Author's Note: Hello all! This is just my second fanfiction and my first for The Hunger Games, so I hope you like it. The basic idea here is that there is a Point of Divergence in Catching Fire, and instead of splitting up in that fateful moment where Katniss heads down to the beach with Johanna, Katniss and Peeta stay together. This story will be the playing out of the rest of the trilogy in the event Peeta hadn't been captured by the capital at the end of Catching Fire. I will be writing in first person just as the books were, however I will switch off between writing as Katniss and Peeta. The story will pick up with them on the beach, and in this first chapter I will do a part from both of their perspectives. Obviously, things will be rewritten and changed, but that is the nature of a fanfic haha. Please note, I would truly appreciate any feedback you can give me. I am concurrently working on another fic, and if you all don't like this (or I don't get enough feedback), I'd like to know so that I can refocus my attention on the other story. That said, I really hope you guys enjoy this, and please review!

Change of Fate

Chapter One: I Need You

Katniss

It is a unique sensation knowing that you are probably only a few hours away from dying. Obviously I felt something similar the first time I entered the Games, but right now I know that I am about to sacrifice myself to save Peeta. Peeta. The boy with the bread. My friend. My fellow victor. The boy who has loved me for years. My 'fiancee'... I am not sure how I feel about him. I never am, and I never have been. He makes me... feel. He makes me feel things that I've never felt before, things I never thought I'd ever feel. But I still just don't how I feel. That's not to say I don't feel that way about him. I just feel like before the Victory Tour a few months ago, I never even really knew him at all. Hell, we didn't even speak before we were reaped for the Games the first time.

We - well, more just me - played a trick on the capital, a trick that saved both of our lives. I pretended to love him, and I know that hurt him. But since then, I feel like the Capital has been trying to force me into loving him, and how can that really be love? I want to make it up to him, and sacrificing myself to save him seems like the best way I can...

Right now we're on the beach, just waiting for the moment to hatch Beetee's plan to electrocute the remaining careers by using the lightning tree as a natural conductor. Peeta and I are sitting off on the side of camp by ourselves holding each other while we still can. The others are giving us our space, star crossed lovers and all... I really wish I could figure out how I felt about him before I have to die. I feel like I owe him that. But I don't think it's going to happen. What I know is that I am going to keep him alive.

"Peeta, I think we need to leave the group," I tell him.

I am disappointed when he shakes his head, "No, I think Beetee's plan will work.

"But we both know what happens after that..."

We both stand so as to look like we're going back to the group, "Well, the careers are still out there. So let's see where things are after midnight and this is taken care of. I don't want to be the one's to fire first, but maybe they don't either..."

"Ok. But we need to be together at midnight, alright?"

"Who says I'm going anywhere, or letting you out of my sight for that matter?" He asks, before sitting back down and I follow suit.

I smile and rest my head on his shoulder. A few minutes pass by before suddenly, he turns to me, "Hey Katniss, I need to tell you something..." he trails off.

"Yeah? What's up?" I ask. He doesn't respond right away, so I know something important must be on his mind.

"I know that you and Haymitch made a deal... And that you have a plan to save me, but you should know that he made a deal with me too. Remember, I got to his house first after the Quell was announced," he paused before continuing. "I just want you to take a minute to think about it though. I want you to remember how different our situations are outside of this arena..." he stopped again. Clearly this was something he had thought a lot about. "Look, if you were to die in here and I were to live, I'd have nothing to go back to in twelve. You're the most important thing in my life..." He pauses once more, clearly struggling to continue. He's struggling as much with saying these things as I am listening to them without tearing up. "Katniss I love you. Truly, from the bottom of my heart. If you were to die, I would have nothing, I'd have no one I care about to go back to. But it's different for you. You have a family that loves you. You have Prim, and your mom, and Gale... If I sacrifice myself for you, you can go back and take care of them. You can go back and be happy, and have a wonderful life with them." He slowly pulls out something from his pocket, its a small golden locket that he opens to reveal two sides. On the left is Prim and my mom, and on the other side is Gale.

As he hands it to me, I am fighting back the tears. My eyes are swollen with them. I am at a loss for words. What am I supposed to say? I guess Haymitch was right after all. I could live a hundred lifetimes and never deserve Peeta. I want to hold him. "Peeta..." I begin, but I'm cutoff as he puts a finger on my lips.

"Hold on... Let me finish, you have no idea how hard this is..." He pauses again to wipe the tears away that were streaming down his face. "You have to live Katniss. For them. They need you."

"What about you?" I ask.

