After so long watching people die in excruciatingly painful ways, Katniss had often wondered if something inside her was broken that would never be repaired. She should feel something, watching them writhe in agony as their nervous systems can only register the blinding pain they're in as their muscles fail to respond. The fog seemed nearly as sentient as a mutt, chasing its prey to and fro, retreating at her call.

Watching Mags die without betraying a single emotion is easy. She's been practicing this game since before she could speak after all. And yet, something inside her aches. It's that ache of the girl from twelve, of her tributes suffering, of Prim, and something too dangerous to let live awakening slowly within her.

Katniss knows it will kill her if she lets these emotions continue to grow. Sympathy, mercy, empathy, whatever it is these people need, she can't afford it. Grandfather will kill her for it. He's killed so many people for less, and Katniss thinks she can see a countdown ticking away in her peripheral that's always gone when she turns her head.

If she kills it, beats it back down inside her till it's gone for good, he'll love her again. He'll approve. He has to. Katniss won't disappoint him.

She wonders if he's watching her reaction when Peeta nearly dies, again. Katniss refuses to send out the footage of her reaction. She'd schooled her face enough not to give anyone in the room a show and it would be too obvious to give an inside look into the making of the game only when Peeta's life is in danger. Well, that at least gives her an idea and she sends out a message for a camera crew to be set up to tour the game makers studio. Even things out a bit. A behind the scenes tour while the games are in session.

Two tributes are dead by the time Peeta, Prim, and Finnick make it to the beach. Later, when no one is watching, Katniss replays the scene – no, the recording – of the morphist's death. He shows her such kindness, smiles at her and is so unwaveringly kind. How is anyone that kind? She watches it twice and then erases all trace of the file from her viewing history.

They scrub away the fog and it burns them to take out the poison, it hurts just as bad coming out as it did burrowing beneath their skin. But they have to expel it if they want to survive. Her hands twitch at her sides as Peeta collapses back on the beach, burying his face in his hands as Finnick looks like he wants to scream pacing along the sand. Prim sits down beside Peeta, fingers running along the fresh fog cuts in her skin while she waits out the silence.

They make up for losing Mags by gaining Wiress, Beetee, and Johanna as dawn greets them for another long day of slaughter. They figure out the clock thanks to Wiress and honestly it took them long enough. They still haven't figured out all the fun sectors designed to torture them yet, so that at least gives the crowd something to look forward to. Not everything there is designed to kill them, but all of it will eventually break them.

Her own voice is heard when the jabberjays scream and Katniss nearly loses her temper.

"Who authorized this?" She screams, glaring down each of the gamemakers around her with the true intent to murder whichever one of them is responsible. She wants blood for this. The jabberjay calls out Prim's name again and again. 'I had picked Prim.' The mutt says in her voice, the words she'd said to Peeta when they'd danced oh so long ago after the last game.

"I did." It's Plutarch that speaks and Katniss see's red. She's pretty sure she gets a good claw at his face before security is pulling her away, dragging her from the room while she screams and snarls at him as if she's gone rapid. Katniss has never lost control like that but its intoxicating. She doesn't want to be in control ever again. Not when she could tear the world apart with her bare hands and watch it bleed. She wants to rip her Grandfather's face off and never bow and plead and beg for his love ever again.

It only lasts a moment. She's alone, in an empty room with a sedative racing its way through her veins, and all that fight is gone. Katniss is tired. She just wants to sleep.

Her Grandfather comes instead. "That was very unprofessional, my dear."

"Don't give him control." She begs first before anything else. "Let me go back to work. I'll do so much better, Grandfather. You know I will."

It's a struggle to sit up. Her body feels like it's just to the left of where she is, detached and moving in an echo she can't see. Katniss reaches out, moving her hand till it touches his arm and she knows he's there.

"Perhaps you've been under too much stress handling both arenas..."

His tone isn't concerned. There's unspoken warning there. Katniss flinches as she catches just a glimpse of that timer. Where is the grandfather who loved her? Where has he gone?

"No! It's Heavensbee! He's a traitor. I'm telling you, pleading with you. Do not take his side over mine. I am your granddaughter, your family. I love you. I would never betray you. Please, tell me you believe me."

