Hi there you lovely readers :) So I think I might make this into a mulit-chapter fic. I want to explore the idea of what would happen if Cato was in the Quarter Quell ;) please leave a review of what you think! Have a lovely day.

When he was trapped on the roof of the Cornucopia, with warm blood streaming down his face and filling his mouth, and the girl on fire aiming an arrow at his face; Cato had never expected to survive the 74th Hunger Games. Both their District partners were long dead. Clove was killed by Marvel a few days ago, who in turn was slaughtered by Thresh. Katniss's partner, Peeta, was killed by Cato personally at the beginning of the Games. Cato knew the "star-crossed lovers" bullshit was just that; bullshit. He knew that Katniss wasn't in love with the kid, and sure she felt bad he died but she'd get over it in a month or two.

"Too bad the rule was only for two district partners, hey sparky?" he says, letting out a soft snigger at the nickname her threw in at the end of the sentence. Katniss stares at him like he's absolutely insane.

"What the hell...?"

"You heard me. You remember that rule, right? It was because Clove was still alive and so was Glimmer and Marvel. I'm sure the fucking Capitol ate it up! I bet they even had shirts made with our faces plastered over them!" he shouts at her. She pulls the arrow back even further and glares at him.

"Calm down!" she screams at him. He's trembling, whether it's from anger or loss of blood, she doesn't know. The mutts beneath them are growling and jumping at the building, their sharp claw digging at the metal. So far, they haven't been able to get up, but then she hears a ferocious growl and one of the Mutts, the biggest one, Thresh by the looks of it, runs back then throws himself into the air and lands on the roof on its back. It writhes and jumps back on to its legs and growls at them. It takes him a moment to decide who to attack, but then it hurls itself at the closest human; Katniss. She tries to shoot it with an arrow but it just bounces off the Mutt like it was a mere stick. The Mutt jumps on her and knocks her to the ground, its weight crushing her.

Cato was watching and is debating leaving her to get mauled to death by that Mutt... But then that small sliver of humanity that his mentors have tried to extinguish for so many years flares up and his feet move before his mind tells them to. He uses all his strength and throws his full weight against the Mutt, and the force makes it fly off Katniss. She's choking and rolls over, reaching for her bow with a quivering hand. Cato is wrestling with the Mutt, she can hear the angry snarls coming from both he and the Mutt. She takes her bow and one of the two arrows she has left in her quiver. She loads it and aims at the Mutt's head.

"Cato, move!" she screams. He looks at her and nods, throwing himself off the Mutt and lands with a hard thud on the metal.

Katniss releases the arrow and it goes flying through the air and lands in the Mutt's neck. This time, it drops dead. Cato and Katniss breathe out slowly and she goes over to help and extends her hand to help him up. He takes it, but nearly pulls her over in the process. They both stands quickly, red filling their cheeks.

"Thanks for that." he mutters.

"I should be the one thanking you." She responds. They don't speak for a few moments; both waiting for the other to try to kill them, but eventually Cato breaks the silence.

"I'm not going to be one of them."

"What?" she asks, surprised at his remark.

"You heard me. I'm not going to be one of their killers," he says. By now, Katniss is sure he's delusional from blood loss. She's staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm serious. Ever since I was a kid, I was told I'd have to win and bring pride to my district. If I was weak, I was punished." He says, his voice considerably softer. Katniss examines him, noticing that his coat has been ripped off by a Mutt. His bare arms reveal several faint scars that look like they've been made by knives. So maybe he wasn't lying... Maybe he was punished if he was ever considered to be weak.

"What will we do?" Katniss asks him, still studying the scars on his arms.

"I won't fight you. You can kill me, if you want to get out of here." He answers.

Yep, he's fucking lost it, is the only thing going through her mind.

Cato smirks at her, but then he begins to sway slightly on his feet. Katniss inadvertently reaches out and clutches his arm to steady him. But then his head snaps up and he slaps her hand away. His eyes are stormy.

"Don't fucking touch me you stupid rat!" He shouts at her. She jumps back and takes her last arrow and aims it at him. Yep, he's lost it.

Cato circles her, like a dangerous predator hunting its prey. His lips are curled up and the blood is making his face shine red. He looks completely insane.

"Cato, stop it!" she screams at him. "A minute ago you were ready to give up! You said you didn't want to be one of them!"

Cato has stopped moving but now he's gripping his head with his hands. He's doubled over and a loud scream rips from his throat. He looks like he's in... Pain.

