A/N: Thanks for reading!
Peeta hesitates when he sees an unfamiliar man leaning against the wall beside Katniss's locked door.
"Finnick Odair," the man says with an easy smile. "You're Peeta Mellark?" At Peeta's nod, he continues. "Wonderful. We'll be working together a lot, I imagine."
"Are you new?"
"No. Been here two years now. I just got back from some time off. Let me give you some advice: take those vacation days. Too much time here will make you lose your mind."
Finnick's shoulders are too loose, his smile too jovial. Either he's already lost his mind or the vacation he took worked a miracle.
"Where are we taking Everdeen?" Peeta asks, tilting his head toward her door. "The schedule just said the Visitor Center."
Finnick pulls a ring of keys out of his pocket and twirls it around his finger. "She's got her therapy session today."
Peeta frowns. "Therapy? Since when do the prisoners get therapy?"
"Since Coriolanus Snow demanded it and said he'd foot the bill."
"Snow?" Peeta echoed. "Isn't that-"
"Seneca Crane's father? Yeah, puzzle that one out." Finnick shrugs. "Most of us figure he ordered the therapy to find out who placed the hit on the Cranes. Or maybe he just wants to know where his grandkids are buried."
Peeta shudders as the image of the smoking mansion flashes inside his head. Finnick slides open the top slot and yells, "Up against the wall, Everdeen!"
His voice, while loud, carries no heat. He opens the door, throws up his arms, and announces, "I'm back!" He's surprisingly bright considering he just referenced Katniss's gruesome past, but it relieves Peeta that not every guard in this place is a violent psychopath.
Katniss, of course, says nothing. She just continues to lean against the furthermost wall, arms held in the air.
"Calm down, Everdeen, your excitement is embarrassing me." Finnick snaps cuffs around her wrists and ankles before nudging her forward. "I heard you're stuck in solitary. I guess you've been lashing out in my absence."
Peeta holds onto Katniss's arm as Finnick relocks her cell. He finds himself unconsciously leaning into her, his shoulder brushing against hers. He distances himself as Finnick appears on her other side.
"I hope you kicked Cato's ass," Finnick mumbles.
They head toward the Visitor Center, Finnick keeping up a stream of one-sided conversation as they walk.
"Don't know why everyone's so scared of you," Finnick says. "We've always gotten along, right? You been treating Mellark well?"
Katniss rolls her eyes, and Finnick laughs. "Good. He seems much saner than Cato."
Finnick leads them into a small, nearly empty room. An older woman with steel gray hair sits behind a metal table in the center. The badge clipped to her blazer reads "Dr. Coin." She doesn't rise or offer a greeting. Katniss drops into the empty chair, and Finnick attaches the chain hanging from her wrists to a metal loop embedded in the table. He gestures toward the wall and Peeta follows. They take their positions on either side of the room as the doctor finally speaks.
"I understand you've been violent since our last session."
She asks Katniss question after question: Why did she attack Cato? Did hurting him make her feel good? Did she regret lashing out?
A prolonged silence follows every question as the doctor gives Katniss a chance to respond. She never does. She doesn't look up from her hands.
"Maybe we can talk about something new today," Dr. Coin says, pulling a thick file out of her leather briefcase. "Maybe we can discuss your career over the last few years."
The doctor drops a pile of photographs onto the table. Peeta is too far away to make them out, but he doesn't remain in the dark for long.
"Charles Kovakoff, Gregory Townwell, Sebastian Miller…" The doctor keeps rattling off names, but Peeta's mind drifts away, trying to block her voice out.
She's naming Katniss's alleged victims. All men, all shot through the eye with an arrow. The law can't prove it, but it's possible Katniss killed them all. It's also possible she killed none of them.
Peeta doesn't know what he believes anymore.
When Katniss barely glances at the photos, Dr. Coin pulls another one out. She reaches across the table and slaps it down in front of Katniss.
"Recognize them?" the doctor asks. "Seneca Crane, age 44. Delia Crane, age 34. Joshua Crane, age 10. Mia Crane, age 6." She points to each figure in the picture. Peeta tastes bile in the back of his throat.
Katniss was only nineteen when she set that mansion on fire.
"They're willing to make a deal with you, Katniss. Tell us who hired you, and you won't get the death penalty. Tell us where you buried Delia and her children, and maybe you won't be in here for the rest of your miserable life."
