After a long wait here it is everyone! The finale to UTSF! I wanted to thank all of my supportive readers and especially my two betas amslaimee and Lbug84 for slaving over this whopper of a chapter. (At least whopper for me) For those of you worried that I haven't answered your questions at the end there will be an epilogue which will be going into more detail about the outcome of tonights events. Thank you all for taking this journey with me and I can't wait to hear what you think!

Zeyer Pov

"Everybody in! Now!"

We were all running around the town gathering everyone we could in any direction. The clock was ticking and we had real decisions to make. They weren't messing around they came prepared for a fight and they weren't going to back down until we were dead or theirs. I didn't openly admit this because I know I stand in the minority but I have a sick feeling that if we go through with this our numbers will be decimated and then when less then half of us are left we'll surrender out of fear and go back into slavery anyway. There's always Texas too I guess. Although we're grossly unprepared and have barely enough supplies to keep us stable now, let alone in the wilds of Texas. It would be suicide.

That was an option on the table too, although as you would expect it's wildly unpopular. Someone suggested a giant mass suicide by nightlock all out in the open and make a whole scandal out of it to get those still left in the DP camps to revolt and join the rebellion. I would really prefer the option where everyone can live and be free. Call me crazy but I feel like there's an answer just out of my grasp.

"Tammy! Leave the goats!" I shouted. People were running everywhere, we're running for our lives and the girl is bringing her goats.

"You seen the girls?" Finnick asked me. We passed directions and stopped a hundred feet or so away from the gate.

"They were setting up in the safe house the last time I checked. Why who's unaccounted for?"

"Prim."

"Dammit." The last time I saw her she was running into the house. I wanted to go after her, find her and make sure she was alright but I had a job to do. "I will definitely keep my eye out for her."

"I figured you might."

I nodded. "West side of town is cleared out."

"Alright well this is the last sweep."

"It better be we're pushing it as it is." A horrible cranking noise drew our attention to the gates.

"Oh, Hell." Finnick said. He was frozen in the middle of the square and was looking towards the entrance into Hope Haven.

"What are those things?" My voice had dropped to almost a whisper. Goliath sized machines with steel tentacles had rolled up to the Red's front lines. The red lights on top of their shells swept over the ground like an all seeing eye.

"The country uses them on their big construction projects. That one there on the right is an earthmover. It can carry away close to 300 tons of dirt in one pull. Next to it, that's the flattener. I've seen it take down a half a dozen pueblos in under a day."

"What's the one on the left?" I asked.

Just the sight of it made my heart beat too heavily in my chest. If it was to come to a fight, I would have been able to wrap my head around machine guns maybe even tanks. This though, was something else all together.

"It's an excavator." Finnick said. His voice was dry and forced.

"Please tell me it doesn't do what I think it does." I said.

"It can drill through diamond. That thing can infiltrate the third layer of the earth. That's what they use to drill the tunnels into the mountains."

We looked at each other for a second before racing off in the direction of the cave. I could feel my muscles working over time but I ignored the burn. Finnick was right behind me. We battered into the door pushing people out of our way as we moved towards the great room. Once inside our progress slowed tremendously as we battled through the crowds. If I wasn't so panicky I probably would have pointed out the irony of Peeta's secluded safe house holding 300 people, if not more.

"Peeta!" I shouted. "Katniss!"

"Where the hell have you two been?" Damien shouted popping his head out of the kitchen.

"Final Sweep! Where're the star crossed lovers?" Finnick yelled to him.

"Check the moshpit. What's wrong? We have six hours."

"They have machines! They're going to dig us out." I yelled.

Damien's face went white and he disappeared back into the crowd making a beeline for the front door. I didn't have the time to watch where he went instead I dove through a crack between two large groups of people and propelled myself over the couch. I landed on top of three girls who shrieked at me but I kept moving not hearing what they were saying. I spotted Peeta's mop of blonde hair in the far corner standing by the fireplace. He was having conversations with four different people at the same time but I pushed through all of them.

"Peet! We have to get out of here!" I yelled at him. I wasn't the type to be over dramatic so Peeta took a step towards me and said,

"Tell me want you know. Fast."

Peeta's pov

"Everybody! Everybody! Shut up!" I was sweating. For someone who didn't like crowds I managed to find myself in the center of them too often.

It quieted down enough with the help of my family and friends. Word spread and in less then a minute the near deafening volume had completely disappeared.

"I know I promised you a tribunal where we could decide what to do as a group. There is no time for that though. None. I give you all 3 decisions. The first is to stay in here and get slowly crushed to death as they dig us out. The second is to give yourselves over now and attempt to rebel once we've been enslaved again. The last is to run and give some of us the fighting chance to live as free people. I've been to Texas, I wouldn't say it's nice by any means but there's no slavery there."

