"You need to die, you stupid bitch! This is all your fault!" His hands closed around her throat, fingers pressing into her windpipe, cutting off the airway. "None of this would've happened if you didn't exist!"

"Peeta! No, you don't mean it!" Katniss gasped out the words, her hands prying at his rigid fingers, nails digging into his skin to no avail. Strong hands pulled him away, his bony fingers releasing from around her neck. His eyes were wild, mouth contorted as he screamed his rage.

She awoke with a gasp, hands rising to her throat as she sat up straight in the plush bed. Blinking her eyes, she struggled to orient herself, the vestiges of the dream so potent that she could still feel his thumbs pressing down on her larynx. The door to her room flew open, light flooding the room as Gale flipped the switch.

"Katniss? Are you okay?"

She groped for the bedside table, nearly spilling the glass of water before curling her fingers around it and bringing it to her mouth. Taking a sip, she squinted against the harsh lights, waving weakly at his taut form braced in the doorway. "Nightmare," she rasped and took another drink, trying to loosen the feel of pressure in her throat. Setting the glass down, she leaned back against the pillows and sighed. This room, this place, everything was conspiring against her. As much as she hated being cooped up in this building, it was one of the few places that Peeta was safe. Tucked into the backside of a mountain in an old mine, it was completely off the grid and damn near impregnable with one entrance that was hidden deep in the woods behind Haymitch's house. When Gale had first told her about it while he was bringing her out here, she'd thought he was nuts, but it had likely saved her life and Peeta's, keeping them from Snow's retribution until he could be brought to trial.

"Want to talk about it?

She took another deep breath. "No, it won't help."

Gale leaned against the doorframe. "Speaking from experience?"

Katniss laughed dryly, one corner of her mouth tugging up into a reluctant grin. "Yeah."

"You didn't think this was going to be easy, did you?"

She shook her head. "Of course not. Nothing in my life is easy." She peeled back the covers and swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Why are you up?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Mason' s pacing the halls, ranting about how unfair it is to keep her here and how she has to get back to work to nail the bastards who did this. I was taking a walk to clear my head when I heard you scream."

Katniss stood up and reached for her robe lying at the end of the bed, belting it tightly around her waist. "At least she's lucid now."

Gale shrugged. "At times." He stretched, rolling his shoulders and rotating his head around. "I should go, security meeting."

Katniss nodded, fingers absently playing with the tie of her robe. "Any progress on the trial date?"

Gale rolled his eyes. "No," he said shortly. "They still can't agree on anything other than Snow needs to disappear forever."

"That's progress then, last I heard they couldn't even agree on that."

Gale snorted. "His hardliners rebelled at first, but when they found out they were going to be charged along with the rest of his cronies, they finally began towing the party line."

"Paylor's not going to let them off, is she?"

He scratched at his beard. "Most of them, yeah." He raked a hand through his hair, tugging the too long strands lightly. "There's just not enough evidence to get them all."

"That's ridiculous; we have people that will testify – Madge, me…Peeta."

"It is, but she got them to sign an agreement that they won't ever work in any government capacity for the rest of their natural lives."

"In exchange for what? No way are they going to agree to that without some sort of compensation."

"They get to keep their pensions."

Katniss glowered. "How very nice for them."

"Lesser of two evils, I guess," he said, yawning. He glanced down at his watch. "I'll catch you later for lunch?"

Katniss nodded, walking across the small room to the dresser, pulling open the top drawer. She began pulling out clothes. No way was she going to be able to get any more sleep. "I'm going to go spend the morning with Peeta, see if he's made any progress."

"Does he still try to kill you every time he sees you?"

She turned to glare at him. "That's not funny."

He stepped further into the small room. "I'm serious, Catnip. " He tugged on his shirt. "I never thought I'd see anything like it. That man loved you enough to die for you and Snow turned him into a monster, hell bent on your destruction at his hands." He shook his head." It's freaky as fucking hell. He's like a completely different person, one that never loved you with something bordering on desperation."