Katniss finally lifts her head and makes eye contact with the doctor. No tears. No guilt. No remorse.
"Many murderers exhibit violent tendencies when they're younger," Dr. Coin says. "Tell me, Katniss, did you ever hurt any animals growing up? Any people?" She steeples her fingers and presses them against her lips. "Did you ever hurt Primrose?"
Katniss's expression doesn't change, but her fingers twitch.
"Did you play games with her, Katniss? Did you warn her not to tell?"
Sweat coats Peeta's palms as he squeezes them into fists. Anger shudders through him, and he has to bite his tongue to keep from yelling at the doctor.
Peeta remembers the look on Katniss's face when she first saw her sister. There was so much awe, so much wonder, as her mother set Prim into Katniss's arms.
It was one of the few times Peeta ever saw Katniss cry.
Katniss was only three when her father died. Four when her mother nearly overdosed, and she was thrown into foster care. The system bounced her around different families, some uncaring, some dangerous, some horrifying. She was nine when her mother showed up at Katniss's latest house and stole her away. The police never came after them. Peeta wondered if Katniss's foster family even reported it.
Katniss and her mother settled down outside the city of Panem, right in Peeta's suburb. A couple of months passed before Katniss realized her mother was pregnant. Two years passed before her mother fell off the wagon, back into the world of drug use.
Katniss did everything for Prim. Fed her, bathed her, read to her. She dropped her off at daycare in the morning and picked her up after school. She played with her in the evening. Peeta joined Katniss often, doing his homework while she cooked them dinner.
Katniss was an angry child. She held grudges. She didn't believe in forgive and forget. Peeta feared that she might grow resentful of Prim as they grew older. She certainly hated their mother. But it never happened. Katniss cared for Prim as if Prim were her own daughter up until the day she left.
And Prim loved her right back.
Katniss says nothing as the doctor continues her verbal assault. Dr. Coin might not notice the changes in Katniss, but Peeta does. It's all in her hands, the way her fingers flex. The way they begin to shake.
He watches her control slowly fall apart.
He rips his flashlight out of his pocket and drops it onto the ground. The sound of metal against cement startles the doctor. She twists around in her chair to glare at Peeta. Katniss, meanwhile, presses her forehead against the table and takes a deep breath.
"Sorry," Peeta mutters as he returns his flashlight to his pocket. "It slipped."
The doctor stands. "This is getting us nowhere. You can take her back to her cell."
Finnick detaches the chain from the table and clips it back to the chains around Katniss's ankles. If he notices the tremor in her hands, he doesn't say.
"I'll see you in two weeks," Dr. Coin says, her voice sharp.
As soon as the door shuts behind them, Peeta moves in front of Katniss, preventing her from going any further.
"Katniss?"
His heart breaks when he sees the tears in her eyes. While he's never had a chance to talk to her about Prim's death, he knows she's cycling through thoughts of guilt. Her mother and Prim died in a car accident a year after Katniss left town. Drugs were found in Mrs. Everdeen's system. He knows Katniss blames herself for not being there to stop it.
For abandoning her sister out of fear that she'd hurt her only to have her die anyway.
Katniss squeezes her eyes shut, and the tears finally fall. She lifts her arms, but the chain keeps her hands at chest level. Peeta tugs his sleeve over his palm and wipes her cheeks. His sleeve slips down his wrist, and then it's his thumb against her skin. She leans into him.
"Are you okay?" he asks quietly.
Her eyes lock onto his, and he sees that nine-year-old girl, sad and hungry and so utterly alone. If he believed he'd succeed, he'd help her escape right this second. He'd remove the chains, pull her out those huge steel doors, let her feel the sun on her face.
And then they'd run. Leave this hell of an existence behind.
This time, when she disappeared, he'd be at her side.
Finnick clears his throat. "Time to get back."
Peeta rips his hand away. He can't read the expression on Finnick's face.
After they return Katniss to her cell, Finnick suggests they eat an early dinner together. When Peeta resists, Finnick's voice grows hard.
"We should get to know each other," Finnick says. "I insist."
There's no one else in the room when Peeta and Finnick settle at a table. Before Peeta can pull out his sandwich, Finnick asks, "Do you know how Seneca Crane died?"
Peeta stares at him, wondering if this is a trick question. "A fire."
"Yeah, but do you know how he actually died?"
Peeta shakes his head.