I was breathing too hard. I felt my heart breaking at the hundreds of people I lead. I was about to lose my grip. I looked around the room at their faces and wondered who would live and who would die. Out of the corner of my eye I saw people parting. Katniss came to the front of the group and I swallowed in relief. She met my eyes and in a second I knew she understood. She clasped my hand tightly and said,

"I'm not usually the one to make the speeches but my American husband doesn't know our people like I do. I know that we don't need a tribunal. I know that most of the time we don't even need food." Some of crowd gave knowing smirks. "But I do know that at times like these we do need to be united. So I urge you. Work with me here. Work with us. No matter your choice be supportive in it. For those who can manage come and fight! I grew up on tall tales of revolutionists who fought against men in red coats to take back their freedom. I don't know for sure if the stories are true but we can make them true today."

I stared wide-eyed at Katniss, the symbol of Hope. They were agreeing with her. I only gave them the dark side but she pushed in the light. I was in awe of her.

"What if we don't want to fight?" Someone in the crowd shouted out. I couldn't see who it was.

"You can fight without holding a weapon. Fight for life. Help me help you smuggle people out of here to safer ground. This land goes on for miles we can defy them from the safety of the trees."

"Won't they see us?" Someone asked in the front row.

"They would only see us if they were looking. But they won't be looking. They won't be looking because we will distract them. They see us as weak slaves. Lets continue to give them that illusion while we plan our escape. While we plan our revolt. Let them think they've won."

"How do you want to do that, Kat?" I asked.

She announced her idea to the crowd. "Peeta and I will meet again with the head of Red Union. I will be there to negotiate the new slave contract on behalf of all of us. We will keep them distracted until the clock runs out and hopefully longer."

I stared at the floor my hand going slack in Katniss'. She had already made the decision for us. But I was no less heartbroken to know that when the clock struck midnight Katniss and I would be the ones directly in front of the firing squad. When they realize what we've done they'd destroy us and drag our bodies through the streets. It was brilliant really, and it wasn't breaking my heart. Clove would never suspect that I would think of tricking her. She'd be right about that. But she was wrong in never suspecting Katniss.

"So are you with us? Are you willing to stand up to the impossible? Are you willing to show these Americans what it means to cross the people of Panem?"

Shouts ran out from around the room. Those who were sitting were standing now.

"On behalf of district four, we stand with you." Finnick said. I saw him standing his hand clasped in Annie's, baby Finn balancing on her hip. I nodded at them in thanks.

"On behalf of district ten, we will fight with you." Zeyer said from a few feet away. Katniss sniggered. I gave her a questioning look and she just shook me off.

"On behalf of district one, we will fight with you." Two black haired women shouted from the back of the room. The firsts who we weren't directly associated with us, though I know Katniss knew their names.

"District seven is intrigued to fight to be legendary. We're in." Johanna said. Standing on the couch. I had to smile. Slowly but surely everyone stood with us but district twelve. I turned to Katniss with an arch brow and she gave me an empty look. "Sorry it took me a little while to ask everybody. On behalf of district twelve, in it's entirety, we will fight." Gale yelled from the tunnel doorway. He was out of breath with Prim standing next to him, her red face smiling over at us.

"Then I guess we fight."

I walked by the human assembly line that was busy taking out supplies. We were evacuating the cave, splitting up weapons and working quickly to form some kind of half assed strategy should our plan fail. We had no secrets anymore. The assembly line lead to the boat dock where they loaded in the essential supplies. My precious tunnels, my fall back should all else failed was filled with people going to run. They were responsible for brining supplies with them and wait on the north side of the property. That's where the trees were most dense.

I sidestepped a strategy meeting on the better pointers of Guerrilla warfare. I didn't know if it would help but I didn't think anything could hurt at this point. Everyone was moving with purpose now. Everyone but me. I knew I would die. I wasn't dumb enough to think that both Katniss and I could survive the exchange with Clove. They needed someone to blame. I could distract them when the time came and she could run. We would fight about it but in the end she would agree that Hope needs her mother. She would move to Texas and live with her father and Prim. I could do it so long as I kept picturing that.

The hallway leading to our bedroom was eerily silent compared to the concert of voices I had acclimated to over the past few hours. I opened the door to Hope's room. I knew that's where I would find the loves of my life. Katniss was sitting with Hope. They were on the floor. Katniss held Hope snug against her body with one hand while the other rapidly stuffed formula and diapers into a backpack. Her hands were shaking.

"Let me help you." I said. I sank down to my knees and took over the job of packing the bag. "So what's the plan?" If I knew Katniss she'd had one in place long before today in case anything should happen.

"Prim was supposed to take her and Damien would drive the boat with them to Texas. But in all the confusion I couldn't find them anywhere. Annie's agreed to take Hope and baby Finn to Texas. Finnick will drive the boat."

"Finnick's okay with leaving the fight?"

"Annie says that if he has to drop them off and turn around he will." I nodded. If it was me I'd do the same thing. I found the thought surprising. I hadn't cared about anyone when Katniss came along. Then I only cared about her. Then we added Hope. Now I was willing to let them both go to save the others.

"Who went to tell Clove?" Katniss asked.

"Rue." Other than Damien, she would know how to get to Clove the quickest. Katniss nodded.

"I have one more thing I need to pack her. Wait here." She handed me our baby and went through the connecting door into our bedroom. I sat on the floor holding Hope. She is the epitome of all that is great in this world. She is perfect. I run my fingers across her cheek and kiss her forehead. She looks up at me with a pure smile that brings tears to my eyes.