It takes her until his thumb brushes over her cheek to realize she's crying and she hates herself for it. She feels weak and it's not just the drugs responsible. His gaze goes pitying, tone soft.

"I know dear. Of course, I know. You'll never betray me. You'll do whatever I ask won't you?"

"Always."

"Good." He nods, mostly to himself. Katniss is hanging off every word, just waiting for an instruction. "I will let you continue if it means that much to you. "But you mustn't fail me again. There are going to be many hard choices ahead, Katniss. You must never forget who you are. Never let anyone make you believe any different."

She nodded even if it didn't make total sense to her. "I am Katniss Snow."

"You are Katniss Snow. Anyone who tells you differently is lying to you. The rebellion will try anything and everything to try and manipulate the people, manipulate us. They have no boundaries, no morals, they're practically uncivilized in their thirst for power." He tsked at the very idea of it, shaking his head. "They are liars who uphold this boy with the bread and little mockingjay as heroes and saviors. It's all falsities, my dear."

"I think," Katniss hesitated and started over. "I'm sorry I've failed to distract them with Peeta and I."

"Oh, but you've done so well, Katniss." She feels herself sitting taller, smiling brightly under his praise. He actually sounds satisfied with her, is actually smiling. "You've fooled nearly all of Panem into believing your love story." Then his face falls into grim sternness and Katniss' heart nearly stops. "But it is a lie. He doesn't love you. No one will ever love you as I do."

Of course, Katniss nods. She knows who she is. She's a monster. He's a monster. Who could ever love them but each other? There is no denying the bond of their family even when it frays and nearly snaps between them.

"I know, Grandfather." Katniss bows her head and takes the white rose from his other hand when he offers it to her. "I will never forget."

He takes the back of her head in one hand, leaning her forward so he can give a kiss to her forehead, petting her hair. "Very good, my dear. Now, get some rest. I'll have someone come and give you something so you can get back to work at once."

When he's gone, she feels that fire flicker up again inside her. It keeps hitting the ice walls of her heart before it can escape but it's there. She slowly plucks the petals from the rose, watching them drift to the floor at her feet. Like snow drops. Or ash. When there's nothing left but the stem she follows through with the desire to rip that into pieces too but simply tosses it to the floor.

Someone comes and gives her another shot. Within a minute she feels better, no longer groggy and sedated. The wonders of modern medicine, Katniss thinks as the doctor accidentally steps on all the flower petals before jumping back in a panic. He stammers, thinks he's done something wrong, and flees the moment their business is done.

Katniss scoops up the petals and throws them all away. She wishes she could burn them instead. No one will ever love her, she thinks, but people had cared about her. People had shown her kindness. People could show kindness to monsters and killers and people who were unforgiveable.

All footage of the pearl, and the discussion between Peeta and Prim about it, is gone by the time she reaches the game room again. The only hint that she's missed something is a cut off comment from Flickerman before he corrects himself. The game makers are sworn to silence, but Katniss catches a glimpse of Peeta turning the pearl over and over in his fingers on one of the screens in passing. She stares at it, wonders about it, and has no time to investigate the meaning of it.

The silence in the room is enough to let her know she's missed something important, but there are bigger problems for her to worry about.

Katniss wasn't blind. She knew something was up from the very beginning.

It started with the strange alliances, then the bread, strange phrases and looks between some of the tributes. She kept killing off lone tributes, buying time to see what would happen. Katniss was sure Plutarch had to at least suspect she knew, but Katniss was careful not to give any sign. When it all clicked as Beetee spoke of his plan Katniss was really and truly torn.

They were coming to a catalyst.

This climax would be the highlight of the games – or the revolution, but not both. The wire was obvious once Beetee explained his idea to his alliance members. Katniss had watched every single game, all seventy four now seventy five. Beetee had electrocuted six other tributes to win his games. Except the electrocution he was talking about could short out the entire arena. He had too high of a chance, and if he managed to connect it directly to the force field then it was sure fire to bring the whole arena crashing down around them.

