A/N: I've been writing this for nearly a year. It's such a relief to have this first chapter posted.

Katniss kept her head low as she walked through the schoolyard. Around her, other students mingled, sometimes shouting at each other around Katniss as she passed.

It took a ridiculously long time for her to weave her way through the students to the bench where she typically met Prim. Most days, she was the first one there. She'd sit around, maybe do part of her homework, and wait for Prim to get done with her usual chatter with her friends.

That day, however, Katniss found Prim already sitting on the bench with her two best friends on either side of her. Katniss could immediately tell that something was wrong. She rushed forward, ignoring the girls whose names she could barely remember, and knelt in front of her sister.

"Is it your lungs again?" she asked.

Prim had the same pale face and hunched over posture that often indicated such a thing.

Prim opened her mouth to answer but let out a small whine before she could say anything.

"She started touching her chest during Physics," one girl said, her eyes wide. "When the bell rang, we could barely get her out here."

"Can you walk?" Katniss asked Prim.

Prim shook her head in defeat.

"It's too hard to breathe," she said in a raspy whisper. "I want to lay down."

"We have to get you to a bed first," Katniss pointed out. "And that means getting to the Seam. Come on, we'll make it."

Katniss didn't like forcing Prim to walk when she could hardly breathe, but it really was necessary. Their mother was the only one in Twelve who had any idea how to treat Prim when she had an attack like this. There was nowhere else for them to go.

Years of experience told Prim she had no choice but to listen, so she accepted Katniss' help to stand, whimpering as she went. Prim's friends tried to step forward, but Katniss held up a hand.

"I've got her," she said.

Prim was small, and Katniss was more than capable of supporting her weight. It would be a difficult journey home, but she could do it by herself. It was better than bringing along Prim's friends and being forced to let them inside the house. They were both merchant kids, and the few times they'd visited the Seam, Katniss had been less than enthused by their thinly concealed wariness.

So great were her efforts to make progress that Katniss didn't notice Madge approaching until she was several feet away. She had that sympathetic look on her face that always seemed more genuine from her than from most. Katniss hated having it directed towards her or her family.

"Are you taking her home like that?"

Katniss could only blink for a few seconds. She sat next to Madge every day at lunch, but they spoke to each other infrequently. Sometimes she forgot what Madge's voice even sounded like.

"Where else am I supposed to take her?" Katniss snapped.

Madge cringed but, steeling herself, took another step forward.

"She's not going to make it," Madge said. "Look at her."

Katniss did, though she knew what she'd find. Prim was damp with sweat, and though she was watching Katniss and Madge with awareness, she wasn't willing to use what energy she had to speak up for herself as they talked over her.

"My mom can help her," Katniss said. "I have to take her home."

Madge hesitated, fiddling with a hangnail as she looked past Katniss in the direction they had come from.

"You could bring her to my house?" she suggested. "She can wait in there while you go get your mom?"

Katniss, frozen, blinked at Madge. She looked down at Prim, who was looking up at her with wide, pleading eyes. She sighed. It was a tempting offer in that it was better for Prim, but Katniss couldn't help but feel a prickle of worry over being in the mayor's house. That was were important decisions were first handed down. It provided many opportunities for getting in trouble, and Madge expected her to leave Prim alone there.

Her uncertainty was clear, and Prim tugged weakly on her sleeve.

"Katniss, please."

The small request broke her. She gave Madge a short nod and even let her come to Prim's other side and support some of her weight, though Katniss was still doing the bulk of the work as they moved forward.

They hadn't even made it halfway when they were stopped by a, "Need any help."

Katniss inwardly cursed. Years of being ignored, and Prim being sick suddenly meant she had to speak to everyone. She turned around as best as she could with her arms around Prim.

It was Peeta Mellark. Katniss used adjusting her grip on Prim as an excuse to look away from him.

She'd never spoken to Peeta, but she knew him well enough that she would have recognized him a mile away. The day with the bread flashed through her mind unbidden. Katniss had the distinct urge to be softer with him than she had with Madge, but she squashed it.

"We're fine. Thanks."