Katniss marched over to where he stood, pushing into his space and grabbing his shirt front, pulling him down. "Snow tortured him, Gale," she spat. "Beat him, burned him, did who knows what to him for no other reason than he could. Frankly, I'm surprised he's as sane as he is." She released his shirt and stepped back, nearly shaking with rage.

"Sane?" Gale sputtered incredulously eyes widening comically. "He hasn't been sane since he came back from overseas. The war fucked him royally, all Snow did was nail the coffin shut."

Katniss turned her back on him and walked over to the dresser, carefully gathering her clothing as she fought to not haul off and whack him a good one. "You can go now Gale," she said coldly. "He was willing to give his life for mine, the very least I can do is to be there to help in whatever way I can to get him through this." She glanced back at him over her shoulder. "You never understood Gale. I love him. I got married to Seneca to protect him and if necessary, I'd even die for him, the same way he tried to do for me." Her voice was ice, steel laced in every word.

Gale recoiled and shook his head. "You're wasting your time, Katniss. He's too damaged. He'll never be the man you were willing to throw your life away on again."

"You're wrong," she said, brushing past him to head towards the bathroom.

"Mr. Mellark?"

Peeta shuddered and gripped the edges of the chair. "Peeta…my name is Peeta," he said roughly. "Mr. Mellark was my father."

"Of course, Peeta. I apologize," Dr. Aurelius said, his voice low and calm. "Is there anything specific you would like to discuss today?"

Peeta stared at him silently. Does he ever crack that fucking calm and cool façade? A ghost of a smile tripped across his lips and he settled back into the overstuffed chair. Just like everything else in this room, it was comfortable and calming. From the pale peach walls to the soft, nubby beige carpeting on the floor, it was all designed to put a stamp of normalcy into his life. Not that anything about this place was normal. Hell, they were sitting in an abandoned mine shaft that had been converted into a bunker because of the paranoia of one of his former neighbors. Granted that paranoia had been spot on, but still, the whole thing just stank of deceit and the shitstorm that he'd lived in for the last two years after coming back from the hellpit of war. "Not particularly, Dr. Aurelius. Why don't you tell me what you want me to say so we can put an end to this farce."

Dr. Aurelius pulled his spectacles loose and rubbed the lenses on his shirt as he studied Peeta. "We're here for you, Peeta. I've told you repeatedly that this is a safe place for you to discuss what has happened to you."

Peeta laughed mirthlessly. "Please, at the very least, don't patronize me. My mother was far better at it than you will ever hope to be. You have an agenda. I may be insane but I'm not stupid. You want me to testify against Snow and his cohorts, including my parents, but to do that I have to pass the psych eval from opposing counsel and there's no way in hell you think I can without your expert guidance."

"What makes you say you're insane?"

Peeta shook his head, staring out the fake window. They'd put a screen up that showed the outside so that it didn't feel so closed in. Spring had finally arrived, if the screen were to be believed. Hell, for all he knew it was just there to make him feel comfortable. If it really was spring outside, the trees and flowers in full bloom, that meant he'd lost months in here, locked in the nightmares that Snow's torture had caused. His gaze slid back to Dr. Aurelius. The older man, with his grey streaked brown hair and watery blue eyes behind round spectacles that looked more like an affectation than something he really needed, had his pen poised over his notebook and was staring at Peeta with that strange expression that most of the staff had here – pity mixed with concern. He sighed, scrubbing his face with his hand. "The irrational need to attack Katniss, the woman I would've given up everything for." Peeta leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "I went there to die for her," he said lowly, voice cracking from the intensity of the emotion building behind his breastbone. "I was prepared to die so that she could live and that fucking bastard warped me so badly that now I want to kill her every time I see her."

Dr. Aurelius shifted slightly in his chair. "Yet you still love her, would still give up your life for hers."

"I don't know!" Peeta shouted, his hands clenching into fists as tears spilled down his cheeks. "I don't fucking know!"