"I love you more than this entire world." I tell her. She grabs my finger into her fist and looks up at me.

"Dahd-Dah." I blink a few times letting my heart beat catch up to the moment.

"Did she just say her first word?" Katniss was standing in the doorway. Her eyes were as big as dinner plates. I was at a loss for words so I just nodded. Katniss sank down on next to me and put her head on my shoulder, her hand on Hopes back. We sat there on the plush white rug. Lost in a perfect moment, probably the last for our family. Although now I want to cry hopefully later on, Katniss will look back on this and be able to smile.

Katniss's pov

My tears dried on our walk down to the tunnels after saying goodbye to Hope. My shoes squeaked against the tunnel floors slippery from sweat and whatever else was spilled in an effort to get out all the supplies. When we reached the door that would lead to Clove we turned towards each other. We collided in a tight embrace that would have bound us together with even the smallest amount of glue.

His kiss grounded me and lifted me up to heaven at the same time. This is true love, I thought. This is what timeless tales are made of: us, this kiss, our love.

"I won't say goodbye to you." The words were a seal against his lips.

"I don't want you to. I'll wait for you wherever I have to, be it on earth or someplace else. This is forever."

"It's not fair. We haven't had enough time yet." He leans his forehead on mine as I kiss his cheeks.

"There will never be enough time but these past two years with you have been better then any life I could have ever asked for. Thank you for that." He kissed me hard on the mouth. "You're going to survive this and you're going to remember that I will always be there watching you."

"Don't talk like that. You're surviving this. And when this is over, I will make love to you and won't stop until we wipe away the nightmares."

"Deal," he says.

The door opens and a tall blond with sharp angles and curves takes us in with a smile on her face.

"Too cute." Her smile is wide and genuine but there's something calculating in it. She's trying to see if she can use it.

"Clove, I think it's about time I introduced you to Katniss. Katniss this is Clove my old confidante and now the head of the red union. Clove this is Katniss, the love of my life, mother of my child." Peeta says. His voice holds threads of steel. He is not making a nice introduction he is explaining to her where his loyalties lie. Where they will lie no matter what.

"Pleasure to meet you." She says. "I have heard so much about you it's great to put the face to the name."

"Likewise." I say. I'm not sure what I had expected but it wasn't the girl in front of me. She motioned for us to take a seat at the table. We all sat.

"So I'm just going to get right to it. I hear you're willing to negotiate?"

"We are with a significant amount of conditions," Peeta said.

"Wouldn't expect anything less lover boy." She gave me a wink. Don't wink at me it just makes me want to claw your eyes out that much more.

"So, the non-negotiables first. I have to look like I am doing the best for the Union that being said, we need the slaves back."

"We would consider that under a heavy set of conditions…" Peeta said. "No abuse. Fair hours, time off, healthcare, the ability to buy back freedom, to name a few."

Clove smirked. "Sounds like a better deal then the paid servants get. Should we bring in Rue to argue for their behalf too?"

"Rue and Teagan are free people. They haven't agreed to any contracts. The only reason we're here is in the spirit of compromise."

"The only reason you're here is because you value your life. Because they all value their lives."

"And as you just told me you're only here to make sure you still look good at the end of the day."

" If we could, I'd rather not argue. We each have our reasons lets just work something out." I said.

Clove lips open into a smile.

"I think that's simple enough. Lets start from the beginning. You will hand over the slaves and they will be returned to their rightful owners."

"Everyone on my property will register themselves and be provided with contact information. They will only return to their old masters if there was no abuse present."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's just the beginning."

Clove bent down and pulled something out of her bag. She threw it down on the table. It was a slave contract. Mine.

"The real one," she said. "Out of the Mellark family vault, no doubt."

"Well it definitely wasn't from yours." I say.

"Where are you going with this?" Peeta ask.

Peeta's jaw ticked and I grabbed his hand under that table. He needed to get a hold of his anger, which was saying something. Of the two of us Peeta was always the one who was more patient. Clove was getting to him, probably because she knew him so well. When people knew you they knew your sore spots. She must have known that the easiest way to upset Peeta was to go through me. Just by putting my contract on the table she was making the silent argument that I still didn't belong to him. Making the argument that Hope wasn't free..

"Don't go breaking the table, lover boy. I just want to go through it page by page and see what changes you want to make and what you want to keep."

The contract was two hundred pages, we'd be here all night, perfect.

"Alright page one…."

We argued for hours. The adrenaline that was running through me when we first began our negotiation had fizzled into a boredom I hadn't felt since my history of Panem class back in high school. We weren't arguing about slave rights we were arguing about wording. It's hard to rustle up some energy to argue over whether or not a certain adjective was correct or not.

"It should read, 'the above parties mentioned…'"

"No it should read, 'the above parties included…'"

Clove's guards in the corner were starting to doze off in their chairs.

"As for employee/employer obligations, if you look under stanza A, paragraph 3, third line from the bottom you'll see-"

A huge boom shook the room, and we were fifteen feet under ground. I drew in a sharp breath. This was it. Clove's guards were instantly on alert.