The hesitant smile on Peeta's face morphed into a worried frown. Katniss paid him no attention as she made a move to continue forward. Prim and Madge didn't follow, and Katniss was forced to stop again, glaring at them both.

"I'm getting a little tired," Madge admitted. "Maybe it's a good idea to let Peeta help."

Katniss cursed Madge for never having done anything close to heavy lifting in her life. She very well could have support Prim all the way to Madge's house by herself. She'd had to do so for farther distances before, but Madge had Prim looking at her expectantly too, and Katniss knew she was going to give in.

"Fine." She glanced at Peeta. "Thanks."

Peeta was sure whether the 'thanks' had been meant for him, but he nodded as he stepped forward, taking Madge's place. Prim happily wrapped an arm around him to support herself.

"It's okay, Katniss," he said. "I can get her."

Katniss didn't say anything as she took a small step away from her sister. Unlike Madge, Peeta had plenty of strength from wrestling and working in the bakery. There was no doubt that he could support Prim alone, but that only made Katniss more anxious about letting him take her. Peeta hurried Prim along to Madge's house at a quicker pace than Katniss had been managing, and Katniss was no more than a step behind, determined not to let her sister out of her sight lest something terrible happen.

Madge hurried in front, unlocking and opening doors as she went. Even in the current circumstances, Katniss couldn't help but inspect her surroundings for any potential dangers as they entered the Undersee home.

The room Madge led them to was furnished with several plush chairs and a long sofa upon which Madge motioned for Peeta to lay Prim. It was decorated to an extent that was unheard of in the rest of the district, though it was nothing like the Capitol houses that were always on TV. The room alone was a third of the size of the Everdeens' whole house.

Not for the first time, Katniss wondered how comfortable it would be to have a whole room to oneself like Madge undoubtedly did further back in the house.

There was nothing that appeared inherently dangerous, though Katniss made a mental note that accidentally jostling something might have resulted in a bill she was unwilling to pay due to the breakable nature of many of the items. She couldn't understand decorations like that. They made a place feel inhospitable.

"Thank you," Prim told Peeta. "I feel better now that I'm lying down. This couch is really comfortable, Madge."

Both of them smiled at her in the fond way Prim managed to pull out of people.

Katniss, meanwhile, hovered in the doorway, torn between her desire to watch over Prim and the pressing need to find her mother. She was still trying to work out the best course of action when Peeta opened his mouth to speak. A split second later, a middle aged woman entered the room from another doorway, a hand held low over her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked in slurred speech.

Katniss had only seen Mrs. Undersee a handful of times when she'd been well enough to attend events, but she was instantly recognizable from her similarity to Madge, who had hurried over to the woman as soon as she saw her.

"Prim was having trouble, Mom. I told her she could rest here while Katniss went to get their mom."

The woman's demeanor changed at the mention of Prim. She stiffened and dropped her hand from her eyes to stare. Her eyes only grew wider when Madge pointed to Katniss.

"Everdeen," she muttered to herself. "Your mother…"

Katniss' brow furrowed.

The woman, who had had to support herself by leaning against the doorframe only moments before, hurried to Prim and began inspecting her with an air of concern. She leaned down just as Prim launched into a coughing fit.

"Poor girl," Mrs. Undersee muttered. "Poor, poor girl. Does it hurt?"

Prim's eyes were wide. She was as unsure about this as Katniss. Her responding nod made it seem as if she weren't entirely sure she was in pain.

There was a moment of indecision in Mrs. Undersee's eyes before she grew determined. Then she hunched over, a hand once again to her head.

Madge rushed forward.

"Mom, you need to get back in bed. Remember what Dr. Aurelius said."

Mrs. Undersee obeyed her daughter's orders, allowing Madge to guide her out the doorway she'd come from. Once they were gone, Katniss became aware of Peeta once again.

She hadn't moved from the doorway from which they'd entered, but Peeta had retreated to a corner on the opposite side of the room as if determined to get himself as much out of the way as possible. He couldn't leave; Katniss had blocked his only escape without meaning too.

Not that he wanted to leave. Katniss had no idea what he wanted. She was still trying to figure out why he had helped.