"Nobody needs me," he says with a sad smile. There is no pity in his words, nor any sense of despair that would surely be in the words of any other man. He speaks the truth in many ways. His parents have three sons, and while they would surely mourn the loss of their youngest, they would eventually move on. Peeta was always very popular in school, so I'm sure some of his friends would miss him, but they have their trying lives to worry about. They'd move on. For Haymitch, it'd just be another tribute he'd lost in the arena over the years. Sure, he loved Peeta in his own way, but he'd deal with it the way he always did. Booze. Lots and Lots of booze. I peered into his perfect, deep, ocean blue eyes and it was in this moment I realized what was so painstakingly obvious for so long. If Peeta died, I would shatter. I need him.

Without even thinking about it, I reply from my heart, "I do. I need you." I gently push away the scruff of hair that's in his face and gaze directly into his beautiful blue eyes... Then I pull him in and press my lips against his and kiss him so passionately that I didn't even realize I had it in me. I finally understand how I feel about Peeta. I do need him. I need his optimism. I need his bright light that he shines over everyone and everything he touches. I need his love. And I need to let him know with this kiss. I need to let him know that I choose him. It feels like this moment could never end, and I don't want it to. When our lips finally part, our noses meet and we just rest on each other, holding each other. It takes me a minute to collect my thoughts, but when we finally lean back our eyes meet and I can't help but let a huge smile spread across my face. But then I realize where I am. Where we are. And how only one of us will survive...

No. I will not kill Peeta. President Snow has made us live in ruin and nothingness our entire lives. He has forced us to endure the tortures of two rounds of The Hunger Games. He killed my friend Cinna. He threatened to kill my entire family, and Gale's, and he'd probably kill Peeta's too. I will not give him the satisfaction of killing Peeta. I will not let Peeta die. We were ready to die together in the last Games, and I am ready this time too. I won't let Snow win the Games. I whisper so quietly that even if the cameras are on us, and they probably are, that only Peeta can hear, "Peeta... I'm not going to let you die. We are going to figure something out."

He eyes me carefully, and I can't figure out what he's thinking, but he nods so I assume he understands. Snow can't win. Rapidly I race through my mind trying to figure out how to beat him, but all of the options seem to be limited. Even if we stick together after we finish off the careers, the gamemakers will just create a new wrinkle to throw at us. They won't let us win. I hate President Snow, but for the moment, I have no ideas. I try to hide my concern from Peeta as I smile and pull him in for another deep kiss. I don't know how long this one lasts, but we are interrupted when Johanna yells at us.

"OKAY LOVEBIRDS! Time to go!"

I shoot her a glare from across the beach, before turning back to Peeta. He pulls me into a warm embrace and I just want to melt in his arms, but I can't. Not yet. We don't have time. Again I whisper so that only he can hear. "Peeta, promise me something... Promise me that no matter what the others say to us, no matter how tense things get with them, we don't split up. We might be in an alliance with these people, but I don't trust them. I only trust you. I don't want either of us alone with them."

He contemplates this briefly but quickly nods, takes my hand to help me stand up, and we walk over to Beetee, Finnick, and Johanna.

"Finally! Are you guys ready to go?" Johanna asks us.

I shoot Peeta a quick glance and smile before responding, "Yep. Let's do this."

Peeta

We are hiking up through the jungle with the rest of our alliance. Katniss stays very close to me as we proceed. I am still somewhat reeling from what we were discussing on the beach. Katniss needs me... She didn't say that she loved me, but it's definitely a start. Then a dark thought crawls into my mind, she said things like that to me in the first games. She kissed me like that in the first games. She made me feel like she felt the same way about me as the way I feel about her in the last games. But it was an act. It was all an act... Still, this time it feels different. I feel like she means it. I guess I might never know...

Katniss must have seen the concerned look on my face, and she flashes me a bright, reassuring smile, which I return in kind. I really can't believe our luck sometimes. Here I am spending time with the girl I've been in love with since I was a child, and yet there's a very good chance neither one of us is gonna be alive in about - oh say, I don't know, an hour and a half - if there is a God out there, why would he torture me like this? Why would he torture us like this? Come to think of it, if there really is a God, why would he allow a travesty such as the Hunger Games to go on for 75 years? I've never been too sure when it comes to believing in God, but in this moment, I most certainly do not.

I grab Katniss' hand and squeeze it tightly as we continue our hike through the jungle. I know that she doesn't trust the other members of our alliance, and I'll admit I don't trust them much either. That's the nature of the Games. But we need them. For now. It's important to have allies, as Haymitch so often pointed out to us. But I agree with Katniss. When the opportunity presents itself, we will need to get out of the area they're in quickly. That's why it is imperative that we don't split up, and I don't plan on letting her out of my sight.

Eventually, Johanna begins a conversation with Katniss that distracts her attention. I am fine with that, as it leaves me to my thoughts. Though, my solitude is short lasting as Finnick gets my attention and I fall back to talk with him.

"You know Peeta, I really pity you," he starts off.

