Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games, they belong to Suzanne Collins.

Author's Note: This is a longer chapter, hopefully to make up for how short the next will be. The next chapter is complete, I am just trying to go through and tweak it a little bit because I am honestly not very satisfied with it. I am eager to get it done and over with because I am ready to move forward I know where I need to go. Please enjoy, and maybe review?

Compass

The Capitol

My head is on fire when I come to on the cold hard concrete floor of what seems to be an eight by eight cell. Great. I let out a groan as I move to stand, my body is stiff from spending who knows how many hours lying on this floor. Above all things I am confused. Where am I? How did I get here?

A tingling sensation forms at the base of my neck and my hand reaches to rub it, I can vaguely remember being pricked. The last thing I remember before right now was Peeta describing that way District Eight looked before.

Peeta? Boggs? Everyone else who had been in District Eight with me. Am I still in District Eight? I can't answer these questions, there is not enough information. So I try to answer more simple questions.

Is there a window? No. Doors? No, but there are three solid walls and then bars that are keeping me in. I can see out into the hall and really there isn't much to see. Only more walls, not even any windows. The only light is given from the dim bulbs that hang from the ceiling, evenly spaced apart.

It is so quiet I almost don't even dare call out, but I need to know if I am truly alone. "Hello?" Soft at first, scared to break the silence. Then louder, "Peeta?" Nothing. Where is he? Is he okay? I hope he's okay. I close my hands around the bars, they are cold in my palms. Closing my eyes I strain to listen for a noise of any kind in the silence. Nothing.

Days pass by and I can feel myself slipping, I have not had any water nor food in days. You can live almost three weeks without food, you can only live maybe three days without water. My mouth is so dry, my tongue feels like sandpaper and I can't even swallow. My heart is beating quickly. Where am I? Who am I?

I lie down, more like drop, and I don't even register the feeling of the cold concrete floor against my body. Am I dying? My breath is coming quickly and labored, it makes my loose hair that no longer holds the curl flutter against my face.

Is this how I will die? Alone? I can't help but think how much I wish Peeta was here right now before I slip into oblivion. So this is what it feels like.

Then I am rushed back into consciousness and so confused as I sit straight up, jerking my head from left to right not able to focus. An overwhelming scent of roses and blood invades my nostrils and then I hear the first human noise besides my own in over a week. It's a chuckle, a man's chuckle and it holds no warmth. No familiarity. I finally focus and find myself staring into a pair of snake eyes sunken into a portly man's face. "To say I was surprised when I saw your face come across the screen, well it would be an understatement."

Who is this man? I think. "Katniss Everdeen, age seventeen. Looking healthy, strong and beautiful." A twinkle of amusement seems to spark in his eye at my reaction to his words. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I know who you are but you don't know who I am. Do you?" I shake my head to say no. "Well, you should be quite honored to be in my presence, Miss Everdeen. My name is Coriolanus Snow, President of Panem."

No. I am defenseless and in the presence of the enemy, it seems I am his prisoner. I have failed, all that training for naught. Angry, I am angry and I find myself blaming Alma Coin for the situation I am in now. Why it is that hindsight is 20/20? Why would she reveal me to The Capitol on my first excursion from District Thirteen? "I was quite certain that your mother would have taken care of you on her return to your underground home."

My eyes widen, I can feel them and he laughs at my reaction. "I was only a child and you wished for my mother to take my life with her own hands?" Why I am asking this is beyond me.

"Don't take it so personal, Miss Everdeen. How can I put this delicately?" He ponders this while I sit seething, my blood seeming to boil. "My intent was to snuff out the fire, in essence nip this Revolution in the butt. It seems I managed to only slow it down while Coin primped and polished you to perfection. I am sure you can be quite deadly if needed to be, well in theory at least."

His words are curious, what does he mean in theory? I have continuously been praised for my abilities in training. "Well am I wrong to assume this is your first time out of your bunker?" He does not wait for me to answer. "While I believe, expect even, that you have been training since you were very young. I find it very safe to assume that you have never been involved in true combat." Snow watches me intently and then laughs but says nothing else.

The room remains quiet and I take the chance to look around and find that it is very white and bland. I am sitting on a cold metal table in the middle, shelves line the walls with equipment that I don't recognize. A sink and a waste basket are in a corner. Breathing in the air seems to have a sterile scent to it, much like the one in the hospital back in Thirteen. A rustling from my right reminds me that I am not alone here and I whip my head back to see Snow walking towards me with a syringe and when I try to stand to escape I finally realize my legs are held down by two metal bars.