"Tats, Bracer, go check what's going on above ground." Clove barked at the two. They scrambled out of the room and shut the door. "Alright, get the hell out."

"What?" Peeta asked. He looked just as confused and preoccupied as I was.

"Do you think I got to where I am by not thinking three steps ahead?"

"I don't know what you mean-"

"Please. I don't know what the hell your little people just did but that shake was not me. You needed to run the clock out, I understand. Now go, if you stay here I'll just be forced to take you captive when my guys come back."

"I don't-"

"First and foremost Peeta, I can never appear weak. Now go. I've got some Ether in my pocket I can smother myself with."

"Why would you-"

"Do you really think I want to kill you two after everything? I couldn't give a crap about the slaves but you two, you're personal."

"Just when I thought you'd sold me out-"

"No goodbyes, my god how many times do I need to say it. Grab the girl and run!"

I didn't waste anymore time listening to Peeta argue with Clove. I grabbed his hand and hauled him back to our door. Once he was through I slammed the door shut and bolted every lock. I put on the security bar just to be safe. Peeta was still staring at the door after I was finished.

"She just-"

"Saved our lives." I finished.

"Why?"

"She loves you in her own way. I never would have believed it but there is no other reason she would do that."

We heard muffled shouting from the other side of the door. Her guards were back. "What do you think is going on up there?"

"There's only one way to find out."

Prim's pov

We were down to the last of the boxes. I watched from the back door as hundreds of people moved quietly north towards the thicker forest. Rue stood next to me a sack of potatoes over her shoulder. Well, we're officially cleared out of all non-perishables."

"Not bad timing."

"Not at all."

We turned to see Johanna running up to us.

"Is Annie with you?"

"Annie? Annie left with Hope and baby Finn."

"What?" She rested her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. "Well shit."

"Why what's going on?"

"She hid my knives."

"She what?"

"My knives. I gave them to her to hold onto. I didn't want to have them in easy reach in case I lost my temper around you people."

"Right…"

"Why don't you just hold onto the kitchen knives?" Rue asked.

"Someone already grabbed them and besides they've got no give. They wouldn't be accurate."

"Then what are you holding?"

"Butter spreaders."

"Really?"

"They're better than nothing."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see two figures fighting against the current of people heading north. The moonlight shined on one of them and I saw a tattooed arm come into view. I let out a sigh of relief at seeing him. He was safe at least.

Zeyer and Gale came bounding up the steps. I was more than a little surprised to see them together but I wasn't going to ask questions.

"We need to think of a way to stop the machines."

"What machines?" I asked.

"Were you not in the main room with Peeta?"

"I had been in the tunnels until the end."

"That's their not so secret weapons. To petrify us into submission." Gale said.

"And without the machines what do these guys have, honestly?" Zeyer asked.

"A few hundred assault weapons." Gale said.

"Right." Johanna said. She was frowning at her butter knives.

"But they're newer models right?" Zeyer said.

"Probably why?" Gale asked.

"They would more then likely have an electric chip then."

"I'm sensing a trend here." I said.

"If we can figure out some way to shut off all the electric waves in the area we'd be on equal footing."

"How would you even go about doing that?" I asked. Medicine I understood, Electricity, not a chance.

"Is that even possible?" Rue asked.

"That depends. Does anyone know where the fuse box is?"

"It's behind the house, up the hill and through the cellar and to the side of one of the tunnels." Rue said.

"Can you take us there?"

"Obviously."

Gale scrunched his lips and arched his eyebrows. "Any time now."

"Right." Rue shook her head and started walking out the back door and up a set of stairs built into the mountain. They were camouflaged so well with the foliage that I had never even realized they were there. I really had to hand it to Peeta there wasn't a detail he didn't think of. We climbed the stairs one at a time making sure not to be seen. The boys had already been smart enough to change into dark clothing. With everything going on I hadn't thought about it. I would have to correct that once we were done. The landing ended in what looked like a little look out but Rue was already scaling the side of the mountain. Zeyer was right behind her. When she reached the box she moved out of the way and let Zeyer and Gale have a look. I watched Zeyer pull out a small flashlight from his back pocket and kneel in front of the box.

I let my eyes scan across the landscape. I could vaguely make out the moving shadows to the North and the slightly swaying trees to the South. That must be where those who were fighting were gathered. My eyes scanned farther south beyond the fence. I had no trouble seeing anything after that. Bright lights lit up the entire Red Union camp. I could make out hundreds of people with Red bandanas. Some had rifles weapons slung over their shoulders. I couldn't even guess what kind they were. I didn't have to. I knew they could do a lot more damage then we could without them. Electricity or no electricity. My eyes landed on the great machines. They were larger and scarier then anything I had ever seen. They emitted power from there steel structure down to their twenty foot high tires. Something caught my eye as I looked closely at the wheels. Someone, the size of a mouse in comparison to the beasts was moving among the machines. The person stepped into the light as they ran and I froze.

"What is he doing?"

Damien was running between the mega machines pulling a coil of wire as he went. No one was paying him much attention as he weaved the cord through the machines.

"Who?"