I am unsure of how to respond, but I want to keep up our alliance so I play along and give him a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"You and Katniss. Being in here together. Being in the Games with the person you love the most is not something I'd wish upon anyone." I gulp hard, and I feel my voice disappearing. "I almost had the same situation though, I was far closer to that same fate than either of you realize..."

As we continue hiking through the thick rainforrest up to the lightning tree I rack my brain to try and figure out what he could be referring to. Then it hits me! "That girl Annie, the one that Mags volunteered for, she's the one you love isn't she?"

Finnick merely nodded in response, and we continue upward for a while before he speaks again. "She's the love of my life. I don't know what I'd do without her, and I can't imagine the idea of having to choose between her or myself, which is what I assume you and Katniss were talking about so intently on the beach." I choose to not directly address this. That conversation is something I will hold with me to the day I die. Which ironically could be very soon. But it is also something I don't really want to discuss with anyone other than Katniss, especially if Finnick and I are going to become enemies very soon. He takes my silence as an answer and continues, "You know, before we entered the arena and after last year's games, you could've counted me among those who didn't believe your whole star crossed lovers routine. At the opening ceremony I practically dared Katniss into telling me that it wasn't real... But after seeing her reaction when you hit the force field I realized that I was wrong."

I stop walking for a moment as I turn to look at Finnick directly in the eyes, "What do you mean?"

He smiled, "That girl loves you Peeta, I don't know if she has even realized it yet, but she loves you. When you hit that force field and your body went flying and your heart stopped, you didn't see her. She was in hysterics man. Anyone out there in the districts that didn't believe you two are for real, surely believes it now. Rebellion or not..."

I am unable to respond, and I think Finnick sees this. What am I supposed to say? 'Oh thanks man, that'll make dying before ever really getting to be together way easier...' It's not Finnick's fault, frankly I'm glad he told me this. It gives me some reassurance that Katniss really did mean everything she told me on the beach. I perk up at this thought and smile as we continue following the others.

Eventually, we reach the lightning tree and we all help Beetee set up the wires around the tree and begin digging ourselves in for the assault from the careers that may come at any moment. During a break in the action Katniss comes over to me and gives me a hug and sits down next to me by the tree. "How are you holding up?" she asks.

"I'm fine. Just... you know," I say indicating the obvious.

She gives me a sad smile, "Yeah. I do know. Hey, so what were you and Finnick talking about so intently?"

I smile as I contemplate telling her what I found out from Finnick. Maybe even tease her a little bit. This is probably the only chance I'm ever gonna get before things get hectic. "You," I say coyly.

She looks completely taken aback, but simultaneously she blushes uncontrollably. "ME? What did he say?"

Before I get a chance to respond however, Beetee calls us all over to him. She looks at me pointedly, as if to signal she still wants me to answer her, and all I can manage to say is "ask me again sometime," with a devilish smile. She playfully punches my arm before we walk over to the rest of the group.

"... Alright, so we all know the plan. We gotta get this wire down to the beach before midnight. Johanna, Katniss, you two are the fastest, so you should take the wire down to the beach."

Horror flashes across my face before I am able to compose myself. All I can do is hope that none of the others saw it. This is exactly what Katniss had been expecting, they are trying to split us up so that they can pick us off more easily. I have to continue to play it cool, "Fine, them I'm going with them as a guard."

"No," Beetee retorts, "I need you here to protect me with Finnick. There are two careers left out there, and I need two guards."

I am thinking on my feet, flying by the seat of my pants, my mind scrambling through all the possible outcomes, but Katniss is the first of us to speak. "Why can't Peeta come with me instead of Johanna?"

Not how I would've proposed the idea, but this is Katniss we're dealing with. Beetee responds, "Because he has a bum leg, he'd just slow you down..." Beetee, Finnick and Johanna all look at Katniss and I very carefully, they are trying to figure out what we're thinking when finally Johanna breaks the silence.

"Look, its his plan, we all agreed to follow it."

"Is there a problem here?" Finnick asks.

"Yes that is a good question. Is there a problem here you two?"

Katniss grabs ahold of my hand and I'm able to calm my thoughts down and regain my ablility to speak, "I don't know, not from where I'm standing. But lets clear something up, Katniss and I are not splitting up. She is my fiancee, she is the mother of my unborn child," I lie for emphasis and for the cameras, "and we made an agreement before the start of the games that under no circumstances would we split up. So let me put it to you all this way, you can choose what happens: Either Katniss and I will take the wire down to the beach, or we will stay here and protect Beetee. But we will be staying together. There is no alternative here," I say this with such confidence and intensity that I actually worry that I might have scared them all. Katniss is squeezing my hand so tightly I think that the circulation of blood may have been cutoff. There is a tense moment where the three of them glance at each other as if they are communicating telepathically.

