The last few hours on the train were spent reviewing the competition and watching the reapings. One commentator broke down at Katniss's name being called, saying she deserved better and that poor child, and was equally distraught when Peeta volunteered for Haymitch. "This is sure to be the most heartbreaking Games ever."
The next day, after a safe arrival, Katniss and Peeta split up to be remade...yet again. Cinna and Portia had a different idea entirely for this year, they would look like coal, but their signature fire outfits were going to still happen with a new twist.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Peeta folds his arms at Cinna. "With the baby and all?"
"Baby should be fine," Cinna waves his hand in the air. "No reason at all to worry. It's even less dangerous than last year, and last year wasn't very dangerous either." Peeta glares. "I promise, the baby and Katniss will both be fine."
"Okay…" says Peeta still not certain he believes them.
"I'm going to go see the horses, and head down there early," she pats Peeta on the shoulder.
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No," she shakes her head. "I'll be alright. What exactly can they do to me now that doesn't go against the rules? And they all know them, this isn't the first time that they've been here, however it may be there last."
"Hence my concern."
"I'll be fine," shaking her head she walks to the door and pulls it open. "We'll be fine," she shuts the door behind her and rubs her hand over her protruding belly. "I promise. Even if we're not, we'll be fine. Your father is determined to die for us, so at least we'll live, I think." She gets in the elevator and takes it down to the main floor and walks to the garage where all the chariots and horses are. To her amazement many of the tributes/victors are already there, chatting, catching up, doing the things that friends typically do.
Walking over to the last chariot - designated for District 12 - she begins to stroke the horse's mane. "How did we get here, huh?" she asks it, despite the fact that she knows it won't be able to respond.
"Hello, Katniss," comes a voice to her right. Turning she finds Finnick, with barely anything on, except for covering what little area was somewhat required, though she figured he'd feel comfortable wearing nothing at all anyways.
"Hello, Finnick," she says back plainly.
"Want a sugar cube?" he holds out his hand to her to reveal his hand is full of the things. She stares at him bemused. "It's supposed to be for the horses, but I mean … who cares about them? They have years to eat sugar whereas you and I … we see something sweet and we better take it."
"No thanks, but I would love to borrow that outfit sometime."
"You look pretty terrifying in that getup," he mocks. "What happened to all the little girl dresses?"
"I outgrew them."
"You certainly did," he patronizes. "Shame this Quell thing. Now you...you could have made out like a bandit in the Capitol - jewels, money, anything you wanted."
"Well I don't like jewels and have more money than I need, so … what did you do with all your wealth anyway?" She shifts, uncomfortably.
"Oh, I haven't dealt in anything as common as money in years."
"Well, then, how do people pay for the pleasure of your company," she says condescendingly.
He leans so close to her that his lip almost touches her ear, "with secrets," he whispers seductively. Pulling back - only slightly - "what about you girl on fire? Any secrets worth my time?"
"I'm an open book. Everybody seems to know my secrets, before I know them myself."
"Unfortunately, I think that's true." He pulls back to his original position. "Sorry you had to cancel your shower. I can only imagine how big of a disappointment that must have been for you."
Peeta then enters and walks right up to them. Finnick turns to face Peeta. "Peeta." He nods and walks away.
"Finnick," Peeta returns the informality. Turning to Katniss he asks, "What did he want?"
"To know all my secrets," she whispers in his ear the same way that Finnick did.
"Ugh," he grunts, "No. Not really?"
"Really," she nods.
Then comes the call for tributes to get into their chariots for the parade and Peeta offers Katniss his hand. Taking his hand she steps up into the chariot and turns to pull him up but he hops up on his own. "I've got this," he beams. "Are we supposed to smile and wave this year? No one is here to ask."
"Maybe they left that up to us," she says casually.
"Mercy or no mercy?" he prompts.
"Absolutely no mercy," she shakes her head.
"Together?" he extends his hand to her.
"Together," she grabs his hand and holds on firmly.
"You going to be okay?" he asks as the chariot pulls forward.
"Psh, I'll be perfectly okay."