"Damien."

" I pointed to Damien on the other side of the fence." Johanna spoke first.

"Is he trying to stall them?"

"We don't have time to wonder we need to move to higher ground. Its twenty minutes to midnight." Gale said.

"What will we be doing at higher ground?" I asked.

"Not we. We have to split up. We're too big of a target to all stay together and there might be consequences to what we're about to do." Zeyer said.

"What are you about to do?" Johanna asked.

"Try to see if we can succeed where Cato's guys failed." Gale said. Zeyer was busy cutting wires and retying them to a single thick black cord.

"What do you mean?"

"During the court case when we all evacuated, they came to cut the power. I hadn't realized at the time that they could cut all the power to the land."

"I'm not following" Johanna said.

"Me either."

Gale sighed. Zeyer let out a quick exclamation and brought his finger quickly to his mouth. "Damn sparks." He said.

"This place isn't on the grid. It's too remote. Peeta would have had to have set up his own electric plant to keep the mountain powered. There's no way the American power lines reached this place."

"Alright, so?" Rue asked.

"So, those machines down there. I'm guess are top of the line. Finn told Zeyer the government uses them so you no they follow Eco code."

"Speak in normal talk!" Johanna snapped. Gale blinked.

"They run mainly on wireless electricity and they have solar back up batteries. If we shut off all the power they lose the wireless connection and they'll be limited to however long their batteries are charged at."

"So turning off the power to the place-"

"Will give us a fighting chance on the ground. Yes."

Johanna took out a butter knife and flipped it in the air before catching it. "Alright, where do you need us to go?"

We moved through the trees darting in and out of the shadows. I heard a noise and looked up into one of the tall pines. Sitting on its eaves were two boys close to my age they had put together some kind of giant slingshot with a net of boulders suspended beneath them. One of the boys held a bucket full of something while the other boy dunked a rock into it before adding it to the pile.

A soft crunch and a giant shadow literally jumped in front of us.

"So they sent me you two?"

"Don't sound to thrilled." Johanna said to Thresh.

"Where's Rue."

"They kept her. She's the best climber out of all of us."

"No doubt about that." Thresh said.

"So what's the plan?"

"You girls ever here of a sneak attack."

Johanna snorted. "Please, I invented the sneak attack."

"Well we're basically putting together a giant sneak attack."

"Explain." Johanna said.

"They outnumber us in fighters, weapons, and machinery." He started walking through the trees passing up supplies to suspended arms. The hands disappeared with the objects before I could even see what they were.

"I never would have guessed." Johanna said.

"So." Thresh gave her a pointed look. "We had to be smart about every resource we had. First, we've got long range/close range. Slingshots and sharp objects go flying at the front lines, high enough to avoid being easy targets. Jo, I'm thinking you'd probably be happiest there. It's where my weapons throwers are."

"Then you thought right."

"What comes after the front lines?" I asked.

Teagan let out a breath before looking up and down at me quickly. I knew he was sizing me up. No one thought I was strong enough to handle a fight. They were wrong. I just needed to know what was going on so I could go where I'd be the most helpful.

"Mud."

"Mud?"

"Hot mud. Burning hot salty mud."

"And you guys have enough of that to make a difference?"

"We've been making buckets of it for the past six hours. Whatever we have we got to use."

"And they're pouring the stuff from the trees to, I'm guessing?"

"Yes ma'am."

"I've heard enough. I'm going to get myself situated." Johanna said.

"Find a guy named Mitchell. He's in charge of short range." Thresh said.

"Will do."

"So you were saying?" I prompt.

"Right next layer is pits. They're- Well there's one watch your step." He moves me over to the right away from a patch of fallen bamboo.

"What are in the pits?"

"Nothing. It's just a thirty foot drop."

"Oh."

"Here is where I'm thinking you should go."

He led me to a clearing. The area was marshy with a few inches of muddy water. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was long and flexible.

"Do you know what this is?"

"Not a clue."

"It's a Taser and its waterproof. Do you know what happens when an electric current meets water?"

"It spreads."

"Bingo."

"So you want me to-"

"Set off the Tasers on anyone who gets through he first few lines."

Thresh put his thumb and his forefinger in his mouth and let out a slow whistle.

"Sweatshirt." A black sweatshirt was thrown down at him as though it came straight from the sky. "Put this on. It'll hide all that shiny blonde hair."

I did as he said and watched him start to walk away.

"So that's it?"

"Were you expecting something else."

"Well…"

"The key to guerrilla warfare is patience. Remember that. Now get yourself a good hiding spot, curl up and wait."

He walked off barking orders at the trees as he passed. I toyed with the metal wand in my hand. This was crazy. Hopefully it was crazy enough to work.

Someone's watch beeped at one minute to midnight. I didn't know what was going on but one minute I was tucked safely into the black shadow of the tree trunk surrounded by quiet and the next came shrieking shouts of confusion. I curled up tighter in on myself and held the Taser like a dagger. I didn't know how to use a dagger either. I was pretty damn useless in the combat department.

"Positions!"

The shouts echoed from one tree to the next. I felt my heart banging around in my chest knocking from side to side. I hoped Zeyer had managed to cut the electrical power to the area. It would be a game changer for us.

