Thank you again to Chelzie for beta'ing and lauraulubee for prereading!

Pacing. Pacing. That's all I can do.

I'm wearing the ugly gray jumpsuit they provided. The fabric is stiff and scratches my skin. I'm almost grateful I'm missing half a leg.

The shuffling of my feet is my only real company. It helps to have something to focus on that isn't forced. Something that doesn't suggest a mood or attempt to control my emotions. Like that television. That damn screen won't stop playing "soothing sounds." I objected to the scenic lookouts, so they switched to swirling colors with classical sounding music playing in the background. It isn't much better, but at least it's less confusing. Hues of orange and green fade and mix like food coloring dropped into milk. The colors are beautiful, but they in no way compare to what I can do with icing... Or with my paintbrush.

It seems I'm a painter, too.

I bring my fingertips to my cheek. "Thank you. That looks beautiful," I whisper to myself, though I don't know why. I'm not sure how my mind works right now. But it feels like a memory is trying to resurface. It's not quite there.

The broken chair in the corner has been taunting me for some time now. The legs are broken off, and splintered wood lies in a pile. I decide it's time to clean it up. I collect the larger pieces, setting them aside. It looks like I can easily reattach three of the legs back to the seat of the chair. But the backrest lies in ruin, so the most I can hope for here is a stool. I collect the smaller pieces of wood as much as I can. There's no garbage in here, apart from the empty food tray that will be collected later, so that's where I deposit the wood pieces. There are three errant nails that I suppose held the back rest together and I wonder if I can use them to help hold the chair together. I hold the nails loosely in my hand as I make my way into the bathroom and wash them off in the sink.

The music on the television is louder now, and on a loop, playing over and over. I turn on the water and step into the shower, if only to have a break from the noise.

The hot water soothes my sore muscles but it doesn't help much else. I'm scratching at the grout between the large tiles, trying not to miss my father terribly when a sharp pain shoots through my hand. A piece of white chalky material is stuck under my nail, breaking the skin, but not bleeding. Grout.

My eyes widen with realization. The grout. I can scratch the grout.

It's foggy enough in here that I chance it, and in one quick motion, I retrieve the nail from the sink. I step back into the shower.

I use the pointed end of the nail to scrape at the grout, beginning where my fingernails left off. The sounds of my scratches are drowned out by the falling water and I work quickly, desperately. The water from the shower washes away the evidence of my efforts.

The tiles are large, each square about the size of the boxes we used to package 10-inch cakes at my parents' bakery. I lean against the wall, taking the weight off of my bed leg while I remove the grout from the top and sides of the tile in front of me before it wiggles. A few minutes later, it's loose enough for me to inch it closer. It's heavy, the depth of it much more than I expected. But I'm strong, still strong somehow, and I pull it out completely, setting it onto the floor with minimal noise.

I turn back to the tiled wall, now with a large gap in front of me. No light shines through from the other side. But I stick my hand through the hole and feel... a breeze.

"Peeta?"

I'm startled at hearing Dr. Aurelius's voice, dropping the nails and shutting off the water. I step out of the shower, nearly slipping, and move back into the main room with a towel around my waist.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ready to begin today's session?"

"Sure."

I dry my hands as I sit back down on the bed. The door slides open and Dr. Aurelius steps inside. "Good afternoon," he begins.

"Hi."

"How are you feeling today?"

"Good, I think." I don't ask how he's doing. "I'm keeping busy, sort of." Busy trying to escape.

"Oh?"

"I cleaned up the chair. I'm going to fix it."

Dr. Aurelius nods his head in approval.

"Do you feel up to looking at some photos today?"

"I guess." I shrug a shoulder. "More photos of Panem?"

"Today, I'd like to show you some photos of people."

I sit on the bed, and Dr. Aurelius opens a folder. "Do you recognize her?"

It's a photo of a girl. She's young. Blonde. And familiar. "I'm not sure. Is she important?"

"Yes," Dr. Aurelius sighs. "Her name is Primrose Everdeen."

"Everdeen?"

"Yes."

"Katniss Everdeen's sister?"

"Yes."

Dr. Aurelius takes the photo from my hand. "I have something to confess to you, Peeta." I narrow my eyes at him. "Your treatment here has not been limited to our sessions."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the television has been playing a specific song on a loop. Do you recognize it?"