Then they are pulled out into the Capitol to the shouts, chants, and exclamations of their voices. If anyone else's names were being chanted, they couldn't tell. But they do not acknowledge the crowd, they do not smile or wave, they are silent, they are stoic, they are as radiant and deadly as the sun.
Clicking a spot on her gown, Katniss' outfit springs to life and the crowd grows even louder. Tributes begin to stare, some in appreciation, some in anger. Peeta had hit his button at the same time and now here they were again, the girl - and boy - on fire. Once again irresistible, but this time vengeful, unforgiving, unamused, deadly.
Rounding in front of the President's mansion Katniss makes eye contact with the President himself. The only look of acknowledgement that she gives anyone, and it's not there to be an encouragement, it's there to threaten, it's there to say that even though this is what you will have happen to us, we will not take it lightly, we will not go down without a fight...we will never forgive you.
Before they know it they're back in the garage and everyone is still staring at them as they switch their outfits off. Haymitch comes from the other side of the room, clapping obnoxiously and smiling at them. "Brilliant work out there you two!"
"Thanks," Katniss quips as Peeta hops out of the chariot and offers her hand so she can get down. "We learned from the best."
"Yes you did," nods Haymitch. "Now let's get you two to bed. Well, the three of you I guess." Walking towards the elevator they get on, followed by Johanna Mason - District 7 victor and tribute - just as the doors are about to slide shut.
"Well don't you all look wonderful," she scoffs. "My stylist is a complete idiot. District 7. Lumber. Trees. Absolutely no creativity. We've been wearing the same unfortunate outfits for years. You would think she would do something special for us this year, but no. Nothing of the sort." Sighing heavily she turns and backs up to Peeta. "Unzip?"
"Sure," he shifts awkwardly but raises his hand to unzip her.
"Thanks," she turns to face them and pulls her one piece atrocity off, leaving her in nothing but her shoes. Katniss awkwardly tries to avoid her eyes but Johanna strikes up a conversation with Peeta and she can't help glaring at him. "So how does it feel knowing the whole world wants to sleep with you?"
"I don't think the whole-" Katniss begins.
"I wasn't talking to you," she snaps and then winks at Peeta.
"Okay…" drawls Katniss.
Johanna continues to talk to Peeta until the elevator reaches her floor and she exits, "Thanks! Let's do it again sometime soon!" Her laughter echos as her voice and her naked body disappear down the hallway.
Katniss lets go of Peeta's hand roughly. "What?" He stares at her in amusement. "Oh," he shakes his head as she crosses her arms over her chest. "You're worried about her?" he jabs his thumb in her direction as the doors of the elevator slide shut in front of them. "It's not like she's any real competition...except maybe in the arena."
"Nudity doesn't bother you one bit, does it?" she says in a condescending tone.
"No," Peeta shrugs. "Not really."
"Not really?" chortles Haymitch. "Well I appreciated that greatly."
"Of course you would," Katniss says tilting her head to the side to look at Haymitch. Then he and Peeta burst into laughter.
"What?" she hisses at them.
"It's you, Katniss. Can't you see?" he looks down into her eyes.
"What's me?" she retorts.
"Why they're acting this way. They're playing with you because you're so … you know."
"No, I don't know."
"It's like how you wouldn't look at me naked in the last Games, even though I was half dead," he adds with a hint of irony. You're so … pure," he finally says.
"I am not!" she says with indignation. "Doesn't this prove I'm not?" she gestures argrily all around her stomach.
"Well, to the Capitol you're pure. For me, you're perfect. They're just teasing you."
"No, you're all laughing at me," she says.
"No," Peeta shakes his head, still suppressing a smile.
The elevator doors open and Katniss walks forward as fast as she can manage. If she weren't six months pregnant she would probably be much faster than she was. In her haste she almost falls face first into the ground, but Peeta's strong arms are there to catch her and he pulls her back onto her feet in perfect timing. However, she is still so angry with him for laughing that she doesn't even bother to say thank you, and spends the entire dinner not talking with him and in horror that Darius has been turned into an avox.
