Katniss and Peeta held on to Haymitch like they never held anything before. Something about the hovercraft ride bothered them. Their faces were pale and their knuckles even whiter from clutching Haymitch's shirt, even though they were both asleep.

"Uncle Hobo?" Katniss had whimpered seeing it. "Now, where are we going?"

"To District Three,"

"Is it scary there?"

"No,"

"You promise?"

Haymitch had picked her up. "I promise,"

When the hovercraft had lifted, Katniss had requested not to be removed from Haymitch's lap. Peeta, too, had requested the same. So, that's how they ended up cradled in Haymitch's lap, yet again, in another ride. Gale requested to be in his own seat. Effie tried to comfort him but he harshly refused, nearly making Effie scold him for his manners if it weren't for Haymitch shooting her a warning glare. The rest of the travel wasn't dead, though. The men who came in with Gale were sharing stories and jokes. Only the kids, Haymitch and Effie were quiet. Haymitch was in deep thought. Effie, while deemed talkative, couldn't relate with those conversations. The little ones were asleep, even Gale managed to fall asleep.

After some hours, the hovercraft began to descend. Haymitch still carried the two, Effie carried Gale as she is the nearest, while the rest helped carried things. Effie sighed, wishing that she could've brought luggage too but she had told Haymitch that she'd fill in until Mrs. Hawthorne or Mrs. Everdeen came. It will probably be not too long until that time anyway.

"Hey, lady, can you put me down?"

Effie looked down and two Seam gray eyes scrunched up in annoyance.

"Where are your manners, Gale? Say please," she told Gale who seemed to be resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"Can you PLEASE put me down, then?"

She sighed and put him down. His manners needed work but close enough. But as Gale ran towards Haymitch, probably hoping to see if Katniss is awake yet, Effie felt a stinging in her chest. And it was more than just because of his bad manners.

Normally, District Three is more of a gadget district but a lot of scientific breakthroughs were done in there, too. Mostly because the technology used to make these breakthroughs were more accessible in District Three. The place they were all in now was a chemical facility. Most of the drugs and medicines were developed here. It looked slightly similar to the hospital, with all the white, but the interior design of the receiving area looked less welcoming than the hospital's. Also, the place is bigger.

"Welcome, everyone,"

The lot turned to their right and there stood Plutarch with a lab coat, open arms and a delighted glint in his eyes.

"Now if you will follow me and we will all get this problem sorted out in a while,"

Like in the hospital, they passed through several halls and rooms. Every now and then, Plutarch warns them to stay away from a particular room. The older company just nodded in silence. Holding the hand of a workmate of his, Gale tried to ask questions but nobody really felt like answering them, so, he himself decided not to say anything. Katniss and Peeta were surprisingly, still asleep. After a while, they reached a door, exactly the same as all the doors but it's unlabeled unlike the rest. Once everybody got inside and got seated, Plutarch cleared his throat.

"Okay, so with District 3's remarkable performance in science, they were able to crack and reverse the chemical compound from the sample of the given roses. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is our cure,"

He brought their attention to a table with three small syringes and the guests scrunched their brows.

"Since you're awake, why don't you go first Gale?" Plutarch motioned to Gale who merely raised his eyebrow.

"Again? But we just got pricked. You colored people are strange,"

The air began to grow thick with awkwardness. Everyone knew what Gale meant and they all knew of his 'dislike' toward the Capitol. Effie didn't get a chance to know Gale, so, this revelation made her understand better as to why Gale treated her like that. It also made her feel guilty.

"It's medicine. To make you feel better," Plutarch calmly responded.

"But I'm not sick. I'm fine," Gale insisted.

"Of course you feel fine. But the doctors in the hospital found something inside you that they simply must get rid of before you actually feel it making you sick,"

"But why give the medicine here? Not at the hospital?"

"Because…" Plutarch's eyes flickered panic but immediately composed himself and leaned in close to Gale's ear.

"Because it's a new virus and they figure out new medicines for new viruses here," he whispered in a tone that should satisfy a child's natural curiosity.

A rather cold "Oh," left Gale's lips before he walked over to Plutarch and stretched out his arm. A woman in a lab coat suddenly appeared out of nowhere and she injected the needle on Gale. He winced a little as the needle is inserted but they only needed a tiny dosage, barely a teaspoon, to do the job. Gale seemed to soften a bit seeing the forest patch to cover his wound. In great timing, Katniss and Peeta began stirring in Haymitch's arms.

"Uncle Hobo, where are we now?" Katniss asked.

"We've arrived in District Three, sweetheart," Haymitch replied.

"Good, good, you're awake," the trio of past victors turned and saw a smiling Plutarch.

"Hello Mr. Plutarch," Peeta greeted.

"Wha-what are those?" Katniss stuttered as she saw the syringes. "I- I thought that… that we'll never see those again," Her eyes grew wide with fear. Just as her hand began to grow cold, a large warm hand gently held it.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I'll hold your hand," Haymitch said.

