Katniss walked through the crowded city streets, lights of all different colors bombarding her vision as she past. People shoving her from left and right, everything moving so quickly but to her it seemed like slow motion. She was supposed to go and keep an eye on the future prisoner at the hospital, but the last thing she ever wanted to do was see Johanna again. So she took her time as she trudged through the bustling urban setting, thankful for every crowd, every red signal that permit her from crossing the street for a few more moments. She'd tried to go and protect Johanna, she'd driven through the snow storm, she'd done everything she could.

She kept hearing those screams, "Katniss! Katniss!" running through her head. She continuously bumped into people or things like trash cans or poles on the sidewalk, and she was almost too distracted to feel embarrassed about it. Finally she came upon the hospital entrance and took all the time in the world to climb up the stairs and walk into the building. It smelled, well, like a hospital; it smelled sterile and sick at the same time, like Lysol and dead flowers. She asked the nurse if she could see Ms. Mason, and when the nurse refused, she flashed her badge.

"Oh y-yes, of course, right this way..." stammered the woman. How funny it is that all Katniss had to do to get people to treat her differently was to prove what she did for a living. How funny it was when Johanna found out.

When she saw her, she couldn't help but cry, Johanna was laying there hooked up to multiple machines surrounding her. Her eyes had gray circles wrapped around them, her lips were pale cracked, her arms looked weak and skinny with all of thse tubes protruding from them, not the strong, vibrant wood-chopping arms Katniss had seen when they first met. Katniss hesitantly walked over to her and sat down on the stiff chair next to her bed, the other girl's eyes opened slightly and Katniss fidgeted with her hands. For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other, sharing some telepathic knowledge of everything they couldn't say. Johanna closed her limp eyelids again and tried to roll over, but she was too weak to move.

"God, how could you possibly be so weak from just a leg injury?" Katniss asked.

After a second or two, Johanna replied hoarsely, "That's not why I'm like this."

"But that's what they said, they told me you were only here until your leg healed and..."

"They... they tortured me," she said with tears sprouting in her bloodshot eyes. "They wanted to know everything I'd told my comrades in the USSR, I said I wouldn't talk, so they tortured.. me." Tears were pouring down her face now, and she looked off somewhere as the horrible memories of her time in interrogation came back to her...

"No! I won't talk!" she cried out. guards and officers held her under water until she came up choking and desperate for air. They kept threatening her, pressing her for answers, and the more she refused to indulge them, the more extreme her punishments became. They jammed a block in her mouth and soaked her in the water forcing her to gag and spit, they tugged on her scalp and attached a headband full of conductive wires around her. When she was drenched enough, they asked her to spill what she knew one more time before pumping her vulnerable body with electroshocks.

Johanna shook her head and was back in the hospital bed, virtually unable to move without wincing at the physical or mental pain of what she went through. Katniss just sat there in shock, she had no idea that those were the plans for the ex-spy all along, that was why they wanted her. Guilt washed over and she grew furious, not only at herself but at the bastards that tricked her and lied to her too. She glanced over at Johanna, her eyes were sunken in, she had red splotches over her entire body and thick red marks on each of her temples. When she spoke her voice was scratchy and low, it wasn't it's usual sing song, bird-like voice that Katniss so adored. When she first walked in the room, all she could do was glance at the girl in the bed, glance at the wires and beeping machines and that's why she didn't notice all of the wounds she really had. And the welts and scabs burned into her temples could only be seen after her stringy bangs had been pushed away from her delicate face.

Katniss put her hand over her mouth and sobbed, she had to look away from this extremely damaged person. If only there was no snow that day, why did it have to be that day? she thought. She had never wanted so much to turn back time and fix what had happened, but now the idea of never being forgiven by Johanna poisoned her mind.

"Johanna... I had no idea, I know that this probably means nothing to you now but I am so, very, deeply sorry. The night before they came to get you, I drove all night in that blizzard, I was going to help you get away, I swear. I had no idea they'd do this to you!" she began to cry hysterically, gasping and heaving and drowning herself in salty tears. Johanna reached out a bruised hand and put it on Katniss's own. "You should have never trusted me, for a person who had no right to trust anybody at all you trusted me and I failed you. I couldn't save you... I mean at first I was the one trying to catch you, I was so stupid, Johanna, I was so incredibly awful. This is all my fault-"

"Brainless," she rasped, "Help me now, then." Katniss looked up at her, realizing what she meant.

"Alright, I'll do whatever it takes, I swear I'll get you out of this. You'll be okay, I swear you'll be okay, I won't let them touch you ever again."

Katniss visited Johanna in the hospital every single day, she was there to take care of her and check on her healing progress. She was also there to make sure no one took her away, but that wasn't likely considering Katniss was a trusted agent working for this case. After they returned to America, Katniss's boss didn't fire her or reprimand her for not catching Johanna right away. This was surprising to her until she discovered her new task of watching over the patient and being assigned to alert the agency when Johanna was healthy enough to be sent to prison.

Katniss leaned over and pushed some hair out of the other girl's face, she gently stroked her cheek and tilted her chin up spoon feeding her some of the food the hospital provided. The warm soup felt good running down her throat, and she ate every spoonful of it that she was fed. "How are you feeling today? Any better?" asked Katniss.

"No," replied Johanna.

"You don't have to lie to me, it's been a week and the nurse says you should be doing at least a little bit better today."

She shook her head.

"Do you still not trust me? I'm not going to let them take you to prison, I thought I told you that."

"I can't yet."

Katniss was frustrated but she understood, the only way she could ever hope to regain her trust was to set Johanna free. So instead of asking her how she was doing, she asked the nurses and doctors, she monitored her health and inspected her charts every time she saw her. And soon, it seemed she was on the road to recovery.

She dipped a sponge in a bucket of warm water, and Johanna's eyes grew wide. She became skittish and frightened, Katniss placed the damp sponge on her skin and Johanna freaked out.

"Shh, calm down, it's only a little bath," cooed Katniss. But then she realized what the poor girl was so afraid of, they had torture her with water and it had left her petrified to go near it. The agent stood up and poured some water on her own arm, "See, it's okay, it's warm and it'll feel nice. I promise it'll be okay, it's only a little bit."

Flashbacks of the torture broke into the patient's mind, water gushing all around her, drowning her in suffocation and the sharp jolts of electricity burning her skin. She thrashed around in the bed and started to scream and sob. Katniss put the sponge back into the bucket and grabbed a towel, wrapping Johanna in it and pulling her into her arms. She stroked her hair and sang her the same song she used to sing her little sister, Prim whenever she would have nightmares. Soon after that, she fell asleep and Katniss covered her with the blankets and let her rest.

The next time she tried to give the girl a bath, she hugged her close and poured a bit of water on both of their arms at the same time, and when Johanna started to get anxious, she put the sponge away. Each time she got a little further with the bath, she would talk to her, or sing, or hold her and each time she would get a litle bit more relaxed until finally she got through a whole bath without quitting. Katniss smiled and praised her, "You did so good today, I'm so proud of you." Johanna smiled for a second and collapsed into the other's arms.