Chapter 1

Katniss's POV

BANG! Katniss was thrown backwards as an explosion rippled through the sky, blowing up the force field that trapped them in the arena. Multiple explosions blossomed in the dark, midnight sky and if she squinted, she could just make out the faint, shimmering walls collapsing around the dome. Her vision became fuzzy and she could feel a warm trickle of blood rolling down the side of her face that had hit a jagged, jungle rock when she had been thrown back in the explosion. The dried blood from where Johanna had cut her started to crust on her forearm and she could feel the blood Johanna had smeared on her neck going sticky in the jungle heat. Was she going to die? She could only hear merging sounds in the background and had no idea where anyone was. Peeta! Where was Peeta? She hoped he wasn't dead. Terror coursed through her, he couldn't be dead could he?

"Peeta!" she managed to whisper as pain shot up her neck as she tried to see where he was, "Peeta!"

She waited for an answer, but all she could hear was the soft lulling of waves washing up on the sand nearby. She saw a flash of light in the sky. A ship. Was it here for her? No, she decided as she saw it disappear into the black sky. Why was there a ship? She tried to get up, but her body wouldn't co-operate. Was she going to die here? She thought of her family, of Prim and her mother and Gale. Gale, bittersweet memories rushed through her. She remembered hunting with him in the woods, their first kiss after the games, the look in his eyes when she volunteered for Prim, their shared hatred for the capital, his bloody figure, crumbled and limp as whip after whip tore through his skin. She yearned for his warm, lean body to prop her up and his soft voice to tease her. She missed him. Peeta was right; he was her family as much as her mother and Prim. But she still loved Peeta. That wasn't fake; not anymore. Her thoughts lingered on the kiss on the beach; she could almost feel his lips on hers, both hungry for more. She missed him so much. Why couldn't she have felt this before? If she had loved him earlier would things have been easier for both of them? She flinched as a memory of the anguish in his eyes flashed before her eyes. Anguish she had caused. She'd messed him around so much. Could he forgive her? Could kind, loving, sad Peeta forgive her for pretending to be in love with him for her own selfish survival and then ignore him as if she didn't know him? She hoped so. She was a bad person really. She'd been right – no one good or decent ever won the games on their own. Peeta had only survived because of Katniss's drastic actions and the rule change. He was a good person, she'd never deserve him. She pushed the thoughts away. There would be time to think later, wouldn't there? Soon she would see Peeta again and she could tell him how much she loved him. She'd never truly told him before. She had to see him again. She would. With a resigned sigh, she lay back in the rocks and waited as she slipped away from consciousness.

Peeta's POV

"Where is she?"

He heard a familiar voice demand and was jolted out of his deep slumber. He looked around and saw he was in a large, white room with lots of metal machines and medical equipment scattered around the floor. He glanced around and saw Beetee lying next to him on a separate metal stretcher with a few wires pumping liquid and oxygen into his body. Peeta himself had an oxygen mask which he immediately pulled off and then he gently tugged off the wires attached to his body. He was about to get up when he realised all he was wearing was a thin hospital gown. Under normal circumstances he would have been embarrassed, but this seemed too important. Without another thought, he jumped up, wincing as he stretched out his stiff muscles and carefully headed to the closed doors ahead of him. The doors were large and white like the rest of the room and slightly transparent. He could make out a tall, muscular boy in a large shirt and jeans – Finnick? And also a slightly overweight, middle aged man in a not so carefully put on jacket and shirt and a loose, stained tie – Haymitch? He felt guilty eavesdropping but he had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was sneaking away from Finnick and Beetee and trying desperately to find Katniss. Katniss! Where was she?

"... the hell is she?" he heard Gales voice booming through the walls. Why was Gale here?

"... we tell Peeta?" he recognised Finnicks voice.

"He'll take it badly..." he heard Haymitch say. What would he take badly?

He'd had enough. He threw the doors open and started "Okay, so what is going on?"

"Oops," he heard Haymitch mutter; he was sober for once, okay something was definitely wrong, if Haymitch wasn't drunk.

"Peeta, calm down," Finnick said, wincing. Something was horribly wrong.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Where are we? Where's Katniss? And what's the problem?" he snapped.

"Yeah, where is Katniss?" Gale said in a snappy tone. He heard a sigh from the other side of the room and turned to see Plurach Heavensbee, in a purple, velvet gamemakers robe, biting his lip as if examining the issue. What was the head gamemaker doing here?

"Okay boys, cool it," said Haymitch firmly. They both glared at him.

"First thing you need to know is that we are beginning a rebellion." Peeta and Gale exchanged shocked glances. They sure weren't expecting that.

"As soon as the Quarter Quell was announced we made a plan to break the victors out. District 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11 knew about on varying scales. Plurach here has, for many years been part of an undercover group aiming to overthrow the Capital and made sure the gold wire that was used to destroy the force field was in the supplies at the Cornucopia. Beetee was in charge of blowing up the arena, but was unconscious at the times, but Katniss managed it." Peeta and Gale both perked up at the name of the girl they both loved. "The bread rolls you got in the arena signified how many long till we could get a ship to get you guys out; the number meant the hours and the district it came from was the days. With me so far?" Peeta and Gale nodded and Haymitch continued, "Katniss was right about District 13, it does indeed exist in a large, underground community and is also the main headquaters for the rebellion and we are currently heading there now. And in the meantime, most of the districts are ready for a full scale revolution."

Peeta just nodded, it was a lot to take in. 13 did actually exist, there was a revolution dawning, we were going to 13 and the head gamemaker was trying to overthrow the Capital. His head hurt.

"So, why weren't we told?" Peeta asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice.

"We couldn't risk telling you or Katniss. Once the force field blew up you two would be the first ones they'd go for and try to capture so the less you knew the better." Plurach spoke up.

"Why?" Peeta asked, but he already knew the answer – Katniss.

"Because Katniss is the flame of the revolution. Without her the revolution would never have started." Plurach said, shaking his head slightly as if the plan had gone horribly wrong.

"Thats why we all agreed to keep you two alive," added Finnick, in a ragged voice.

Peeta thought of Katniss's plans to flee, to start her own uprising, even suggesting that 13 existed. He had lied about so much. Laughing at Katniss's plans, while all the time, he knew it was all true, all real, every word. What else had he lied about? Peeta thought he knew.

"Katniss?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Johanna cut out her tracker in the arena, the Capital couldn't find her easily, but nor could we." Haymitch said and leaned over for a bottle of whisky.

Peeta knocked it away and it smashed on the floor. "Where is she, Haymitch? Where's Katniss?"

Gale leaned in to listen with stormy grey eyes.

"She was... She was picked up by the Capital after she blew up the arena, along with Johanna and Enobaria." Haymitch looked longingly at the smashed bottle, Plurach had his head in his palms and Finnick had a pained expression on his face.

The Capital had Katniss. The news washed over him. What would they do to her? Would they kill her? Would they torture her? What would they do? Gale was not so numb, he sprang forwards, bowling Haymitch over and began screaming at him while tearing out lumps of skin with his figure nails. Plurach and Finnick rushed over to restrain him, but all I thought about was Katniss, Katniss, Katniss...