Later in the evening it is time to watch the recap of the tribute parade, and Katniss still angry with Peeta, plops herself on the couch between Cinna and Haymitch. Peeta guiltily sits next to Effie, and watches her from a distance, despite Katniss' obvious choice not to sit next to him, he still can't help but worry about her. Perhaps he should not have laughed, but it was funny...at the time.
After a restless night Katniss makes her way to the dining room, finding only Haymitch and Peeta eating breakfast. "You're late," snarls Haymitch through his drink glass.
"Sorry. I didn't sleep very well through all the nightmares last night," she admits, averting her eyes from Peeta who she locked out last night after his laughing at her, she sits at the table across from Haymitch.
Haymitch rolls his eyes, "Fine. Whatever. But today in training you two are going to need to make some friends. And it would help a whole lot, sweetheart, if you could do that without being mad at your husband."
"No," she shakes her head. "I don't trust them."
"This isn't about trust, Katniss," grumbles Haymitch.
"I just want it to be the two of us."
"That I would agree with," starts Peeta. "If you weren't pregnant."
"So?" she says indignantly.
"So we're going to need some allies, Katniss," explains Peeta turning to face her. "Be mad at me, fine, that's up to you. But on this point I stand firm. We need allies. We need people we can at least know that for the first few days, are going to have our backs, and I can't do that without some participation and acceptance from you."
"Why?" she asks.
"I thought we already covered this?" Haymitch shakes his head profusely. "If you go it alone, you're going to be their first target. A lot of good protecting each other you'll be doing, if you don't have anyone else to help you." He grunts loudly and then speaks again, "You two can fight. Perhaps not as easily, but you're popular, that could make you desirable allies alone."
"No."
"Find and team up with whoever you'd like," Haymitch sighs. "But just remember you're not being thrown in there with a bunch of children this year, Miss I-don't-need-help-I'm-self-sufficient-except-maybe-I'll-take-Peeta-too. These are all experienced killers, no matter what shape they appear to be in."
"Fine," she pouts. "I'll try. But I don't like it."
"Doesn't matter," say Haymitch and Peeta in unison.
After a completely silent remainder of breakfast Effie comes up to tell Katniss and Peeta to get dressed, fuses over them, and eventually walks them right to the elevator. She never ceases to tell them how proud she is. With the guilt trip fresh in her mind, Katniss and Peeta get on the elevator that takes them down to the training center floor. As the elevator door parts they are faced with far less tributes than they expected. Everyone seems to think they have nothing to worry about, and as such, has decided not to show up.
Agreeing that it would be best to split up, Katniss and Peeta take opposite sides of the room and begin to analyze their competition, something they hadn't been overly concerned with last year. Katniss had plans to try to win for Prim, Peeta had plans to die for Katniss. Not much had changed in a year.
After spending some time at the rope tying station, a pair of arms wrap around her center, to her dismay she jumps back to see Finnick. Of course it's Finnick. Why should she be so surprised? Everyone knew how much of a desire he was here in the Capitol, including Katniss. Laughing at her apparent discomfort Finnick grabs the rope to her right and begins to tie an intricate looking rope...a noose. He puts it around his next and jokes about taking him for a walk. With a roll of her eyes Katniss moves on.
By talking briefly with Wiress and Beetee, Katniss' attention is brought to the area where the Gamemakers stand. Katniss seems confused and Wiress gives a slight laugh. Pointing at Plutarch Heavensbee who is standing in the center of the platform, "look."
"Yes? He's been promoted to Head Gamemaker."
"No, no. There, by the corner of the table. You can just …" says Wiress.
Beetee squints under his glasses. "Just make it out."
Confused Katniss stares in the direction of the table and can just catch that it seems to be vibrating, as if the air was rippling in tiny visible waves, distorting the wood and goblet of wine someone left there.
"A force field. They've set one up between the Gamemakers and us. I wonder what brought that on," Beetee says.
"Me, probably," says Katniss. "Last year I shot an arrow at them during my private training session. I was provoked," she says defensively. "So, so all force fields have a spot like that?"