The group split up, Peeta with Johanna and Prim with Finnick. Katniss started pacing, eyeing Plutarch as the whoosh of the doors opening sounded behind her.

"Ready for a big finale?"

It took all she had not to jump at her grandfather's voice. "It will hardly be the finale," Katniss replied. "Once they all split up there will be a few left to drag out the ending. It will be the shortest games we've ever had though…"

"Shall we sit and watch? There's hardly much your people can't handle." He started drifting off towards her office, the intent clear.

Katniss glared at Plutarch and then the screen. They were minutes away from something going down. "Don't worry, I've got this handled."

There was nothing she could do to argue, not when her grandfather was waiting. She turned as he stood to take charge. Passing by him, Katniss paused to mutter, "Good luck. You'll need it."

He could take that as he wished – a support to his rebellion or to his position in control. Snow was waiting in her workroom, looking over the designs and prototypes.

"Send these down to development by tonight. I want them being installed within twenty-four hours. You've started a map?"

She nodded, walking over to the left wall completely made up of screens and activating it. The Capitol map she brought up showed hundreds of tiny color coded lights. "Each color represents a different type of pod. I've already sent out half the designs plus five versions of this map. Three of them have the same layout, the other two are both slightly different layouts, each one has a few mislabeled except for this version here, a sixth one. The only people who have it currently are me and the head engineer on the project. No one else will have the map, just orders on what to install and how to get there without setting anything else off. They'll start with the outermost ones and work inwards so they don't overlap or set any off accidentally. We've got machines already started on installing this ring of pods." She highlighted a section of tracker jacker pods. "I've also designed a transmitter that cancels out the pods activation during installation."

"Who has those designs?"

"Just me. I built a handful of them and sent them out already. They have instructions to destroy the transmitter immediately once they're finished using them."

Most of the other designs had been scanned and put onto a drive already. She just needed to destroy the paper copies. "Good, good… I'm pleased with your work."

"Thank you, shall we go back to my office, see how Plutarch is doing?"

He nodded, Katniss glad to close off her workroom once more. The games were playing on several screens in her office as they walked in, though she couldn't see Plutarch anywhere in the control room.

Everywhere she looked was chaos on the screens.

"What in the world is happening," She exclaimed, not bothering to excuse herself as she rushed in for control of her station. The gamemakers were panicking without anyone at their lead. Katniss paled. This was it then. Plutarch was gone and the rebellion was about to become a reality for all of Panem. "Someone talk to me!"

"District 3 male tribute threw a spear at the force field." A screen came up showing Beetee on replay. The spear had wire connected to it.

"District 7 female attacked district 12 male, not dead yet, bleeding from wound in the arm, career pack in pursuit," Another said, showing her a replay beside Beetee's.

"Where are Everdeen and Odair?" She asked, looking around wildly for them on the screens.

Someone pulled up a camera angle of Finnick with Prim on his back. He was looking between the sky and the jungle around him, calling for Johanna and Peeta. Peeta was on his feet, back at the lightning tree. He looked between Beetee and the spear and then at the tree. Oh no, he wouldn't… Peeta grabbed the spear, careful to avoid the metal wire and metal tip.

"What do we do?"

"District 2 male is attacking district 11 male." A screen of Brutus attacking Chaff.

"Stop them, I want order, split them up," Katniss demanded. She needed to slow things down. Everything was happening too quickly to figure out how to stop it.

"District 7 female killed district 2 male, now attacking district 11."

What in the world was happening? Shouldn't they be allying against the Capitol? Who was a rebel and who was still trying to win the games?

"Canon for 2?"

"Hold it!"

"District 12 both, 11 male, 7 female, 4 male, 3 male, and 2 female still alive; seven left in the game."

It's not a game! Katniss wanted to yell. This was a battle in a war; they just didn't know it yet.

"Should we send in hovercraft on standby?"

Should they? Katniss knew her grandfather was either watching the screens or her, maybe both. What was he thinking now? Would he punish her for hesitating?

"Where is Heavensbee?" She demanded, changing the subject, buying time. "He was supposed to be in charge!"

"He just left!" One of them cried. "He told us to carry on and walked out!"