Next thing I knew bursts of fire lit up the darkness. I could clearly see the hundreds of people hiding in the trees loading boulders into the sling-shot and lighting them on fire at the last minute. They soared through the air like a giant meteor shower heading towards the fence. I was awed by the beauty of it. I heard the crashes in the distance as the boulders met their targets. I couldn't see through the trees what was happening. It didn't matter. Almost as soon as the chaos began it ended. For a few minutes there was nothing but a deep foreboding silence. Then there were gunshots. I heard a few screams and saw some shadows fall from the trees to the floor. I felt conflicted. Should I help them? Should I stay where I was? I didn't know what to do but I knew I couldn't do nothing.

Peeta's pov

We emerged from the front door mountain gasping for breath. We ran and kept running until we reached the outdoors. Katniss' hand was gripped tightly in mine as we took in the area. The once green fields beyond the fence were ablaze. The Reds scrambled from one area to another attempting to both put out the flames and avoid burns. There was a group of them who were breaking down the fence. I heard the whirring of a chain saw and knew we didn't have much time. Others had opened fire at the trees. I couldn't see anyone in them and I wondered if the enemy could.

"Let's go." I moved slowly down the stairs and into the darkness. I was heading toward the beach. I knew that if there was any strategy going on, big note on the if, it would be in the trees by the beach as far from the fence as possible.

We moved fast through the darkness. Katniss was right on my heels. We were running so quickly that I didn't see the large figures colliding with us until I felt the impact. Wound tight with adrenaline I quickly prompted myself for a fight grabbing the shirt of the body on top of me and pinning them to the ground.

"Dude, get off me." It was Gale. I crawled off of him and rubbed my chest. My lungs got hit hard on impact and winded me.

"Sorry about that Katniss. Didn't see you." Zeyer said. He was sitting awkwardly on his knees rubbing his shoulder. Katniss was still lying on the ground scowling at him.

"Well watch where you're going, we're in a war apparently." She crawled over to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I turned to the guys. "What the hell is going on what are you guys doing out here?"

"We shut down your power."

"You what?"

"We shut down your electric field, cut the cords."

"How do you expect to fight without electricity?"

"Caveman style." Zeyer smiled.

I rubbed my eyes. "What the hell have we gotten ourselves into exactly?"

"A full scale offensive attack. We figured the Red's would never see it coming."

"I guess we were right about that."

"Well, they still have guns but they'll only be as good as their batteries."

"So where is everyone?"

"Helping, I guess. We were on our way over to Thresh. He's sort of taken the lead on the ground."

We all stood up. We moved quickly but no longer quiet as frantic as our earlier pace.

"So what happened with Clove?"

"She saw right through us." I said.

"Shit."

"And she let us go anyway." Katniss said next to me.

"You can't be serious?"

"As a bullet to the brain."

"Well I'll be damned."

"So is she just going to take her people and go home?"

"Ha." Katniss said.

"Unfortunately no. She smothered herself in ether right before we left the room. My guess is she'll be passed out for the first few hours of the fighting."

We had made it into the thinning tree line that led to the beach. As we drew closer I was able to see moving shadows running back and forth. The minute we stepped onto the beach Thresh appeared surrounded by five different people.

"Everybody should be taking cover and standing down as we load the next wave." He said.

"But they're breaking into the fence!" One shouted at him.

"But if not everyone's ready the attack isn't going to make a difference."

"Fine." The kid huffed away.

Thresh pulled our old walkie-talkie bracelets to his mouth and said, "I repeat stand down while loading. Stand down while loading." As he put his wrist down he met my eyes and barreled past the others making it to us.

"What happened?" He snapped.

"Powers totally down." Gale said.

"Rue went to help up North." Zeyer added.

"And you guys?" Thresh said looking at us.

"Clove let us go. She won't be a threat to us for the next few hours but she's letting her people run wild."

"Then who the fuck is giving orders on their side?" Thresh asked.

"I have no idea."

"And where'd Damien go?"

"Damien? He's not with you?" I asked.

"He told me he was with you! I'll kill him."

"So where is he actually?" Katniss asked.

"We saw him on the other side of the fence." Zeyer said. "I thought he had a mission or something who was running around between the monster machines."

Thresh froze for a minute. He then hardened his jaw and blinked. "I don't have time for this. Will someone please try to get in contact with him?" He turned away from us and started answering more questions. The other people around him got their responses and ran back into the trees. Just as quickly three more came running out.

"They broke through the fence. You guys need to get the hell out of here fights starting."

"So what do you want us to do?" Katniss said.

"Infirmary. We set it up down the beach." She nodded.

"And if you can find out what the fuck Damien's doing and who's leading these nut jobs it would make our lives last longer."

"We can do that." Gale said.

"Where Prim?" Zeyer asked.

"I gave her a Taser. She's on the third line of defense."

"Have any extras?" He said.

Katniss bit her lip. Say what you want about Zeyer but I gave him credit for staying out of the excitement to be with the person he cared about. The wind picked up and with it came the smell of smoke. Thresh looked at his watch before lifting the bracelet to his mouth.