"Listen to me, you've lost a lot of blood and you're not in your right mind right now. Please calm down," she whispers. Cato has dropped to his knees, but has stopped screaming. Katniss hesitantly walks towards him, her fingers just grazing his shoulder. When he doesn't respond, she kneels down and, with her other hand; she takes hold of his wrist. He's is staring straight ahead, but his blue eyes are out of focus. He slumps down, his head landing on her shoulder. His eyes are closed and his breathing is ragged.

"Cato? Wake up!" she says, shaking his shoulder in feeble attempts to wake the giant. She swallows and looks up at the sky. Where her next words come from, she doesn't know. She never felt anything towards the tall blond boy beside her, but she doesn't want to be one of their killers either. She won't kill a helpless, sick boy because that's what they expect her to do. She knows that Prim is watching... But she also knows that Prim would want her to do this and not become a mindless killer like many of the other victors. She's just so angry at... everything! She's angry at the Capitol for taking her away from her home, for taking the lives of twenty two other people. She's mad at her father for dying, her mother for shutting down after his death. She won't do that. No, she won't kill this boy, and then become some mindless Victor who watches their tributes die every single year. If the Capitol won't do something right, for once, then she won't be their Victor. Not without him at least.

She looks up at the sky and lets out all her anger and pain that has welled up inside her over the years. When she releases her words, she shouts with everything she has in her.

"He could've come out of here! If he dies, then I'm going to die too. If you don't save both of us, you won't have any victor at all!" she screams. She waits a few moments, but when nothing happens, she begins to reach for the knife that was stuck in Cato's boot. However, something else catches her eye. Berries, dark black berries. Nightlock berries, like the one she found when Foxface died. They're poisonous and will kill you in a second. The berries had been shoved in his pocket, he must have gathered them earlier, maybe in his deranged state or perhaps he thought they could be useful. She takes some of the berries and raises them to her lips. She looks around, waiting for something to happen. But nothing does.

"If you think I'm kidding, then you are so fucking wrong." She snarls. She opens her mouth, and pops some berries in. They taste bitter. She's about to swallow when she hears the loud voice of Claudius Templesmith erupt from the speakers.

"Stop, stop! Ladies and gentleman, please let me introduce the victors of the of the 74th annual Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and Cato Hansen."

That was almost a year ago, when Katniss and Cato won the games. Cato doesn't remember it, obviously, because he was practically dead. The Capitol was able to save him, though. After they came out, Katniss and Cato quickly realized that their life was soon to become very, very hard. President Snow was mad at them, he thinks that what they did was an act of "rebellion". Their Districts hated them. Well, Twelve didn't exactly hate Katniss. They just can't fathom why she would side with a ruthless killer who was so different from them. No one would ever say it, but she could practically feel their anger and disappointment. As for Two, well they were ashamed that Cato would even associated with a skinny little rat from Twelve.

So they stayed in their homes in the Victor's Village. Of course, neither of them could leave their Districts for no reason. So, Cato had to deal with the disgusted looks of the people of District Two. Katniss had it a bit easier though. Only Haymitch was in the Victor's Village, and while he was initially mad that she went with one of the careers, he got over it after a few whiskey's.

Now that the Victory Tour is over, Cato and Katniss have no way of seeing each other until the next games; when they'll be mentors. They can still talk to each other on the phone, but it's not the same. Nothing happened between them, they never kissed or showed any romantic affection towards each other in any way. The reason they like talking and being together is because they both feel... Alone. Unwanted. But when they're together, they don't feel so lonely.

Cato sits on the plush sofa in his living room. The projection of the screen is showing Snow's wrinkled face. A year has gone by and now it's time for the Games once again. He's thrilled he won't have to go back into the arena, because they don't tell you what it's really like. They don't tell you how it feels to lose your friends and see their blood soaking the grass.

Cato is forced out of his thoughts and back to reality when he hears the President's words.

"This is the 75th year of the Hunger Games. In the honor of this momentous occasion, this Quarter Quell, the tributes for the games are to be reaped on the existing pool of victors."

Cato's mouth pops open, as if he wants to scream at this man; to release all his anger at the prospect of being forced back into that damn arena. However, no words come out. His mouth flutters shut and he grips the cushions of the sofa he's sitting on. He thinks of Katniss and wonders what she's doing now. Than realization slams down on him. She's the only female victor of District Twelve. She'll have to go in. So, he makes a decision, right then and there. If she is to go back in; then so will he. He will not leave her to face this battle alone.