"No."

"It's called The Valley Song. You once said it was significant to you."

"Oh."

"Additionally, the air vents have been filtering small amounts of morphling into the air."

"You've been drugging me?"

"We've been keeping you calm, but lucid. How do you feel now?"

"Calm, I guess."

"That's good. Because what I'm about to tell you might be upsetting." He pauses giving me a chance to object, but I don't. "You have been the victim of an elegant, but ruthless form of brainwashing. Your memories have been altered, some even erased completely, in an attempt to turn you against the rebellion."

"Against Katniss," I finish.

"Yes. All of this was done using the venom of a mutated insect, called a tracker jacker. You said you have the memory of 'bees' in the woods, correct?" I nod my head. "We are attempting to reverse the process."

"With more drugs."

"Yes."

I look away, unsure of how I feel. Anger is easy enough to identify. I've been manipulated. I'm a pawn in someone's game. But whose?

I don't think this is the first time I've been used.

Dr. Aurelius holds up the picture of Primrose again. "Using the morphling and the music are her idea. She wants you to get better. Many of us do."

Many of them. But, not all of them. I don't answer.

"Peeta?"

"I'm kind of tired."

Dr. Aurelius sighs. He knows I'm not tired. I've been sleeping plenty. "All right. I'll leave you with your thoughts."

I don't watch him leave.

Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

I've freed another tile and set it onto the floor during one of my hour-long showers. I wonder what Dr. Aurelius thinks I'm doing in here for all this time. Thinking about my family? About my fragile mind?

Thinking about her? He probably thinks I'm jerking off in here.

I look down at the soft flesh between my legs. No. I don't really feel like it right now. I shrug my shoulders at myself and get back to work.

I don't stay in here too long, even though I'm making progress. I can make out pipes in the distance and I know that behind this tiled wall is a corridor of some kind. Removing a tile at chest level only revealed a metal wall. The ceiling on the other side is low... It's sort of a crawl space.

I don't particularly care where it leads, as long as it gets me out of this room.

I shut off the water and dry myself off. I dress in the scratchy gray clothes they've provided. I sit on the bed and watch television. Now that I know it's a part of my therapy, I hate it even more. They keep playing that song, trying to fill in what they think are gaps. But, they're wrong. My memories haven't been deleted. They're just... suppressed somehow.

I look down at my hands. There are no scars, though it seems there should be. I've cut and burned my hands in the bakery too many times to count. But these hands... they almost shine. The skin is too smooth with a pinkish hue. They show no evidence of hard work, of the heavy lifting I've done. There's a callus all of the Mellark men have on the side of the left hand, just under the knuckle of the little finger. But...mine is gone.

I suppose since my father is gone too, it's just as well.

I scratch the side of my hand against the grout, to see if the skin can be scratched. But before I can fully appreciate the pain, The Valley Song stops and I hear Dr. Aurelius's voice. Again.

"Peeta?"

I sigh, but don't answer right away. I let him call my name three times before I emerge from the shower wearing a towel.

"Yeah?" His face appears on the screen, as it does every time. "You're coming in now?" I ask.

"Actually, with your permission, I'd like to try something different today."

I narrow my eyes at the screen. "What's that?"

"I'd like for you to come to me. Would that be alright with you?"

"You mean... leave this room?"

"Yes," Dr. Aurelius says. "If you feel up to it."

"Where are you?" I ask.

"My office is down the hall. The guards could escort you-"

"I don't want guards," I say sharply. Dr. Aurelius nods his head. "But... maybe you could escort me?"

"Peeta, there's no getting around the guards. They'll have to follow you." He tugs at his collar as he thinks it over. "But, for the first time, I suppose I could join you on the walk over." I try to smile, but I'm not sure if I do.

The screen goes black. The Valley Song doesn't play. And by the time I've dressed myself in their scratchy gray jumpsuit, the door slides open and Dr. Aurelius gestures for me to follow him. Admittedly, I hesitate before taking a step out of the room, between two guards. I expect the air to be different out here for some reason, but find it's just as stale. From what I know about District 13, we're underground.