"Most people caught in a fire die from smoke inhalation, but Crane burned." He pauses as if to let the news sink in. "She burned him alive."
There is fire in Peeta's chest. It's burning through his ribs, scorching his skin. He can't speak.
"That's anger. Cruelty. But it's pleasure too," Finnick says. "She wanted him to suffer."
"You don't know why-"
"It doesn't matter why," Finnick said. "Do you understand what kind of person is capable of that?"
"You were joking around with her," Peeta forces out. "You-"
"I do what I need to do to survive working around these people," Finnick says. "But I never forget what they're capable of."
Peeta stares at his hands and reminds himself to breathe. He hasn't forgotten what Katniss is capable of. He never will.
"Boggs told me what happened with Cato and Marvel, how you talked her down."
"So this has been a test," Peeta says. "And you're going to report me."
"Not necessarily."
Peeta finally looks up, and they lock eyes.
"How long have you known Everdeen?" Finnick asks.
Peeta considers lying, but all it would take is a little research to place him in the same school system as Katniss. Besides, the way he touched her-
"I met her when I was nine."
Finnick sits back in his chair and scrubs a hand over his face. "So. A first love."
"No, I-" Peeta shakes his head and looks down at the brown paper bag sitting in front of him. He used to sit in Katniss's kitchen and watch her pack lunch for Prim. If she was lucky, there'd be enough food to pack for herself.
It didn't matter. Peeta made sure she never went without.
Peeta sighs. "Only," he says. "Only love."
"You here to help her escape?"
Peeta laughs at the question, at Finnick's careful scrutiny. With careful control he learned from Katniss over the years, he simply and clearly says, "No."
Finnick studies him for a moment, considering. Finally, he asks, "Why are you here?"
"I haven't seen her in seven years, not since…" He trails off. It's none of Finnick's business what sent Katniss running from him. "I just wanted to see her again. Make sure she's okay."
"You worked at a prison before this, right?" Finnick asks.
"For two years."
Peeta can tell Finnick is weighing his words, comparing the two years Peeta's been employed by a prison to Katniss's two month internment. If Peeta was planning something, it had been in the making for quite some time.
"You know you're just torturing yourself, right?" Finnick asks. "Everdeen isn't that girl you used to know. That girl is long gone."
Peeta squeezes his hand into a fist under the table and bites back a response. Part of him suspects Finnick is right. A smaller, much more foolish part refuses to believe it.
"I won't tell Boggs," Finnick says. "You can keep seeing her, but if I start to suspect something is going on-"
"I understand," Peeta says.
"They're going to execute her," Finnick says. "It's only a matter of time. This won't end well. For either of you."
"I know," Peeta says. Of course he knows. He's in love with a dead girl.
Finnick is true to his word. The day after Katniss's therapy appointment is like any other day. Boggs doesn't call Peeta into his office or adjust his schedule. When six PM rolls around, Peeta picks up a dinner tray and delivers it to Katniss's door.
He slides open the top slot, surprised to find her laying on her bed instead of waiting for him. Her gaze is fixed on the ceiling.
"Everdeen."
She sits up at his voice. Eyes wide, she rushes to the door, not bothering to hide the relief written across her face.
"You're still here."
"You thought I'd leave?"
She shakes her head. "I saw the look on Finnick's face. I thought..."
There is no one behind Peeta. Most of the guards are in the cafeteria, supervising dinner. Boggs has already left for the day. Peeta decides to risk the conversation.
"He knows about us. I had to tell him."
"What does he know exactly?" she asks.
"That we were friends when we were kids. That I was in love with you."
She moves closer to the door, curls her fingers over the edge of the bottom slot. The urge to touch her is overwhelming. Just a light brush of his skin against hers. It's all he needs.
"He didn't report you," she says.
"He's keeping an eye on me, but no, he doesn't plan on reporting me. He thinks I transferred here to see you."
"Is he right?" she asks. "Is that why you transferred?"
He lowers his voice. "You know why I'm here."
She pulls her hands away, and the blank face she usually wears slips back into place.
"I can't help these people escape," she says. "I won't."
"Then why are you here?"
"What do you mean? I was arrested."
"No, you let yourself get arrested. You could have gotten away if you wanted to."
"You weren't there," she says.
"I didn't have to be. I know you."