"Now, for what really surprised me to find though was one Peeta Mellark in your presence." I stop my struggling and look into his beady eyes and see a sick kind of amusement dancing there, I hope he hasn't hurt him. "I am curious as to why he kept asking after you, what need does he have to care about what happens to you?" He is expecting an answer as he stares at me, I will not give him one, he reaches for my arm and I yank it away.

Then my cheek is stinging and I have a ringing in my ear as my head has been snapped to the side by a rather strong slap to the face. "Silly girl, do not think you can fight and win. It is easier if you just give in." He says this as he grabs my arm and I feel the needle from the syringe pierce my skin. "Now, I will wait a few moments before I ask you anymore questions."

I am not sure what he has injected me with but I can almost feel it running through my veins, a thick copper taste rests upon the back of my tongue. No matter how many times I swallow my saliva I can't get the taste to go away, that is the least of my worries because now I am beginning to feel light headed. "What have you done to me?" I ask as I grip at my head, running my hands through my hair trying to clear my head. It is pointless.

"Nothing that will hurt you, well maybe your pride. It's a truth serum, Miss Everdeen, have you ever heard of such a thing?" I shake my head no, a truth serum? "They are one of my favorite things The Capitol has to offer." Something in me really wants to laugh, a truth serum, he can't be serious. "Now how long have you known Peeta Mellark?"

I try to fight it but I feel the sudden urge to just tell him the truth, it begins to burn, becoming more intense the longer I fight speaking. "Since I was eight, so about nine years now. Damn it."

Snow laughs heartily, "I see you found it very difficult to stay quiet, but try you did. Don't worry, the quicker you answer the less it will hurt. So it would seem he came into your life around the time your parents met their fates, how honorable Mr. Mellark has always been." He speaks as if he knows Peeta, but I don't think Peeta would associate himself with the likes of this man. "Stepping in to help repay a debt." The look on my face must reveal my confusion, because to say the very least I am confused. "How well do you know Peeta Mellark? And I am asking really know him?"

I am actually required to think about this one before finding the correct answer, "I don't." Wow, nine years and I really don't know anything about him, though he knows everything there is to know about me.

He seems to contemplate this, "So you have no idea, he used to live in District 12, before the Revolution began?"

"No."

He smiles, "Curious. Then I would think it is safe to assume that you have no idea the connection he has with your parents?"

I never thought he knew much about my parents beyond what I knew, they were at the front lines of the Revolution, and everyone in Panem knew who they were or who they had been. I am puzzled, "No, but why does this even matter?"

Again, silence. Obviously this truth thing only works one way around here. He paces before he stops and looks me in the eye, he seems excited. "Miss Everdeen, or rather Katniss. May I call you Katniss?"

"No."

He waves his hand, "Do you know how your parents became the leaders of a Revolution against The Capitol? Do you even the slightest idea of what you are fighting for? Besides for this freedom that all those Rebels talk about."

My answers tumble out in order of his questions, my first answer being a quick one. "No." Followed by, "I am fighting for retribution, revenge for what you and The Capitol have done to my family. Any other reason beyond that matters little to me." He seems intrigued by my answer and I can see a spark in his eye and I know I have given him what he wants.

"Now, do you know what life is like for those outside of District Thirteen, before the beginning of this long drawn out war?" Returning to the yes and no questions where every answer on my part has been a solid no.

"No." Again.

Smiling, he massages his chin with his thumb and index finger, then opens his mouth to ask what I hope will be his last question. This interrogation has actually been quite draining and I think it must have something to do with this truth serum. "What is life like for you in Thirteen?"

I am shocked by my own words, "Lonely." I pause but my throat begins to burn and my eyes start to water. "The only time I feel free is when I hunt in the woods with Gale. I spend my nights alone in a sound proof room so no one can hear my blood curdling screams that pull myself from the nightmares. My days are scheduled out for me, from the time I wake until it is lights out. Some are kind, but I feel that I am only their duty. Peeta is by my side almost every moment of the day because it is his assignment." Tears are welling in my eyes, I never realized this was how I really felt. "When he is gone, out of the District, Johanna escorts me everywhere, by force if necessary."

Finally I stop purging words that I did not expect from myself, tears streaking down my face. Lonely, it echoes in my head. I never described it as lonely, I guess I never really thought about it either. Life was life.

