AN: Hey...? I feel horrible for not updating for almost three months, but I wasn't inspired to write anything and you guys deserved some decent writing, not anything rushed. I still have no idea where this story is going or how it will end. This chapter is influenced by the song "We Remain" by Christina Aguilera from the Catching Fire soundtrack. I hope you enjoy this chapter and will pardon me for the prolonged hiatus. I do not own the Hunger Games or any of its characters.

The warm, homey smell of bread filled the air. I opened my eyes, I was my Seam home, laying in my bed with Prim's plaid blanket around me. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes and brushing my bed hair behind my ear. I expected to see Prim or mother at the stove, but instead it was Peeta, pulling a loaf of cheesy bread out of the oven.

He looked well, his hair had grown out a bit, and he had gained some healthy weight. He wore cargo pants and a white shirt. He didn't notice that I had woken up yet, so I took the opportunity to admire him, the way he was so focused at the task at hand. He sprinkled some shredded cheese on top as the bread was cooling and picked up the pan to place it on a cooling rack. Only when he turned around did he notice that I was awake.

He smiled softly, "Hey Katniss," he held up the loaf of bread a little higher, "I made your favorite."

I smiled back a him, "Thank you," I paused, hesitant to ask, "How have you been, Peeta?"

He sighed, setting down the bread, "I've been better. It's been hard since the Games, and I have a feeling it's not going to get any better anytime soon. At least I don't have to go through this alone" he locked his eyes with mine, smiling reasssuredly.

I nodded, "I'm glad it's with you, I don't think anyone else would understand like you would. Not even Prim."I held his hand gently, "We'll get through this together, I promise."

"Is that a promise you can keep?" he asked, almost vehemently, moving closer towards me, grasping my hand even tighter.

Now I was confused. What was he talking about? This was odd, why was he in my house? My Seam house? None of this made sense. I closed my eyes and forced my self to breath steadily.

My name is Katniss Everdeen. I volunteered for Prim. Peeta and I won the 74th Hunger Games. We sent back into the Games to compete in the Quarter Quell. District 13 exists and is trying to over throw President Snow. I am, unwillingly, the Mockingjay. Peeta wants to kill me. I deserve to be killed.

I took a deep breath in and reopened my eyes, looking back up at Peeta. Peeta's eyes dilated and grew darker. The hand that was holding mine suddenly snapped up and wrapped around my throat. He dragged me off the bed and slammed me into the closest wall. I clawed at his hand to release me, but it was of no use. His hot breath tickled my face. He growled at me, squeezing my throat even tighter.

"You filthy mutt, you stupid Capitol whore, I'm going to enjoy killing you- slowly- in every way I know you fear. And when I'm done with you, I'm going to kill that brat sister of yours. What was her name again? Prim?" he laughed maniacally.

I snapped at that. I brought my knee up into his abdomen- hard- relishing a bit in the pain I caused him. Peeta doubled over and loosened his grip enough for me to escape. I ran as fast as I could out of the house and towards the fence. I could hear Peeta's heave footsteps close behind me, but I was faster. I prayed the fence was not electrified and dived through the hole in the fence, running towards the tree trunk that held my bow and arrows. I searched quickly, I heard the rattling of the fence, knowing that Peeta would have some difficulty fitting through the small hole. To my dismay, the bow and arrows were not in the tree trunk, someone must have removed them. For some reason, I had the Hanging Tree song that my father used to sing running through my mind.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where they strung up a man
They say murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight
In the hanging tree.

I sprinted off into the woods, heading towards the lake. I heard Peeta's heavy footsteps gaining on me, so I decided to climb a nearby tree. I knew Peeta couldn't climb well, if at all, giving me an advantage over him. I climbed halfway up the tree, enough cover so I wouldn't be seen immediately, but still could spot Peeta and climb higher if I needed. Admittedly, climbing trees in loose, gray pajama pants and a green tank-top wasn't the easiest task. Although the clothes allowed for more flexibility, they teared easily and the tree bark scratched at my skin underneath the clothing. Being barefoot didn't help either, my feet were already dirty and bleeding from the chase. The song was still echoing in my mind.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where the dead man called out
For his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight
In the hanging tree.

I quieted and huddled closer to the tree trunk as Peeta walked around the tree, looking suspiciously about. He had somehow procured a knife and wielded it in his right hand.

"Where are you, mutt? I know you're hiding," he called out, continuing to search the area, but never venturing too far from the tree. I shifted slightly, trying to keep visual on Peeta, and extended a hand out to support myself. The branch I laid my hand on had rotted and it collapsed under the pressure of my hand, cracking loudly and falling to the ground below.

I cursed under my breath as Peeta jogged to the tree and looked up it, "Found you, mutt!" and smiled evilly, beginning to climb. I began to climb higher, quickly gaining altitude, but when I looked down to see how far Peeta had climbed, he was twenty feet behind me, climbing surprisingly well. I looked around for a nearby tree, then jumping over to the closest one. My hands and feet were raw from latching on to the bark.

I leaped to the next closest tree, but the branch I landed on snapped under my weight and I plummeted, grunting as I hit the ground, rolling to lessen the impact. Peeta was close behind me and gaining fast, so I sprinted towards the nearby lake. Without looking back, I dove into the water, swimming out to the middle of the lake. I thought I had gained an edge over Peeta, knowing he couldn't swim.

I was wrong.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight
In the hanging tree.