"Check his logs, I want to know what he's doing, where he's going, and someone get eyes back on Mellark!"

The main screen flickered back to the district twelve tribute. Peeta's waiting was over, he threw the spear from his hand as the lightning struck the tree. His body was flown back from the force of the strike, landing in the grass as the whole arena went dark. Every screen went black. Katniss felt her jaw drop in shock, eyes searching for anything still working as she spun in circles.

"What happened? What's going on? Someone get me eyes on that arena!"

"We've lost all cameras!"

"Rebooting failed – nothing is working!"

"Power failures throughout the city!"

"We can't get back online!"

"The trackers are all dead!"

"The trackers aren't part of the power grid!" Katniss shouted. There was no reason the trackers shouldn't be working! "What about the mutt cams? We've got the section 7 mutt rigged with a camera."

"The kill switch was activated on all the mutts." One of the gamemakers tells her as he scrambles to find one alive and transmitting.

She was going to lose it. How much longer could she wait before ordering hovercrafts in? Katniss figured she was out of time to stall. "Someone get hovercraft in there, find the tributes and bring them in. Round up the mentors, the stylists, even the prep teams. I want them separated, scared and ready to talk by the time I get to them."

A few screens flickered. Someone took down all the feeds, replacing them with live views from the hovercrafts going in. "They're looking."

"District 2 female has been recovered," Someone announced after several minutes had already passed.

"District 7 female as well," was added a minute later.

"Confirmation on district 11 male – recall, the hovercraft is being attacked."

"Send in reinforcements." Katniss ordered. Her grandfather had stormed out minutes ago, ordering her to continue as she was. He seemed pleased enough with how she was handling things – if he could be pleased at all about anything now. She figured he'd get angrier once he had time to stop and analyze every choice she had made so far.

"The hovercraft has been boarded, ma'am."

"Damn it!" How were they doing this? How were they so organized? "Where are our men? Get ground enforcements in now! Take it down if you have to. We cannot let them get away with those tributes!"

District thirteen, it clicked in her mind. Katniss felt her stomach plummet to the floor. Plutarch hadn't just been serious; he'd been understating the supposedly dead district's power. They had to have hovercrafts and weapons and soldiers to do all this. They were starting a war and she'd been drawn right into the center of it.

"They've retreated from the hovercraft."

Did they get anyone out?

"Confirmed, district 11 male was not taken. We still have him."

Enobaria, Johanna and Chaff, Katniss thought. They needed more. They needed the rest. They needed –

"District 12 male retrieval confirmed. Enemy hovercraft has retreated with remaining tributes."

They needed Peeta.

"Bring those four in then. Now," Katniss commanded, trying to keep upright. She could only image the things they were going to have done to those four. Enobaria might get off, Katniss doubted she was a rebel. But the other three…

She turned from command, going to her workroom. In minutes she had the rest of the designs scanned, sent off and the hard copies destroyed. The only people with the correct designs would be her, the head engineer and her grandfather. Katniss wiped her computer, storing all her files onto a drive and slipping the small square drive onto her necklace chain, tucked safely under her shirt. She had a lot of files on her computer, a lot that she couldn't afford anyone seeing. No one was getting them without going through her first.

Now she needed to go see her tributes.

Katniss paused as she passed by the screens again in the game room. Maps were up, tracking the enemy hovercraft as best they could until it disappeared. There were curses shouted, orders being given. In the halls, soldiers were dragging people away. Anyone related at all to the tributes in the districts or the Capitol were about to have a very bad few days.

It would be nothing compared to everything ahead.

Katniss eyed the few cameras they had back up and running in the arena. Fire was prevalent in most of the screens, burning through her carefully crafted arena bit by bit. The spark of rebellion had finally caught, turning into a wildfire.

Katniss knew she was either going to catch fire too or smother out the flames herself. No matter which path she chose, she doubted she'd make it out alive.

AND that's the end of Catching Fire. Can't decide what to name the next one, going back and forth between sticking with the ice motif or switching to fire. I have about two chapters written and will probably write a few more before I start posting it so I can get a feel for how I want this to end before picking a title. Hope everyone enjoyed this!