Nodding he asks another question, "If you could sum it up in one word, how would you describe your place in District Thirteen with Alma Coin?"

"Prisoner. I am a prisoner in Thirteen." I am horrified by my words, I know if they could hear the words coming from my mouth I would be labeled a traitor. Suddenly the air has become thick because I realize that although I am being forced to say these words, they are still the truth. I am a prisoner in Thirteen, I had never had a choice about my path in life, the role that I played in this war decided for me once my parents had died.

"I agree, Miss Everdeen. From what you have told me that you know, or well let's face it, what you don't know it seems they are hiding things from you. What caused your parents to willingly fight and put their lives in danger for the "freedom" of Panem? I know what it is but I am still baffled because honestly if I was fighting for your cause, it is a pretty good one." I lean forward in anticipation, is he going to give me a light into the darkness of my mother and father's past? What made them tick, I never realized before how strong of a thirst I have for this kind of information. He laughs once again and I know he isn't going to tell me.

Suddenly I am woozy and the room begins to spin just the slightest and I can hear President Snow let out a sigh of disappointment. "Well Miss Everdeen it seems our time is up, the serum has begun to wear off I would think. I had fun though, getting to know you. I would like to think that I can say that I know a side of you that nobody else does after today. For that I am thankful and will allow you to be escorted into a powder room so that you may freshen up if you would like." Then just like that he is gone and in his place is a woman with red hair and green eyes, she says nothing as I feel the cool metal bars retract from my legs.

The woman guides me off of the table and steady's me as I stand on my own two feet for the first time in who knows how long. I am weak and know that there is nothing that I can do to try and escape. Even if I could and did, where would I go? I don't know where I am, except that it is somewhere in The Capitol. She places her hand on my arm softly and guides me out into a hallway and before I know what is happening I have been shut in a small bathroom. There is a mirror and I am almost horrified by my reflection, the make-up they had put on me was smeared all over the place and my hair had effectively lost the curl they had placed in it. Although it had acquired some knots. My cheeks look a little hollow and I realize now how hungry I really am, now that I don't have to focus on the thirst that had me in death's grasp before.

I am still wearing the outfit they had dressed me in, at least it was comfortable. I turned on the faucet and ran my hands under the water waiting for it to warm up and began splashing it against my face, rinsing away all evidence of the make-up. Opening the cabinet hidden behind the mirror I find a comb and run it through my hair, untangling all the knots and when I look again to put the comb back I find an elastic band and retrieve it. Shutting the mirror I look at myself.

Katniss Everdeen, from prisoner of District Thirteen to prisoner of The Capitol. What was the point of my existence? It seems I don't really know anyone in my life, I barely know myself. Even the closest person to me, Peeta, was a complete stranger it seems. All these thoughts run rapidly through my head as I pull my hair into a loose braid over my shoulder, the ends of which graze the underside of my breasts. And as I let out a breath of air rather forcefully I realize that Snow was successful in today's mission. He has filled my head with doubt that I cannot erase.

When the door is opened the girl is gone and a man twice my size is waiting for me, he must be who will take me back to my cell, I know I am right when he grips me tightly by my upper arm. He practically drags me down the hall and we walk for a long time. We take stairs and turn left, turn right, turn left again and then what seems to be a never ending hall until finally we approach a large, sturdy steel door. One that is guarded by two other men not quite the size of the one holding on to me. They nod their heads in greeting to one another and then move to open the door and grant entrance to the two of us, and once we cross over the threshold he tells me, "Don't look into the cells on your right."

This instruction perplexes me because I know that before when I woke I had called out and there was no response. Maybe they hadn't been able to respond?

It is easier said than done to not look, but my side glances out of the corner of my eye go unnoticed by him as we walk and it seems that all the cells are empty beyond the bars. There was nothing there for me to not see, that is until we get further down. His blue eyes are watching me from behind the bars yards before we are there and when he says my name I can't help but snap my head and look. "Peeta." I say and his hair is disheveled and his eyes are sad, they look like they might be sad for me, this man I don't really know. And it feels like something is tugging at my heart to see him look so weak. Then I realize that not only have I looked into a cell on my right, I have done it noticeably and I spoke while coming to a stop.

"I told you not to look into the cells on your right!" Something heavy comes down on my back and I scream out in pain as I crumble to the floor, he must have hit me with his night stick. I had seen a few of the guards around Thirteen carry them, I'm sure these guards are no different.