I'm not surprised when I feel the hard slap of cool metal on my wrists. Dr. Aurelius insists that I'm not a prisoner, but I'm certainly not free. He walks ahead of me and two guards follow behind. The corridor they lead me down is gray, narrow, and there's a faint echo in here. I can see the vents on the lower half of the wall, close to the floor, and I wonder if that's the crawl space which leads to the wall behind my shower. It's too dark to see, though, and I'm not asking.

It's a left, then a right, then another left before I'm led past a large room. The scent of stale bread wafts through the air, and it's warmer. There are ovens in here and enough people sitting at tables, eating something that doesn't smell like food, to change the temperature drastically.

Dr. Aurelius stops. "Are you hungry?" he asks.

"What?"

"The cafeteria has apples today. Would you like one?"

I look back into the room. "Cafeteria?" I repeat. I take a closer look around and see that while we're all wearing the same gray jumpsuits, no one else is in chains. "This isn't the prisoner's area?" I ask.

"No, Peeta. This is just the cafeteria. Where we all eat." He gestures around. "Are you hungry?"

I nod my head as I continue to scan the room, which has gotten quieter. And soon, every person I look at is looking back at me. The faces begin to mesh together... until I find a set of blood red eyes.

"Mutt," I swear under my breath. I can feel Dr. Aurelius watching me. This is a test. To see if I can be in the presence of that abomination. I straighten my back, never taking my eyes off the mutt. "Not. Hungry." I twist my hands back and forth, digging the handcuffs into my wrists. The pain helps me focus. This is the first time they've let me out of the room. If I fail this test, there might not be another. I can't get to the mutt now anyway, not with the guards and all the people.

But if I'm patient, and play along with them, perhaps I'll get my chance later. When they let their guard down.

"Okay." Dr. Aurelius gestures to the guards and I feel one of them push me forward.

My feet move, but I crane my neck, holding the mutt's gaze until I can't see into the cafeteria anymore.

"Peeta?" Dr. Aurelius asks. "Has something upset you?"

"No," I lie as I shuffle my feet forward. The edges of the corridors begin to shine, and I twist my hands harder, willing it away.

I take deep breaths, trying to clear my head. There was someone sitting next to the mutt. Someone I've seen before. A tall man with dark hair and gray eyes. He wasn't a mutt, but he looked familiar.

I wanted to attack him, too.

Dr. Aurelius knows I'm slipping. He steps closer and before I can object, I feel a pinch on the side of my arm.

"You're poisoning me," I accuse.

"What?"

"So that mutt can come finish me off?"

"Peeta-"

"Don't deny it." I grit my teeth. It's becoming easier to stay calm though, despite my anger.

"Why don't you have a seat?" He gestures into a room. A heavy metal door with his name on it that leads to another gray room. Surprise.

Sitting isn't so much a suggestion as it is a necessity at this point. The calm has reached my knees.

"I gave you some morphling," Dr. Aurelius explains.

"Why?" I ask, though I already know the answer. Dr. Aurelius doesn't answer my question anyway.

"Peeta, what did you see?"

I keep my mouth shut.

"Whatever you think you saw, it wasn't real."

It was real, alright. I saw the mutt, sitting there, watching me, glaring at me... and she wasn't even shackled. What the hell is going on in this place?

"Would you like to look at some pictures?"

"No."

Dr. Aurelius puts down the same thick book he's been peddling for days. "Would you like to talk about-"

"I don't want to talk about anything."

He purses his lips as he sits down on a metal chair in front of me. "Why don't you tell me what was so upsetting about what you saw?"

"What was upsetting? You put that mutt there to taunt me. To test me."

"This mutt you think you saw. Could you describe her to me?"

"Describe her?"

"In my experience, no two Capitol mutts look alike."

I eye him suspiciously. He's right. Their mutts are all different shapes and sizes. I think back to the monkeys... The ones that I killed... I bring my fingertips to my cheek again.

"I've seen mutts that were monkeys before. But the one out there," I gesture out of the room. "That one almost looks human. Except for the eyes."

"What about the eyes?"

"They're red. Humans don't have red eyes, not even in the Capitol. Her teeth are extra sharp too, like fangs." I run my tongue over the tip of my canines. "But I've seen people with teeth like that before," I say, almost as an afterthought. That was someone else I was supposed to kill, but I don't remember why. I'm calm enough to stop twisting my hands. "Why is the mutt free? And where's Katniss Everdeen?"