"Chink," says Wiress vaguely.
"In the armor, as it were," finishes Beetee. "Ideally it'd be invisible, wouldn't it?"
Before Katniss has a chance to ask them anymore about it, lunch is called and everyone heads to the dining hall. The group that Peeta had surrounded himself with all begin dragging several smaller tables over to one area to form a larger table. Katniss goes around the food carts gathering food when Peeta ruses over to her.
"How's it going?"
"Good. Fine. I like Wiress and Beetee, from District 3," she says.
"Really?" he sounds shocked. "Johanna calls them Nuts and Volts."
"Oh, and so I'm stupid for liking them," she snaps, "because of something that Johanna Mason said while she was over there oiling up her naked body, and you just had to go over there and talk to her."
"About wrestling," Peeta excuses. "And actually I think the nickname's been around for years. I wasn't trying to insult them, or you for that matter, Katniss. I'm just sharing the information I've gathered."
"Well they invent things, and they're really smart." She sets the tray down on one of the carts and looks at him. "If we have to have allies, and Haymitch seems moot on the point of it ever being otherwise, I want them." Angrily she gets some stew from the cart in front of her and tosses the ladle back into the dishes, splashing them both with hot gravy.
"What are you so angry about?" Peeta asks wiping the gravy off his face and then hers as well. "Because I reased you in the elevator? I'm sorry. I honestly thought you would just laugh about it. Or is this about Johanna?"
"Forget it," she shakes her head.
"Allies?" he asks.
"The Games, Haymitch insisting we have allies, this baby," she sighs.
"I know," he wraps his arm around her shoulders and gives her a gentle squeeze while placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head.
"Well, maybe Haymitch is right," she shrugs and shivers a little at the thought. "Don't tell him I said so, but he usually is, at least where the Games are concerned."
"Well, you can have the final say about our allies. But right now, I'm leaning toward Chaff and Seeder," says Peeta.
"I'll think about it," she says.
"Come on and eat with us," he grabs her tray as they walk towards the assembled tables and chairs. "I promise no one else will get naked."
Lunch goes by quickly and Katniss does try to befriend people, or at least not look at them so hostilely. When they're all brought back to the training room Katniss tries to connect with the other victor tributes, but it's clear how some of them feel about her, and how she feels about them. Mags wins Katniss over, but few others have any kind of luck.
After she gets fed up with trying to make friends she heads straight over to the archery range. Katniss begins to try out different bows and arrows. The trainer being impressed decides to start throwing fake birds in the air for her to hit. She hits them all for awhile so he increases the amount that he's throwing, eventually Katniss becomes aware of the fact that she can hear them each drop to the floor and looks around to see majority of the other victors have gathered around her to watch. Some with looks of envy, others with looks of hatred, and still some with looks of admiration.
After training, Peeta and Katniss sit together in the lounge area of their floor. And after eating some dinner they sit down to relax, Peeta against the couch and Katniss leaning into him. For a while they don't say anything and sit there in the cool embrace of the other. "That was some pretty impressive shooting there in training," Peeta finally says.
"Nah," she shakes her head.
Then Haymitch comes rushing into the room, "At least half of the tributes have instructed their mentors to request you as an all. And I know it can't be your sunny personality, and I'm pretty sure it's not out of pregnant victor sympathy."
"They saw her shoot," says Peeta with a smile. "Actually, I saw her shoot, for real, for the first time. I'm about to put in a formal request myself." Katniss gives him a light jab with her elbow in his side.
"You're that good?" Haymitch asks. "So good that even Brutus wants you?"
Katniss shrugs, "I don't want Brutus."
"Then who do you want?"
"Wiress and Beetee," she admits quietly.
"What?" asks Haymitch irritated. "Anyone else?"
"Mags."
Peeta hits his head against the wall and Haymitch shakes his head.
"Of course you do," Haymitch gripes. "I'll tell everyone you're still making up your mind."