He's seen her in action before, and he read the police report. She was armed when the police found her. Even if she was determined to hide her ability, with the right cover and a few arrows, she could have killed her way out of there. There's no way the police captured her without any bloodshed on either side. She spent years evading arrest, and then one night, she botches a job and doesn't get away in time?
Not likely.
Footsteps sound behind him. Peeta pushes the tray through the slot, and Katniss grabs it, setting it on her bed. When he turns, he finds Finnick standing a couple of feet away.
"Five minutes left in dinner," Finnick says. "Then, you and I make our rounds." He walks away without waiting for an answer.
Peeta looks back at the cell door. Katniss is directly in front of him, peering outside of the top slot.
"He's a good guy," she says. "He shouldn't be working in a place like this. Neither should you."
"I did want to see you," Peeta whispers. "I've missed you. I was so worried when you left."
She backs away, unable to meet his eyes. "I should eat dinner before it gets cold."
"Right." He's about to close the slots when a thought occurs to him, a long-buried memory he used to worry over constantly. "Are you eating enough?"
She looks up from the tray balanced on her lap. Her skin is paler than he remembers it as a teengaer. Her cheeks are hollow, her collarbone sharp. He can only imagine the prominency of her rib cage beneath her shirt.
While he made sure she was well-fed growing up, she always remained on the skinnier side. He assumed too much malnutrition in her early years had stunted her growth. But it was more than that.
"You only get two meals. I don't know how many calories," he says. "It can't be enough. Your metabolism…"
It's her ability's fault. It requires too much energy. Her metabolism is lightning fast, burning through calories as quickly as she consumes them. She must be starving.
"It's not so bad when I'm not practicing. I haven't done it in months." When his expression doesn't change, she forces a smile. "I'm fine." Her voice is stubborn, insistent.
But she doesn't resist the extra bread he sneaks in the next day.
A week later, Boggs lifts Katniss's ban on the outdoors. She's still not allowed to eat or socialize with any of the other prisoners, so Finnick and Peeta have to take her out themselves. They leave off her ankle chains, although her hands are still cuffed. They walk the perimeter of the yard, Peeta and Finnick on either side of her. A small group of prisoners enjoy their rec time further away. A handful of guards stand around, supervising. In the tower, two armed guards watch everything.
Finnick lags behind on their second lap until Peeta and Katniss are several feet ahead of him. None of the guards seem to notice or care. Peeta has no idea if there are others watching him around Katniss, if Boggs still worries about his behavior. Nonetheless, he takes advantage of the modicum of privacy Finnick has given them.
"Why does Thorne want to help these people escape? Aren't they competition?" Peeta asks.
"He wants an army," Katniss says.
A chill passes through him. "To do what?"
"I don't think he has any one goal in mind other than to gain as much power as possible. And what better way than to help a bunch of psychotic criminals escape? They'll owe Gale their freedom. They'll do whatever he wants."
"Is gratitude really that big of a motivator for these people?"
"No, but fear is. When they learn Gale is the one that orchestrated the escape, they'll either skip town or fall in line. Most of them won't resist. The ones who do will end up dead."
There is no doubt in her voice. Thorne may be unstable, but he is also intelligent and calculating. Everyone knows he runs the city. Few would be stupid enough to cross him.
"Has he contacted you?" she asks.
"No." It's been almost two weeks since Peeta found the picture of his brother on his kitchen table. His shoulders tense every time he walks into his apartment, certain this will be the time he finds something else. Someone else.
Thorne must be growing impatient.
"When he does, tell him I said no. I'm done with all that."
"You think he'll accept that?"
She stares straight ahead. "He doesn't have a choice."
"What about you?" Peeta asks. "What's our plan?"
"What do you mean?"
"To escape," he says.
"There is no plan. I'm not leaving."
He grabs her arm. While there is no one in front of them, there are plenty of people behind that could see. Reluctantly, he pulls away.
"They're going to execute you," he says.
"That's the rumor."
He wants to grab her again, shake her, demand that she see reason. He takes a deep breath and forces himself to remain calm.
"There will be a trial," she continues. "There isn't much evidence for anyone except Crane."
Right. No bodies, no case. But Seneca was found. In addition to an eyewitness placing Katniss at the mansion, there's footage from the twenty-four-hour drugstore Katniss stopped by shortly after the mansion was set on fire. Not only did the salesclerk remember Katniss's soot-smudged cheeks and the heavy scent of smoke, but the camera caught her buying iodine and bandages.