She had caught him watching her. Ignoring it, she finally moved, hurrying towards Prim and giving her a once-over similar to Mrs. Undersee's a minute before.

"Katniss, I need Mom," Prim whined.

Katniss gripped her hand as she perched herself on what little of the couch Prim hadn't taken for herself.

"I know, but I don't want to leave you."

"I can watch her," Peeta offered.

"You already helped carry her here. You don't need to stay," Katniss said in a shorter tone than was polite.

Peeta was saved from answering by the sound of Madge's panicked voice.

"Mom, Mom, no. You can't—"

Mrs. Undersee barged into the room, gripping a small tin box with white knuckled hands. She hurried to Prim's side and placed the box on the floor to inspect her a second time.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked.

Prim nodded, looking wary. Mrs. Undersee glanced at Katniss and found something in her expression that made her take several steps away from the couch.

"You're Sylvia's daughter, right?" the woman asked breathlessly.

She was staring at Prim as if she were a mirage.

"Why?" Katniss asked before Prim could provide her with an answer.

An answer didn't come to Mrs. Undersee, just a scramble of words. She eventually gave up and instead began fumbling with the lid of her tin, accidentally dropping it once she'd gotten it unstuck.

"Mom, no," Madge whined, trying to tug the tin out of her hands.

The jostling caused one syringe to fall to the ground. Mrs. Undersee gave a wordless cry and knelt to pick it up. She held it up to the light, turning it around to inspect it for possible impurities.

The syringe was full of a clear liquid that Katniss was sure she recognized despite never having seen it actually used.

"One month," Mrs. Undersee muttered as she inspected every inch of the syringe. "Needs to last one month."

She glanced at Prim again, and Katniss took a step to the side to block her from Mrs. Undersee's view. Mrs. Undersee looked at Katniss instead, taking a step forward and raising her tin.

"Morphling. It helps with pain."

"No," Katniss said suddenly. "You're not giving her that stuff. She doesn't need it."

"But," Mrs. Undersee looked into the tin, "it helps."

"No," Katniss repeated firmly.

Though she had no direct experience with the drug in question, she had seen the Morphlings on TV like everyone else in Panem had. Supposedly, the drug was completely safe in limited dosage, but such portrayals did little to convince her of that.

"This has happened before," she continued. "She got by fine without it."

Mrs. Undersee's shoulders fell. She stared into the tin for several long moments before nodding and backing away, never taking her eyes off her drugs.

Katniss watched her as if she'd make a run for Prim, but a sharp round of coughing caught her attention. She whirled around, reaching for Prim's shoulders.

The fit lasted for more than a minute, with Katniss growing increasingly panicked. Her mom had always begun to tend to her by the time it had gotten this far, and it seemed to be getting worse.

"I need to get Mom."

Though she was speaking to Prim, Katniss' eyes glanced around the room as if her mother would appear from thin air.

Prim reached out to grip her hand.

"I'll be fine, Katniss. Promise."

"We'll watch her," Madge agreed.

Katniss was momentarily confused about Madge's use of 'we' before she remembered that Peeta was still watching them from the corner. She glanced at him, and he nodded. Suddenly, the idea of leaving Prim felt even scarier.

Her hesitation was clear on her face when she looked at Prim. Movement caught her eye, and she looked up to see Peeta standing behind the couch, looking down at them.

"I can go get your mom and bring her back. You stay here with Prim."

For a few seconds, all Katniss could do was stare. The idea of Peeta in the Seam was too preposterous to imagine.

"Have you ever been to the Seam?"

Peeta shrugged.

"Once or twice."

Katniss was pretty sure he was lying. She'd never seen him there, and she'd have remembered if she had.

"You don't know where I live."

Another shrug.

"If you give me the address, I can figure it out, and I promise to be quick about it."

Katniss found herself rattling off the address, much to her surprise. The only other time she'd given it to anyone had been when she'd signed up for tessarae. Even then, she'd written it on an official piece of paper. She'd never had a reason to say it out loud before.

Peeta hurried out the door without saying anything else. Katniss watched him go until a squeeze of her hand from Prim turned her attention back.

"It's okay," Prim said. "He'll get her."