The next two days of training go by well. Despite still being occasionally teased in different ways, by different people, and for different reasons, Katniss starts to feel like she fits in...and fitting in means that she starts to realize that overall she doesn't hate them. Some she even likes, and even still a lot are so damaged that her first instinct is to protect them, but that's not what's important now.
The final day of training ends in the private session. As the people begin to leave the room it gets down to where Peeta and Katniss are the only ones left. As the girl of District 12, Katniss is scheduled to go last. "Decided what to do yet?" Peeta asks breaking the silence.
"I can't really use them as target practice this year, with the force field and all, so naturally no, I don't know. What about you?"
"Not a clue. I keep wishing I could just bake them a cake or something."
"Do more camouflage," Katniss suggests.
"If the morphlings left me anything to work with," he says wryly. "They've been glued to that station since training started."
After several more moments in silence Katniss grabs ahold of Peeta's hand. "How are we going to kill these people, Peeta?"
"I don't know," he leans his forehead down on their hands.
"I don't want them as allies," she shakes her head. "I already tolerate - and even like - some of them too much already. I can't kill these people Peeta. It'll be so much harder this time. Except Rue, but I guess I never could have killed her, anyway. She was just too much like Prim."
Peeta's head shoots up, "Her death was the most despicable, wasn't it?"
"None of them were very pretty," she says.
"Peeta Mellark," comes the overhead voice.
"See you soon?" he asks kissing her hand.
"See you soon," she nods as he lets go of her hand and leaves the room.
After what must have been the longest ever break between tributes, Katniss' named is called - still Everdeen, the Capitol must have missed that memo - and with as much gusto as she can manage makes her way inside the training room. The Gamemakers stand both shaken and cautious. What did Peeta do? She wonders before smelling every cleaning product known to the Capitol. Whatever he did, they certainly were having quite the time cleaning it up, then she notices a mat laying in a very bizarre place of the room and knows that whatever he must have done it was a big enough deal that they thought they had to hide it from her.
In her anger Katniss ties a knot and with what little paint was left, scribbles a name on a dummy before hoisting it in the air. Gasps are heard from the entire Gamemaker area as the name SENECA CRANE spins into their view. Bowing slightly Katniss meets Plutarch's gaze, and instead of horror, there is a look of mock admiration on his face. Taking her leave of the room she heads back to her floor, and as soon as she opens the door everyone is ready to pounce.
"Alright," says Haymitch. "How did the sessions go?"
Katniss and Peeta glance at each other briefly before she says, "You first. It must have been really special because I had to wait forty minutes to go in."
Peeta is regarded speechless - albeit briefly - before explaining, "Well, I - I did the camouflage thing, like you suggest, Katniss." He hesitates. "Not exactly camouflage. I mean, I used the dyes."
"To do what?" asks Portia.
"You painted something," interjects Katniss. "Didn't you? A picture."
"Did you see it?" he asks her.
"No. But they'd made a real point of covering it up," she tells him.
"That is typical," Effie chimes in. "They can't let tributes see what one another did. Was it a picture of Katniss?" she asks with a sigh.
"Why would he paint a picture of me, Effie?" Katniss asks and Effie gives this long response about how it would be to show that he would take care of Katniss, that he was going to do everything in his power to protect her, but Peeta injects that it was actually a painting of Rue instead, surrounded in flowers, the way Katniss left her. Haymitch begs to know why.
"I'm not sure. I just wanted to hold them accountable, if only for a moment," says Peeta. "For killing that little girl." Effie freaks out, Haymitch, Portia, and Cinna all remain silent, but their faces are serious.
"I guess this is a bad time to mention I hung a dummy and painted Seneca Crane's name on it," she admits.
"You … hung … Seneca Crane?" says Cinna.
"Yes. I was showing off my new knot-tying skills, and he somehow ended up at the end of a noose," she explains. Effie who is clearly upset by the whole thing, gets up and leaves the table. Fat lot of good her tributes are doing this year.
"You'd have thought we planned it," says Peeta, giving Katniss just the hint of a smile.