Peeta never understood the stop or why she would be so careless. He opens his mouth to ask her, but she keeps speaking.
"Maybe I'll just confess. No need to drag it out."
"Don't confess," he advises. "Don't say anything."
"Got that covered."
Peeta studies her out of the corner of his eye. Her face is back to its emotionless mask, but he knows how happy she is to finally be outside. When they first stepped into the yard, she closed her eyes, face tilted up toward the sun.
"Why don't you speak?" he asks.
"It's easier. At first, I just didn't want to talk to the police," she says. "And then I didn't want to talk to anyone at all. It's easier when people don't expect you to speak. No one bothers you."
Katniss has had a wall up between her and other people for as long as he's known her, but this is something else entirely. Her protective instinct for those weaker than her is still strong. After all, she held a gun to Cato's head after he and his friend harassed some inmate named Annie. But she doesn't want to be close to anyone. She doesn't even want a casual friendship, someone to complain with about the crappy food or the scratchy sheets or the violent guards on a rampage.
Boggs put Katniss in solitary as a punishment, but she doesn't seem to mind it at all. Something sharp and cold lodges in Peeta's chest as the pieces click into place.
"I think you got arrested on purpose," he says.
Finnick lags further behind as Katniss and Peeta round the corner of the yard. They now face everyone outside, both prisoners and guards. Katniss will stop talking, but he doesn't have to. They can't hear him.
"You want to die in prison. I don't understand why you're doing this, but I'm not going to let you."
She stops suddenly, feet rooted to the ground. There's sadness in her gray eyes, maybe even a little regret. He imagines touching her cheek again, curling his fingers into her hair, pressing his lips against hers.
He can't fathom a world without her in it. During their seven years apart, he kept tabs on her when she popped up in the news. It was almost enough knowing she was out there, even if he couldn't see her.
But for her to be gone, for there to be no hope at seeing her again, he can't stand it, can't bear it-
"Let me go," she whispers.
Then, Finnick is beside them, and she's moving again, away from Peeta, away from their past, away from any hope for a future.
It rips him open. "I can't."
Peeta isn't surprised when he arrives home one morning after a double shift to find Thorne and two nameless men standing in his kitchen. He actually relaxes. No longer does he have to worry about when.
It's now.
"You're dragging this out," Thorne says as Peeta drops his keys on the table. "I get it. You haven't seen her since high school, and you're enjoying this happy little reunion."
"She doesn't-" Peeta is on his hands and knees before he can finish his sentence. One of Thorne's men walks into his line of vision, the man's hand clenched into a fist. Peeta rubs the back of his head and swallows the nausea that threatens.
Thorne crouches down in front of him and grabs a fistful of hair. "I thought I made this clear," he says. "You had your chance. Katniss belongs to me now."
"She said no," Peeta spits out.
"What?"
"She said she won't help anyone escape. She said she's done."
Thorne laughs and throws Peeta back down. He catches himself just before his face smashes into the floor.
"You're full of shit. If she stays there, she's dead."
"Did you ever think that that's what she wants?" Peeta asks.
"To die in prison surrounded by enemies?" Thorne is back on his feet. He towers over Peeta. When Peeta tries to stand, Thorne kicks him in the stomach, and he's back on his knees.
"Interesting theory," Thorne continues. "It's like you don't have a fucking clue. I thought you two used to be close?"
Peeta wants to laugh in his face. If Thorne truly knew Katniss at all, he'd suspect the same thing.
"You really think Katniss got arrested because she messed up? You really think she couldn't have gotten away if she wanted to?"
"It all catches up with us eventually," Thorne says.
"Even you?"
Dots burst in front of Peeta's eyes when the back of his head smacks into the floor. He tries to speak, but his oxygen is cut off by Thorne's hand wrapped around his throat.
"Everything was fine between us." Thorne yells. "You fucking ruined it! This is your fault!"
Just as Peeta's vision disappears, Thorne lets go. Peeta gasps for breath turn into a coughing fit as he rolls onto his side. When he finally looks back up, Thorne's men are on either side of him.
"Stand him up," Thorne snaps.
They grab Peeta's arms and yank. He sways, unsteady, but the men keep him in place.
"You have one week to convince Katniss. One week to give me a date. Do you understand?"
Peeta shakes his head. "She won't do it."
Thorne flexes his right hand. "I guess we'll just have to convince her."