Katniss puffed her cheeks, wanting to protest his offer and reject the idea of her being scared, but after the hovercraft, she felt like she needed comfort. So, she just nodded. With a slight flush on his cheeks, he asked Effie to carry Peeta while he carries Katniss and they both made their way to the lady with the injections. The two kids looked more shaken than before but they calmed down a bit once their 'carriers' are giving them reassuring pats on their arms.

"There you go," the woman told them and patched the two. Katniss received a patch with yellow flowers which made her thin her lips while Peeta's had paint splatter designs all over it which pleased him a lot. Plutarch strode towards them and gave a half smile.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." For a second, Effie and Haymitch stiffened at his comment until Plutarch ruffled the little kids' hairs. "Just kidding, you little star-crossed lovers," This made Plutarch chuckle and Haymitch and Effie relaxed. "Though if we hadn't thought of that whole scheme, maybe you two would have heard that by now," Plutarch added but Katniss' and Peeta's faces just looked confused. Then, Effie cleared her throat.

"So, this is it?" she asked. "Just that one prick?"

"Uh… yeah,"

"That one prick and they turn to their normal ages?" Effie's voice was rising near the point of impoliteness.

"Correct,"

"Then why the HELL did you make me come to babysit them if they were going to return back this quickly anyway? HAYMITCH!" She turned to her left and found Haymitch suppressing a laugh. "Did you know anything about this?"

"As much as I love to see you in your rare hissy fits," Effie's eyes bore fear into Haymitch's soul for a moment but his amusement held him together. "No, I didn't know anything about this,"

Plutarch sighed. It seemed as if the rebellion made everyone kind of cranky, but he's used to this. He was a Gamemaker, so he's met worse.

"To answer your question, Ms. Trinket, what I meant by soon actually means that it's faster than normal aging but it doesn't happen in a day,"

Effie's lips formed an o and then closed them tightly. Her cheeks began to burn.

"Given more time, District Three might've had a fast solution but they don't have the time to. I think the formula now would've been faster than unlocking the code of the 'faster' aging formula,"

It began to grow quiet again, until Haymitch spoke.

"So, how long until they grow back to their normal ages?"

"I guess a year for them would be roughly, I don't know, a week maybe in our time?"

"So, more than two months, huh?" It was Effie who spoke, her voice all mannered again. "Will Mrs. Everdeen or Mrs. Hawthorne be coming in aid for their children?"

"We tried to contact them about that and they will come tomorrow for they are still very busy at the moment," Plutarch explained.

"So, what do we do now?" Haymitch asked.

"Gale's workmates still have work to do, organizing a newly reformed Peacekeeper group. Since you two have all the time in the world, I guess you two are stuck for babysitting duty,"

"What?"

"But!"

"I know well enough that you two aren't busy," Before they could protest again, Plutarch silenced them. "No, Haymitch, drowning yourself in your alcohol and probably vomit, too, does not count as busy, and Ms. Trinket, you are still unemployed at the moment and I promise to pay you and find you a job after all this trouble. Anymore concerns I should be aware of?" Both suddenly became quiet.

"Good, it will only be for a while anyway. Only until Mrs. Everdeen and Mrs. Hawthorne are equipped to care for their kids,"

Afterwards, Plutarch ushered them outside. The other men fist pumped Gale one by one before boarding the hovercraft which still made Peeta and Katniss nervous. The five of them are cramped in a car. Gale, Katniss and Peeta were buckled up at the back in that order, Effie sat on the passenger's seat while Haymitch took the driver's seat.

"Wait, wait, wait. I don't know how to drive," Haymitch yelled at Plutarch hysterically. "I don't even know where we're going,"

"Not to worry, Haymitch. I set its coordinates already. Just turn the keys and you'll automatically be directed to a safe house of mine. Just pretend you're a normal family and you, Haymitch, pretend to know how to drive,"

Haymitch gulped and gave Plutarch a thumb-up.

"Your stuff is in the back and if anything goes wrong, press the emergency stop button, okay?" Plutarch added pointing to a red button.

Haymitch started the car and saluted at Plutarch. Effie gave a curt thank you and goodbye. The little ones waved until they couldn't see Plutarch no more.

AN: I 'injected' a bit of minor issues here and there. I think I'm beginning to take this little experiment a little more seriously now. :3 I wish I could do more while I'm studying how to design buildings and stuff. *sigh* I hope to at least put up Chapter 5 though before summer ends. :D Yippee! Chapter 4! I have a lot of thoughts running through my mind for this story and I need to put them all down. I'm excited to actually and HOPEFULLY finish this. Ugh! I will cry. BTW, I probably edited my previous chapters. Mostly misspells and some grammatical errors. Please review, guys, my strengths, my weaknesses, points of praise and improvements, your ideas and suggestions, ahemfanmailahem, etc. Hahahahaha! I love you all my dear readers and all your love and support! Pray that I finish this before I die. XD

Xoxo pinkish-red hearts