After some more brief conversation, the rest of the meal is observed in silence. After they've finished eating they make their way to the television to watch the announcement of the training scores. Those who were expected to score high did, and those expected to score moderately or low, also met expectations. To the surprise of everyone, both Peeta and Katniss score twelves, making Hunger Games history...a victory that no one is in a hurry to celebrate.
"Why did they do that?" Katniss asks no one in particular.
"So that the others will have no choice but to target you," says Haymitch flatly. "Go to bed. I can't stand to look at either one of you."
Peeta and Katniss do as their told. Peeta lays down and pulls the blankets up over his chest, but when Katniss finally makes her way over he tosses the blankets aside so she can curl up next to him. "I'm sorry if I made things worse." He calls softly to her in the silence as she rests her head on his chest, one arm protectively around get stomach, the other on his chest.
"I don't think we helped ourselves any more than we helped each other with what we did," Katniss digresses. "And I don't mean just today. It all started in the last Games when I held those berries out to you. Everything that has happened since then has been entirely my fault, Peeta. You can't deny that fact."
"It's not like I'm innocent, Katniss," he brushes her hair from her forehead. "I didn't have to take those berries, plus, I was in the Games not fighting to make it home, but fighting so you could make it home...that in and of itself is rebellion."
"Let's not talk about rebellion," she says softly. "Let's talk about anything else."
"I'll bet you that baby is going to be one beautiful or handsome person," he says with a smile. "And it's going to have a great mother, and live to see the future, perhaps different than our own, something that we as of yet have not dared dream about or hope for. Maybe there's a time in the future when they won't starve, or have to fear the Games, maybe…"
"Shh," Katniss says putting a finger to his lips and meeting his gaze. "You shouldn't talk like that. Someone might hear you."
"Oh, Katniss," he sighs, kissing her forehead, "that won't matter."
"Nothing will matter if I have to raise this kid by myself," her voice cracks.
"Katniss…" he starts.
"No," she shakes her head, "we're not talking about this anymore."
"Okay…" he lays back, not comfortably.
They lay in silence for a while before Katniss finally speaks again.
"That nursery was beautiful," tears stream down her face. "I've wanted to tell you that, so many more times, but it was just the easiest place to hide when I was trying to deal with things like the Quell. It was a gentle reminder that some things are good, but then I would leave the room and nothing would be good, so I'd go back to the nursery and things would be good again. Nothing will ever be good again if you die."
"Katniss, lets not talk about this right now," he coos. "We don't have to talk about this."
"You'd be an amazing father, Peeta," she inhales sharply. "I've always known that, I just didn't want to have children...not ones that Snow can get to. I don't want to have children inside his reach, but what am I supposed to do now? What are we supposed to do?" she begins to sob almost violently. "What are we going to do Peeta?"
"Oh, Katniss," he pulls her close. "If I could change any of this, oh god, you know I would."
"I know," she nods using the blanket to wipe away her tears.
"A lot of good lovers has gotten us," she hiccups. "That wasn't me."
"Katniss," he sighs heavily trying to get ahold of himself, if only for her sake. "That nursery will always be good. If something happens to me in that arena, and we don't both make it out, you can always go to the nursery. You can always find the good. Go there, it can be good again, go to the nursery and it will all be good again."
"No," she shakes her head. "Nothing would be good again without you."
"Thanks for that," he says. "But there's more to life than you and me."
"I know," she hiccups again. "I know. But since the Games...since I thought I was going to lose you. Nothing has been the same, nothing will ever be the same if something happens to you...you might be able to ignore it, but I can't. No nursery, however spectacular, can make something good again that isn't."
"Katniss, I want you to promise me," he pulls her face up to make eye contact with her, "that you'll go to the nursery when you need things to be good again. Take this moment with you if you need to, take this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever. Truth is we don't know what is going to happen, but it'll all be okay. Go to the nursery Katniss. Choose to believe that there is still good out there somewhere. Choose love. Choose life."
"Peeta…" she chokes out and cries herself to sleep. Peeta drifts off not soon after that.
Busy, busy, busy, busy day tomorrow.
Tomorrow were the interviews.