"That was Katniss Everdeen."

"No, it wasn't."

"How do you know?" he asks.

"Because... Katniss Everdeen's eyes are gray."

Dr. Aurelius picks up his notepad from his lap and begins to scribble something down. I watch him, quietly forcing myself to stay awake.

"I'd like to show you some pictures, Peeta."

I nod my head.

Xoxoxoxoxox

I've removed 6 tiles. They're lined up in the shower. If anyone so much as sets foot in this room right now, it'll all be for nothing.

But I can't stop.

The steam from the shower escapes through the hole in the wall I've created. The next tile is almost loose enough to pull. Sure, I could yank it, maybe even kick it, but I don't want to risk the noise. I've been in here an hour already. If I stay longer, they might come looking for me. I put the loose tiles back. If you look closely at them, you can see that the grout between them is gone.

I finish my shower and crawl into bed.

I'm not sure how long I sleep. But when I wake up, I head right back into the shower. I turn up the water. I remove the six tiles that are already loose, and I only have to work for 5 minutes before tile number seven is loose enough to be removed without noise. I set it down and I climb into the darkness.

It's damp in here, and I have to crawl. But there's a light up ahead and I recognize that it's coming from the vents in the wall. It must be the corridor outside of my cell. Room. Cell.

The corridor is empty, but the space is a good vantage point to see if anyone plans to visit me.

Finally the crawl space ends, and the ceiling is high enough for me to stand. I'm behind a wall, not 18 inches of wall away from the rest of 13. I can hear people talking, and if I crouch down to the open vents, I can even see them. So I explore. There's a breeze that flows through the corridor, and I drag my nails against the wall, feeling plaster collect under my fingernails. It feels good. Freeing, almost. There are many twists and turns, and I mark each one I take with a letter X so that I can find my way back. I know freedom in here is limited. I also know that there's more to discover than one trip out will allow.

The air changes from a cool breeze to a warm gust and I follow it willingly. Soon the scent of overcooked, undernourished bread fills the air, and I'm almost ashamed to admit that I'm drawn to it. I haven't smelled fresh bread in weeks... months... Maybe even a year.

I find myself in the kitchen. Well, not in the kitchen, but in the air vent located behind it. I press my nose against a mesh of hardened metal and breathe in deeply. The kitchen is empty, the bakers barely tending to their art, and the bread is ready. I look for a way to loosen the frame that separates me from the oven, but I find no reprieve.

I'm stuck. Trapped behind the wall.

I watch, helpless, for another 5 minutes until the bread begins to burn, and I'm powerless to stop it. When I blink, I see her. As she was. Walking away from me. A coil of wire in her hand. Gray eyes, boring into mine. And I can't stop her. "No," I beg. "Don't-" I manage, but I purse my lips to hold back a sob. The trees around her shine so brightly as she walks away, further and further. And soon she leaves my sight.

When I blink, the kitchen is empty. The bread has burned. No one in this entire district seems to give a shit. So I turn away.

I meander back through the corridor, following the trail of X's I've left for myself, wondering where else this hallway leads.

There are questions I need to ask, answers I seek. But the one that matters most... where is she?

We're loving the discussion this fic has started. Let's keep it going!

So now you know where the title comes from. Peeta is able to wander he outer perimeter of district 13. What he experiences behind the wall will be essential to his coping with being hijacked and making his way back it Katniss,

More characters will be introduced in the next chapter. Among the people who spend time with Peeta in this fic will be Prim, Delly, Haymitch, and even Boggs. We're sure you'll like the Everlark in this too.

But before then we have other stories to update for you. Look out for Everclear next weekend, and When I Go the following weekend. 7 Steps, Rerun, and The Miners Wife are being worked on too and should all be updated before things get crazy - Mockingjay premieres and the Thanksgiving holiday comes around. So realistically, Behind the Wall chapter 3 will be published at the end of the month. Be sure to follow us both on tumblr, BitchesLoveSprinkles and MockingjayFlyingFree, in case anything changes.

We're doing our best to stay on top of these stories for you. We hope you continue to enjoy them.