"Fire."

Shouts of "Fire!" echoed throughout the forest. Seconds later the sky lit up with balls of fire. My stomach dropped to my knees just looking at them. Those were going to kill people. People I might know. I knew we were in a war. I knew it and it still hurt that I had to fight in it. I never thought we would come to blows over this. I thought we had handled everything legally, I thought-

"Get the hell out of here!"

Katniss pulled on my hand and we were running into the forest. The sound of bullets got louder and we shifted directions. We ran in zig zagged lines in case our shadow should be spotted. Suddenly the ground let out another earth shaking stutter. We fell to the ground. As I helped Katniss up I heard the unmistakable shutter of machines. Giant machines.

"They got the emergency battery up." My voice was monotone as I realized what that meant, hundreds of people dead in the forest in just hours because of the flattener.

"We have to do something. What can we do?" Katniss asked. Her eyes were wide as she gripped my arm.

"I'm going to the fence."

"What? No! You can't."

"Kat, they want to kill everyone here but the me. I can call for a treaty again-"

"With Clove unconscious? A whole lot of good that will do us."

"There must be someone else there must be-" I stop. "Glimmer. Glimmer is alive we gave her to Clove! We saved her life."

I take off running towards the house. I have to get Katniss to safety if I'm going to talk to Glimmer. She hates Katniss but I'm too desperate to let that get in our way. Besides she doesn't hate me. Somehow in her mind I became the one that got away. Maybe I could use that to my advantage maybe-

I stop dead in my tracks again as the top of the first machine comes into my view above the trees. They got it through the fence.

"Keep running!" Katniss yells behind me.

I do as she says even though my fight or flight response is telling me to fly like the wind. This is bigger than us. If I don't stand up and see this through I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt. Katniss is right. I have to run faster.

I rushed through the crowd. Reds were running everywhere not bothering to stop as they charged ahead of me into the trees. It amazed me that even now. Even after everything I had done to protect and help the freed slaves they still saw me as one of them. We made it to the break in the trees. The fence was more than visible from here. I felt like I was standing in front of a firing squad.

The machines stood a hundred feet in front of me. Towering above us like the giants found in old fairytales. Their tires alone must have been as high as the trees. I took a good look at the machine closest to me. It's body was suspended fifty feet above the ground hovering angrily as steam shot from its exhaust. It looked like a giant beast raging with flaring nostrils. Its red eyes, trained on me, were wide open and angry. I took a step towards it hoping whoever was driving that thing couldn't see me swallowing down my fear.

"I want to talk." I said as loudly and clearly as I could.

The machine let out a high pitch whizzing almost like a hiss as a panel popped from below the machine. The red lights from its eyes illuminated first a pair of feet, then legs until finally a face was visible. My jaw clenched in anger as I saw who was there.

"Move Mellark." Glimmer spit.

"You've got to stop this, Glimmer. Mass murder is insane, even for you."

"Its not murder if we're talking about animals, Peeta. It's extermination. They served their purpose. If they refuse to keep serving that purpose then all they are pests, vermin, parasites."

"Is that so, Edith?" I sneered.

"Please, I'm nothing like that woman."

"You could be sisters from where I'm standing." She glared at me.

"Your mother might have had vision but she was stupid. She let her emotions get the best of her. She didn't have patience. I've learned from her mistakes. That's why I will be the leader of the Union."

"Turn off the machine, Glimmer and we can go talk about this like civilized people."

"Talking. Please. There is nothing you can offer me that I can't take for myself."

"You don't know that. I know there are things you want. I'm prepared to give them to you."

"You've lost Peeta. Come join me in the winning circle. It's where we belong."

"Actually, you belong in hell!"

Damien's unmistakable voice yelled. A shot rang out but not a gun shot. It was almost like a crack of lightning. Suddenly the machine Glimmer stood on began to shake. She lost her balance and let out an ear-piercing scream. She fell. Ten feet, twenty, thirty, and then she hit the ground and she was silent. The machine itself continued to twitch. It shook until its pieces fell one by one. The machine sloped inwards unable to hold its weight. It imploded on itself. I watched wide-eyed as it collapsed atop Glimmer. All around me the fighting had stopped as people watched the machine go down. Suddenly another earth rumbling crash shook me where I stood then another. A lone figure was running towards us like the devil was on his heels. It couldn't have been anyone other then Damien. But of course it wasn't just him. Behind him the two great machines fell to the ground as well. Giant clouds of dust and debris followed in its wake. I felt someone pulling on my arm. It was Katniss. I couldn't hear what she was saying over the deafening sounds but I could read the shout from her lips.

"Run."

She pulled me harder and I followed running towards the safe house as quickly as I could. The dust was catching up to us making the air harder to breathe but I kept pushing. I looked back and saw we weren't going to make it. I pushed Katniss behind a tree and fell atop her covering her with my body.

I felt the shards of steel and glass as they flew past me cutting my clothes and my skin.

"Peeta! Peeta!" I cracked open my eyes and shut them against the sharp burn they triggered in my brain. "Please, Peeta. Please for me!"

