There was Harry all right, but she was nothing but a shape in the mist. He could see right through her, as if she wasn't really there at all.

"Harry!" he screamed again, but she didn't seem to hear him, or even see him for that matter. Her gaze was locked onto a place above John's head, a place he was pretty sure wasn't there. Her eyes were filled with a horror so intense, he could feel his heart break for her. A moment later he saw exactly why. Another shape in the mist appeared behind her in the form of a Peacekeeper, knife at her throat. Rage, bright and hot flared within John at that moment. No one was allowed to touch his sister.

"Get away from Harry, this instant." he ordered, voice calm and strong depsite the rollercoaster ride his emotions were undertaking. The Peacekeeper paid him no attention; it was like John wasn't even there.

"Win the Games. You have to win the Games. Start the revolution. You have to John. It's all up to you now." Harry was saying, her voice shaky with fear. She kept repeating herself over and over again, voice becoming more frantic with every word.

"All up to me? Harry what are you talking about? Calm down it's going to be alright-"

"That's enough talk now. Look at you, so scared to bits. You aren't so tough now, are you? Just a scared little girl, after all. No matter, you should have thought about this before hand. Time to pay." the Peackeeper's voice was as cool as water, smooth as silk. It almost sounded as if he was trying to be soothing, depsite the words being said.

"Harry, no!" John screamed as the knife slit right through her throat and she landed in a heap right before his feet.

John awoke as he hit the floor, sweating profusely and tangled up in sheets. He didn't know how long he just laid there, fighting to control his breathing and his panic. It was a dream. A horrible nightmare due to nerves, that was all. Harry was back at home, safe as she could possibly get. With a weary groan he forced himself to stand, slipping the sheets back onto his bed as he went for a shower. Hopefully for breakfast they would serve tea. It was the one luxury he allowed himself back home. Apart from food and other necessities, tea was the only thing John ever got. It was expensive and hard to come by, but Walt had always taken care of it for him.

As the hot water rushed over him, he couldn't help but wonder how the old man was holding up. With Sarah and himself out of the picture, who was going to help him with all the patients who needed help? He could imagine the poor man being overrun by all the sickly.

"Hang in there, Walt. I hope at least one of us will come back to help you." he muttered to himself as he dressed and began to make his way to the dining room. No one was there just yet, but he could hear Gem's voice from the next room. Tiredly he plopped down in his seat as breakfast items began to be brought to the slim table. Eyes closed, he sat still as a statue hoping to rid himself of the nightmare that plagued his memory relentlessly. He didn't even notice when Sarah sat down next to him until she leaned over and whispered two words in his ear.

"I'm in."

John's eyes snapped open, and he whirled his head around to face his friend. She looked pale, frightened, and like she hadn't slept any better than he had.

"R-Really?" he asked, his voice sounding hoarse. He quickly cleared his throat before continuing. "Are you sure?"

Sarah nodded briefly and shot him a wink and a sly grin as Gem and their mentor casually walked into the room and took their seats.

"Good morning, Children!" Gem sang in her high pitched voice, making John wince internally. She was way too upbeat about this situation. "I trust you both slept well?"

"Oh yes. Those beds are so soft!" Sarah exclaimed in a voice that screamed the forced enthusiasm that only John seemed to pick up on.

"I thought you would love them! Just wait till we get to the Capital, they are even better! Speaking of which, we should be getting there soon!"

It took everything John had not to choke on his food right then and there. They were almost to the Capital? So soon? A terrible and overwhelming fear gripped him, and he couldn't help but grip the edge of the table to keep himself from trembling. He felt a hand grip his arm, and he looked up to see Sarah giving him a look as terrified as his own.

"So what do we do?" he finally spoke up, eyeing his mentor who seemed utterly fascinated with a piece of what appeared to be toast.

"What do you do for what?" he replied blandly, not taking his eyes off of his toast. Something in John snapped at that comment. Their lives were at stake, and he didn't even seem to care, let alone help them.

"We are going to be at the Capital soon! The Games are going to start! We need to figure out what our angle is going to be, how we are going to train. You're our mentor, or at least supposed to be, so tell us, what do we do?"

Everyone was silent for a long moment. Gem and Sarah seemed to look everywhere but at the two men staring each other down across the dining table. But John could care less if people were uncomfortable or upset. This was ridiculous. They were going to a fight to the death, without a lick of understanding of what they were even supposed to do about it. Their mentor was supposed to be helping them, giving them advice on how to survive longer than two seconds in the arena at least. This man was doing absolutely nothing for them, and John was tired of it already.

"You want advice? Here's some. Survive! Do whatever it takes to live! That's all you need to know. Whatever they teach you in private sessions doesn't matter in the end. How to shoot with a bow and arrow, how to cut things with a knife? In the end, when you are out there in that arena, you don't think. You don't plan. People turn into animals in there. You just go through the motions that keep you alive! Good enough for you, hot shot?"

"How did you win?" This time Sarah's quiet voice broke the silence that fell over the room like a smothering blanket.

"You don't need to know about me. Just worry about yourself." their mentor replied, voice quieter compared to his outburst just a few moments before. Without another word, he stiffly rose from his seat and stalked out of the room.

"Well," replied Gem awkwardly, shooting the ever present glittering smile. "You two better get ready. We should be arriving at the Captial pretty soon! It is beautiful, let me tell you!"

John was fairly certain beautiful wouldn't be the word he would think of in laying eyes on the place where he could eventually die. But he shot her a small grin anyways and left the room, Sarah trailing behind him.