It's soft yet firm and extends a tone of comfort, "Katniss." I almost thought I imagined it but as the guard gathers my crumpled body I steal a last glance in Peeta's direction and his hand was slightly outstretched and his eyes damp. Those damn blue eyes, what I wouldn't give to be able to see in his mind, to know what he was really thinking, because I'll admit I haven't the slightest clue how to read people's emotions very well.

The man doesn't take me far, actually to the cell directly next to Peeta's, and I can hear the door of bars being slid to the side and then I am tossed to the ground and land with a grunt. I have barely made it to my hands and knees when he slams the bars shut and locks it, immediately disappearing. Silence. All I can hear is the shallow breathing coming from me and as I look around I can see this cell is really no different than the one I had been in before, where I almost died of dehydration. Snow must have had fluids injected into me while I was unconscious.

My mind can't stop running and all the things that Snow had said to me keep repeating in my head, about Peeta having a connection that I was unaware of to my parents. Thoughts that Alma Coin and the rest of District Thirteen were hiding things from me, purposefully leaving me out of the loop. That or they simply felt no need to explain anything to me. Then it hits me I was a child when my parents died and I was left to be raised by the authorities of a military District, therefore they must have just thought they could tell me what to do. I was just a pawn to do with as they pleased.

I need answers.

Standing I wince at the pain in my body from the rough handling I had been experiencing, because other than training in Thirteen I had never endured any kinds of physical abuse. I'm sure Coin is kicking herself for allowing me to leave the District so early, I'm sure she wishes they had done the filming or at the very least the airing while I was safely under her nose once again. I shake these thoughts as I approach the far side of the cell, the wall closest to Peeta's cell.

"Why?" It's all I ask, as if he should just know what I mean when I ask this. That I am asking why he has been by my side all these years, I had never thought about it before. I was only thankful for his kindness and the way he was gentle with me unlike some of the others.

He doesn't respond right away, probably confused and wondering what he is supposed to say. Finally he does though. "Why what?"

I roll my eyes even though he can't see me and let out a sigh of frustration that I am sure he can hear. "Why you? Why have you been the one assigned to me?"

He sighs with frustration of his own and I am almost angered because why should he be frustrated? He wasn't the one that has been instructed carefully his entire life on what his purpose was. "Katniss, I wasn't assigned to you. I chose to watch over you."

My brows furrow in confusion. "Why?" It comes out harsh but I refuse to feel badly about it, I was starting to have a pity party for myself over here, and I would like to think that I deserve at least that.

I can imagine him running his hand through his blonde curls with his frustration of having to explain himself, those curls probably standing in every which direction afterwards. "Remember when I told you that it was an honor to watch over you? I meant that and I still do." I believe him, but it still isn't the answer I am looking for and I know that I am starting to sound like a whiny child with my one word question that never ends.

"Why?" I elaborate a bit this time feeling I deserve a real explanation. "Why is it an honor to watch over me? What role did my parents have in this war?" Silence, but that is okay because I'm not done, every question is begging to be unleashed and I am pacing back and forth in my cell now. "How are they so important that as their child their role was passed onto me? Why was I shaped and molded into what everyone feels the Revolution needs?"

I wish I could see his face because he is saying nothing. "Snow said you knew my parents back in Twelve."

Peeta sucks in a deep breath, he wasn't expecting that. "Did he, and what else did he say?"

"He said that my parents had a good reason for playing their role in the Revolution, and he didn't understand why I wasn't informed." I was well aware that since my training to become a Soldier had become four years earlier than most that my classes and the information given to me about the war to date had been given to me differently than most. Most days everything was one on one. "What was life like in District Twelve? Before the beginning of the war, what are we fighting for, what is freedom Peeta? Because I don't know what that is, or what it means. One thing I have realized since waking up here is that no matter where I am, I am a prisoner regardless."

I have stopped pacing and am leaning against the wall closest to Peeta, and I imagine him leaning on the other side. My hand reaches up to ghost against the stone because even though I am confused as to why Peeta exists in my life I do know he is the one person that I have been able to count on and his presence is comforting. "I know they altered your education for training purposes but I never realized…" He trails off a little then continues once again. "They never told you about the Games?"

My interest is piqued and even though he can't see me I am furiously shaking my head. "Games?"

He sighs angry and an image of him rubbing the back of his neck before he has to speak about something he would rather not flashes in my head. Then he speaks, "The Hunger Games."