Beetee finally concedes, "Fine. You will both stay here and protect me. Finnick, you go with Johanna to the beach. And hurry, we've wasted enough time bickering about this." Johanna rolls her eyes and scoffs at Katniss and I, not like either of us particularly care, as Finnick and her begin trotting down the hill back to the beach. Beetee then turns to us and says, "No funny business you two... We've got a job to do. Now get ready."

We nod, but before we take our positions, Katniss pulls me back and holds me tightly before whispering in my ear, "Thank you."

I lean back and look into her beautiful and mysterious gray eyes and smile, "Of course. I'd do anything for you."

She blushes at this and gives me a kiss before taking her post back near Beetee. She is standing arrows at the ready, while I am further away from the tree with my sword in hand pacing back across the opening that lead to the tree. All is quiet... almost too quiet. After some time has passed, I glance back at the tree where Beetee is futzing around with the wires and the tree when all of a sudden his body zaps and flies a few feet away from where he had been.

"Peeta! Come over here!" Katniss exclaims. I hurry over to her and Beetee and see his limp, somewhat lifeless body lying motionless in the grass. "I think he must've hit the force field. What are we gonna do?"

I consider this for a moment, the cannon didn't go off, which means that he's still alive, which is good. And it looks like he finished preparing everything for the lightning tree, which is even better news. "There's nothing we can do for him right now Katniss. But the cannon's didn't go off which must be a good thing."

She takes slight solace in this, but then suddenly we hear a noise coming from one of the openings. I grab my sword, and Katniss grabs her bow and takes aim. We wait quietly and patiently, but before long we are surprised when we see Chaff standing in front of us. "Katniss! Peeta! I've come to join your alliance! I've come to get rescued!"

I look at Katniss in mild disbelief. He wants to join us at this point in the Games? Why? And what does he mean get rescued? Who was rescuing who? "What do you mean Chaff?" She asks.

He looks at us very confused, "What? Do you mean to tell me that you don't know?"

"Know what?" I ask.

A look of horror spreads across his face, "Oh dear. I believe I've said too much!"

But before he can say anything more, a large sharp, pointed spear bursts through his chest. When he falls to the ground, Enobaria and Brutus stand behind him, with Enobaria and he fangs hissing at us in the dark night. Cannon goes off, and Chaff is dead. This is it. Katniss, begins rapid firing arrows at them while I take a firm stance just in front of her. The arrows separate the two of them, and they take cover in the tall grass. 'Holy shit,' I think to myself. 'Where are Finnick and Johanna?' Katniss and I meet eyes for a brief moment, but we realize what's at stake. We keep our eyes peeled around the tree. They are hunting us. They are stalking us like a predator does to its prey.

With a mighty roar Brutus emerges from the shadows behind Katniss, and without hesitation, I grab her and move her to the side as I engage in a duel to the death with Brutus. We had trained together briefly before the games, and I know he is great with a spear, he is stabbing and jabbing at me with such ferocity I don't know what I'm supposed to do or how to go on the offensive. Luckily, he sees something from behind me, of which I haven't the faintest idea, and his eyes drift off of me for just a moment but I use this chance to swing my sword at his right leg which causes him to howl in pain and then I take my blade and stab him right through the gut. I take no time to comprehend he's the first and only person I've killed in these games, and turn my attention back to Katniss. I am surprised to see that Finnick and Johanna have returned and she has her arrows pointed straight at them. I run over to their position and raise my sword.

"What's going on?" I ask cautiously.

"Good question," Katniss quips, "What was Chaff talking about Finnick? What alliance? What rescue?"

"Katniss, calm down," Finnick responds, "Please."

"Tell me Finnick! Tell me right now!"

Johanna snappily joined in on the conversation, "Relax girl on fire!"

Katniss turns her arrow upon Johanna and says, "Give me a reason. I dare you..."

Finnick sighs, but just says, "Katniss, remember who the real enemy is..."

I don't know what this means, but it has an effect on Katniss, and she takes a moment to look around. The thunder begins to boom overhead, so the moment is nearing us. But with Brutus dead and Enobaria having run off into the woods, is there a need to go through with Beetee's plan? Quickly, Katniss grabs the end of the wire and ties it around her arrow.

"Katniss, what are you doing?" But she doesn't answer. "Katniss, what are you doing?" I repeat.

She turns to me and looks at me with her stunning eyes and just says, "Do you trust me?"

Without hesitation I reply, "Always."

As the thunder gets stronger, the lightning is getting closer and closer to arriving. It's almost midnight. Finally, the white lightning illuminates the sky briefly and Katniss fires her arrow straight up at the top of the arena. All four of us and Beetee's lifeless corpse go flying into the thick of the jungle. I am dazed and confused. I don't understand what just happened. The arena begins collapsing into itself, and that is the last thing I remember as my mind goes black...

Hey, so what'd you all think? Please let me know via review or PM! Hope you enjoyed! :D