Peeta loses time. Minutes, hours. He doesn't remember slipping to the floor when the beating stopped or the sound of the door when Thorne and his men left.
Time is fuzzy, fluid. It spills around him without care, passes without any weight. He hurts in a way he has never hurt before. It's turned the world imaginary. The only real thing is the pain. He can't see. One eye is swollen shut. He's not sure about the other. It may just be sealed shut with blood.
Eventually, he wobbles into a standing position, nearly slipping in the process. He inches in the direction of the kitchen sink. When he finally reaches it, he splashes water on his face, and the pain is fresh and new.
At least he can see out of one eye now. Enough to recognize that he slipped in his own blood on the floor.
He collapses into bed. It's dark when he wakes up.
Thankfully, he has the next two days off. The third day, he calls out sick. He can't let Katniss see him like this, but he doesn't have much of a choice. It'll take weeks for the bruises to fade.
When he returns to work on the fourth day, he tells everyone he was mugged.
Peeta hoped to avoid Katniss's gaze by keeping the top slot of the door closed when he delivered her dinner, but the odds are not in his favor. She has a therapy appointment. If he gets another guard to take his place, not only will Katniss suspect something is wrong, but Finnick will too. Finnick already doubts his mugging story.
Peeta follows Finnick into Katniss's cell, his head down. She's against the far wall, hands up, when Finnick reaches out to cuff her wrists. She rips her hands away and darts forward as soon as she notices Peeta's face.
"What happened?" she demands.
Finnick grabs her upper arm, his hand hovering over the taser in his belt. She stops but doesn't look away from Peeta.
"What happened?" she repeats.
Finnick looks back and forth between the two of them. "Can't say I'm surprised you can actually talk," he mumbles.
"I was mugged," Peeta says.
She grasps his chin, gently pushing it to the right so she can study his bruises. Her lips are pressed together in a tight, thin line.
"Everdeen, the door is open," Finnick says, a warning in his tone. "I need your wrists."
Peeta tenses, worried she'll mouth off or worse, but she holds her hands out in front of her and allows the cuffs to be locked in place.
Finnick tugs her out of the cell. Peeta lags behind, just out of sight, but she doesn't try to look at him. She doesn't say another word.
Finnick leads her into the Visitor Center and hooks her to the table. She sits and stares straight ahead, her eyes the color of a storm cloud. She grabs the chain hanging from her wrists and squeezes until her knuckles turn white.
While Katniss's face is blank, the doctor reads the tension in her stiff shoulders and clenched fists. A smile slowly forms on Dr. Coin's face.
"How are you today, Katniss?" she asks. "You seem upset." She pauses. "Do these appointments bother you?"
Katniss's stillness is unnerving, but for once, the doctor doesn't seem frustrated.
"Should we talk more about Primrose this week?" she asks.
Peeta tenses, certain this will set Katniss off, but she doesn't move.
"There's no record of violence in your youth," Dr. Coin continues. "But that doesn't mean nothing happened."
When this fails, she asks, "What about your mother? She chose drugs over you when you were just a little girl. She lost custody and didn't bother taking you back until she needed someone to raise Prim. I imagine there was a lot of anger there. With her drug use, she probably wouldn't remember anything you did."
Katniss never hurt Mrs. Everdeen no matter how angry and resentful she grew. There were a handful of incidents in middle school, boys bullying Peeta who later received black eyes or a kick to a groin. They were all too embarassed that a girl had hurt them to report it. By high school, they had learned to leave both Katniss and Peeta alone.
There were plenty of girls who teased Katniss, made fun of her clothes or hair, but she only ever scowled at them. Katniss had never been in the habit of hurting someone weaker than her.
"You must be furious with your mother now," Dr. Coin says. "She smokes some meth, takes your sister for a car ride, drives them off a bridge… Perhaps if you'd been there, you could have stopped it."
"If only," Katniss says.
Silence descends upon the room. Even Finnick, who heard her speak only moments ago, freezes in place.
"Excuse me?" Dr. Coin asks, surprise evident in her voice.
"I hate thinking like that. If only I had stayed. If only my mother had gotten her shit together. It's a waste of time."
"Is it? It's something to think about. If only you had made better choices. If only you hadn't taken out your unresolved anger on the Crane Family."
"Oh yes, poor Seneca," Katniss says. "He was such a fucking saint. A man of the people. Up for reelection when he was brutally murdered."