I knew that voice. I loved that voice.

Katniss.

I fought against the pain and opened my eyes for her. I let put a shout of pain but managed to keep them open enough to see her face come into view. She was close to me. Her hands cupped my cheek and tears stained her face. With great difficulty I brought my hand to her face. She caught my hand in hers and brought it to her cheek. She kissed the palm of my hand. Her eyebrow was cut and blood trickled lightly down the aide of her face. She was perfect.

"You're alive. I thought you were gone."

"I would never leave you." She kissed my hand again more tears leaving her eyes.

"You have to get up, they need you."

"Who needs me?"

"The people. The Red's are willing to call a treaty but they need you. They won't shake with anyone else."

"Damien?"

Katniss' eyes turned away from me for a moment. She squeezed them as if in pain and then shook her head from side to side.

"Where is he?"

"I can take you to him. The medics are with him."

"Everybody else?"

"I don't know yet." Her voice was hoarse with worry.

She placed her hands on my back and lifted me slowly from off the trees. I leaned on her heavily. It was difficult to keep my balance.

"I have you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You saved my life…again."

In this position my lips were right next to her forehead. I couldn't resist and brought them the extra few inches until I made contact with her skin. I let out a cry of relief. Shocked that the noises were coming from me. She was alive. The fighting was stopped for now. She was alive. Ten feet away people were gathered around a figure on the ground.

I half limped half ran over to Damien. His position was too similar to one I had relived in my nightmares with Thom. A large piece of steel maybe six feet in height had pinned him to the ground.

"Peet…"

I fell to my knees and took his hand. Katniss steadied me with a hand on her shoulder.

"What the hell did you do?" I half cried half laughed. Why was there a laugh in there?

Damien smiled. It was full of pain but also relief. "I did it."

"You did. But why?"

"Needed to even the score. It was my fault."

"What was your fault?"

"Spolsion'. Thommy, Evangeline. I needed to help this time. Couldn't jus- do nothing like last time."

"How'd you know what to do?"

"Knew the machines. They're weak on the inside. I knew I could break them. So I did."

"You really did."

"You proud of me?"

"So proud. I've never been more proud."

"All I wanted. Love you, Peeta. You're the best."

"I love you. Don't go Damien, Please. I want to help."

"Can't. Sides, Thommy owes me a drink. Tell Thresh I love him. All of you. So much." Damien closed his eyes. A hint of a smile was still on his face.

"No." I choked out.

"I'm so sorry." Katniss' voice was a strained whisper. I leaned my head back and shouted. Katniss bent down and kissed my temple threading her arm around my chest and holding me to the ground. I sat there for a long time. At some point Gale and Zeyer had come and took me away from Damien. Prim clutched a bandaged arm close to her chest as her and Katniss walked close by. Katniss' hand never left mine.

Clove was at the steps of the safe house. Her arms were crossed over her chest. Her face read annoyance but her eyes held sympathy.

"That was some stunt you pulled, Lover boy."

"Just tell me it's over Clove."

She frowned. Her four guards stood with guns pointed at me but we kept walking.

"For now."

"But not ever."

"Ever is a long time." I didn't have the strength anymore. I was about to protest when she continued. "But, Glimmer was not meant to take control of the machines. Tonight's failure is placed completely on her shoulders and she has cost the Union to large of a loss for us to go back and attempt to fix her mistakes. We're leaving but expect a visit from me soon."

"Just you?"

"Just me."

"Damien's dead."

"I know." And that was it. They helped me walk past her. Her guards ushered her away. They helped me into my room and left. Katniss undressed me slowly, careful of the cuts and burns I only realized I had sustained now. I was filthy. Completely covered with dust. So was Katniss. She wiped the dirt from our faces and tended to my wounds. I was shivering. She tucked me into bed and wrapped her body around me. She kissed my eyelids and rocked me gently against her chest. I wasn't expecting it. I hadn't even hoped for it but somehow I slept.

Weeks went by. Our victory was hard earned by a war we never wanted. Hope Haven was formed to allow those from Panem who were looking for peace a place to go. They got a war anyway. It came at a heavy price. We lost many. Close to a hundred. Thresh among those I cared about the most. In a way it was better. He never had to find out Damien hadn't survived. There loss was felt strongly in the house. Time moved slowly after that. Many wounded left the Haven to seek better treatment from hospitals. Katniss and I spent a lot of time holding each other. She protected me while I was at my weakest. I knew I could not have gotten by without her.

One month later a knock came on our bedroom door. It was Annie and Finnick. Annie carried in Hope. We hadn't sent for them right away. We wanted to make sure the danger had passed. Katniss stumbled out of bed and grasped Hope to her chest. Hope hugged her back. I threw my arms around Katniss and Hope and felt a piece of me come back to life. My family, they were safe. We were safe. I received the greatest gift imaginable, albeit at a heavy price. I got more time with the ones I loved. Even the atrocities of battle haven't been able to destroy this. Our love. And even though I hate the fighting and I hate the destruction and the sorrow, any fight was worth the fight for love.

Love won.

Any Questions? Thoughts? I would love to hear from you! Thanks again for taking the time to read!

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