The lake was surrounded by the fallen. Former victors, former tributes, former loved ones. I could see Clove, Cato, and the other careers standing by each other, each holding their weapon of choice at the ready. Foxface, Thresh, and Rue stood together, holding hands. My father stood on the opposite side, wearing his mining helmet, but had a look of disappointment and shame on his face. Mags, Wiress, and the morphlings huddled together, disgust marred their faces. The other fallen victors surrounded the lake with their weapons raised, ready for attack. Madge sat in the water in a white dress, her eyes portrayed pity and sorrow. Veronica finished the circle, revenge and anger mingled with apprehension and regret flashed across her face.

They all began chanting, "Kill the mutt. Kill the mutt. Kill the mutt!".

I splashed around wildly, panicked, trying to find an opening in the circle to escape through, but the lake was completely blocked off by the army of the fallen. Yet, none of the fallen waded into the water to advance on their threat. Somehow, this terrified me even more, it was like they were waiting for something. Admittedly, I was growing tired as the wait continued, growing closer and closer to just treading water. Suddenly, something yanked down on my right ankle, dragging me under the murky water. When I was a couple of feet under, the grip on my ankle released and I swam back to the surface. As I resurfaced, I gasped in much needed air and glanced around, trying to find the source of the yanking.

Much to my surprise and dismay, Finnick surfaced a few feet from me. He looked pissed- murderous- his bronze hair sticking to his forehead because of the water.

"What are you doing, Finnick?" I exclaimed, trying to discreetly put distance between us.

He smirked wickedly, chuckling, "I'm here to kill the mutt. You killed my Annie, you deserve to die, and I'm glad that I'm the one to kill you. Goodbye, Mockingjay" and with that he lunged at me, seizing me by the hair and pushing me under the water.

I tried to kick and lash out, but he was so much stronger than I was and held me under easily. His face was blurred by the water, but I could still see his cruel, gleeful smile and his green eyes flashed with delight. I could see my last air bubbles rise to the surface as I began to inhale the cold water. My lungs felt as if they were going to burst, either from the lack of oxygen or from the water that was slowly filling them.

Although muffled, I could still hear Finnick and the others chanting as my vision went black, "Kill the mutt! Kill the mutt! Kill the mutt!".

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Wear a necklace of rope,
Side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight
In the hanging tree.

~o~o~o~

My eyes snapped open and I tried to bolt up, but was restrained. I heard the beeping of hospital instruments and the steady drip of an IV bag. My mouth was dry and when I tried to swallow my throat protested. I attempted to look around the room, but a violent headache sprang up at every movement. I huffed in exasperation, closing my eyes tightly. I tried to breathe steadily, trying to forget the horrible dream. Maybe I was in Limbo? It was too nice for Hell, yet too painful for Heaven.

Someone chuckled off to my left and felt a shadow fall over me, "Good to see you finally awake, Girl on Fire".

"Finnick?" I whispered, squinting my eyes open a bit and saw his vague figure.

"The one and only," I could hear the smirk in his voice, smiling a little myself.

He undid the restraints on my wrists and gently massaged where they had become raw from my tugging.

I coughed awkwardly before asking, "So...what happened?"

Finnick shook his head and sighed. It appeared that he was trying to find the best way to say whatever he had to say. He looked down, suddenly fascinated by the back of my hand, before explaining, "After Snow left, all hell broke loose. I had managed to take down four guards, Cinna had taken down quite a few too. Hell, Johanna had taken a bit out of one guard's neck, the little spitfire, just like Enobaria" he chuckled sadly at that.

He rubbed his eyes, I finally noticed how much of a toll this whole ordeal had on him. He was exhausted, both in body and mind. "I remember Snow had mentioned to one of the guards that if Peeta didn't kill you, that they could have their fun and then kill you both. We all kept fighting, but there were so many guards and they just kept coming. All the lights suddenly went out, the emergency lights came on, and Gale and the others from 13 came storming in. Beetee had found a way to hack into the mansion's computer system, don't ask how. That was the plan from the start, if the situation wasn't resolved after a certain time, they would send in a rescue team and bring us back to 13. And here we are, not a second too late. Even Haymitch was worried about us."

"What happened to Peeta?" I asked quietly.

"We got him off you and sedated him. You both put up a good fight, he's hurt about the same that you are. He's in containment for right now until we, or you, decide what to do with him."

"And what about Veronica and Annie?" I asked timidly, afraid to know the answer.

Finnick dropped his face in his hands and shook a little. He rubbed his face as he looked back up, tears in his eyes. "Veronica is dead, there was nothing anyone could do to save her. Annie...she's in surgery right now, has been for the last eight hours. It's not looking to good," he breathed shakily, "the bullet Snow shot grazed her right lung. As we were trying to carry out of there, in the chaos, another bullet hit her in the abdomen. I haven't heard anything yet, so I guess no news is good news, right?" he smiled weakly, but the anguish was obvious in his eyes.

I took his hand, ignoring my body's protests, and squeezed it reassuringly. "She'll make it, I know she will."

Finnich smiled sadly at me, "I hope so." He cleared his throat before continuing, "One more thing, we have Snow's granddaughter."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"When the mansion was being hacked into, all forces were sent to the mansion in order to identify and terminate the threat. While they were en route, we made our escape in the hovercrafts. Coin knew where his granddaughter was being kept- in her mother's house a few blocks away from the mansion. When the extra forces left for the mansion, another strike team was sent in and grabbed her."

"Why would they leave Snow's daughter and granddaughter unprotected?"

"They didn't, not all of the guards left, they were still a few hanging around to protect them, but not enough to hold off the strike team."

"Do you know what this means?" I asked in wonderment.

Finnick smirked, "We have leverage over Snow."

AN: I feel bad, I'm so used to writing hijacked Peeta that it's pretty much the only way I picture him now. I hope you guys had a happy New Year!