"Katniss-"
"He would have won too," Katniss continues. "Another term as senator and then, who knows? He could have been our next president."
"Was it a political enemy that hired you?" Dr. Coin presses. "Someone who didn't want to see him remain in office?"
Katniss drops the chain from her hand and it clanks against the metal table. She picks it up and drops it a second time. A third.
"He had so many enemies," Katniss says. "He wasn't as nice as everyone thought. Not nearly as bright either."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Dr. Coin asks. "This little game you're playing. Weeks of silence and now this… enjoy this bit of power while you can. It's all you have."
"Sure. I'm weak and helpless. I'm terrified of this place. All the mean old guards and prisoners." She rests her chin in her hands and bats her eyelashes. "Please let me make a plea deal."
"Mouth off all you want," Dr. Coin says. "But these sessions will continue. Through the trial, through your wait on death row. I'll see you off the day they execute you."
"It's a date."
Dr. Coin sets her leather briefcase on the table. This time, she removes several candid photos of the Crane family. The children opening presents on Christmas; an exhausted, sweaty Mrs. Crane posing with her newborn daughter; Seneca standing beside his family on the steps of the Capitol.
"More pictures," Katniss says. "You shouldn't have."
"A complete lack of remorse won't make the jury sympathize with you."
"I regret plenty," Katniss says. "I regret that Seneca died so quickly. I had hoped he'd take longer to burn."
Peeta mentally pleads with her to stop. Anything she says will be thrown back in her face when this goes to trial. Of course, that's what she wants, isn't it? Didn't she say she'd confess?
"I regret that I didn't do worse to him," Katniss continues. "He cried and he begged, but it wasn't enough. It never is, I guess."
"Seneca Crane was a human being," Dr. Coin says, all remnants of calm gone. "Do you understand? You tortured and murdered a living, breathing person."
Katniss slams her palms on the table. The doctor jumps back, her chair screeching against the floor.
"I know exactly what I did," Katniss snaps. "He got what was coming to him."
"What about his children? His wife? What did they deserve?"
"Better than what they got."
Silence hangs in the air as everyone absorbs Katniss's words.
"Just tell me where their bodies are," Dr. Coin says. "Put an old man's mind to rest. Let him bury his grandchildren."
"Of course. That's why you're here, right? That's why Snow signs your checks?" Katniss jumps to her feet, sending her chair to the ground. "Tell Snow if he wants to know what really happened, he can come here and ask me himself. I'm done talking to you."
"That's not your choice," Dr. Coin says.
Katniss rattles the chains around her wrists. "I'd like to go back to my cell now."
"You're not in charge anymore, Katniss. Not here."
"Oh, doctor," Katniss says. "If only that were true."
As soon as the cell door is locked behind Katniss, Finnick grabs Peeta's arm and drags him outside to where the smokers take their breaks. The scent of smoke lingers despite the deserted area.
"You have forty-eight hours to request a transfer," Finnick says.
A knot of dread forms in Peeta's stomach. "But I thought-"
"How'd you get those bruises?"
"I was mugged."
Finnick shakes his head. "You're full of shit. I don't trust either one of you."
"Don't do this."
"Something is going on. This isn't about you missing your psycho ex-girlfriend anymore. This is about protecting the people in this prison and in this city."
"She's not psychotic."
"Really? Tell that to the Cranes!"
"She didn't kill Crane's wife or kids," Peeta says.
"Oh yeah? Did she tell you that?"
"She didn't have to. I know her. I know she wouldn't hurt them."
The police didn't find their bodies because there were no bodies. He knows she killed Seneca and the rest of the men in Dr. Coin's photographs, but he would never believe she hurt those kids. It wasn't in her to do it.
"Look, Peeta…" Finnick places a hand on his shoulder. "I'll look out for her. I promise."
"Please let me stay."
Finnick's gaze hardens. He retracts his hand. "Say your goodbyes and leave, or I'll report you myself."
When Peeta goes back inside, he finds another guard to take Katniss her dinner. He can't see her right now. He doesn't know what to say.
He doesn't understand how he got here. All he wanted growing up was to make his mother proud, make her love him. It took way too many years for him to realize it was never going to happen.
After he met Katniss, the only thing he wanted was to protect her like she protected him. He thought it would always be the two of them, taking care of each other. She was his family.
But unless he thinks of something quickly, he'll have to leave her behind.