Dr. Aurelius wrote something on his pad, the pen scratching softly across the page. "You're not insane Peeta. You understand what was done to you and why you want to hurt her." He looked up at him over top of his glasses. "You have the opportunity to get some closure in this by testifying against the man that tried to turn you into a monster."

Peeta scoffed, angrily wiping at the tears still coursing down his face. "I asked you not to patronize me, Doctor. You're not that naive to believe that Cornelius Snow will ever pay for his crimes. He owns too many people; his reach is too deep, too entrenched."

"No, I'm not naive, but him paying for his crimes was never in your control, Peeta." The doctor scooted forward on his chair. "I'm talking about closure for you, for what he did to you, to what your family did to you. Tell your story and let it go so that it can't have the power to hurt you any longer."

Peeta clenched the arms of the chair, nailbeds turning white as he dug into the fabric. "How is that going to help? Having my secrets out in the open for everyone to mock?" He spat bitterly.

"You can't control what happens after, or people's reactions, but you can control how the information gets out. If you present it, under oath in the witness box, Snow's team can only try to rebut it, but they won't be able to suppress it. For the first time in a long time, you'll be in control and while they may try to discredit you, the truth is on your side."

"Boggs tried to protect us and have me testify and he's dead by Snow's hand. What makes you think he won't do the same to me? I can bury him with what I know."

"Alma Coin was killed resisting arrest for her part in Mr. Boggs death, and everyone else involved is in custody. Snow is in solitary; guarded by the most elite team Agent Mason could put together, each one's loyalty beyond question because they've all been burned badly by Snow and his cronies. They want him to burn as dearly as you do."

"And once I testify, that's it? I go back and try to pick up the pieces of my life?"

Dr. Aurelius nodded, sitting back in his chair. "With help from myself and the rest of the team here. You won't be alone, I can promise you that."

"And Katniss?"

"That's something you'll have to work out with each other. I can mediate, and provide you tools to help you deal with the flashbacks and the nightmares. Your future is in your hands, Peeta."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Katniss turned to glare at Haymitch. "Aren't you the one that kept harping on me that he was willing to die for me?"

The older man shrugged. "Just checking."

"Yes, I want to do this. This is the first time he's asked to see me and I'm going to turn him down?" She stalked across the room. "For hell's sake Haymitch!"

"Fine, don't get your panties in a twist, Dr. Aurelius told me to ask, so I did. Don't jump down my throat girl."

She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, you're right. I just… I just want…"

Haymitch snorted. "I know girl, I know. C'mon, he's waiting for you."

They walked together down the hall to the small room that Peeta had his sessions with Dr. Aurelius. The amount of people in the bunker had significantly reduced as the trial had commenced two months ago, most of them going to protect the witnesses that would be testifying. The cement floor of the hallway echoed with the clicking of their shoes, emphasizing the emptiness. Katniss was glad to see the doctor was waiting for them in the hallway.

"Katniss, Haymitch, so glad you could make it. Peeta is inside waiting for you."

Haymitch stepped back. "I'll be out here, in case you need me," he said grimly.

Katniss nodded, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. The last time she'd been in a room with Peeta, he'd been doing his level best to strangle her. Dr. Aurelius' hand landed gently on her forearm. "He's better. Not all the way there yet, but he's made amazing progress in the past month."

She took a deep breath and reached for the handle, turning it slowly and pushing open the door. Peeta was standing across the room, staring at the screen image of the bright summer sun dappling the verdant forest above them.

He turned at the sound of the door opening. "You don't have to close the door if you're afraid," he said softly as she hesitated in the doorway.

"I'm not afraid of you, Peeta," Katniss said, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind her. She walked over to the chair and sat down lightly, perching on the edge of the seat. She drank him in. He'd gained some weight back and while he didn't look steady, he could at least walk once more. After the bloody mess that Snow had left his leg, it was amazing that it was still attached, let alone using it. Her heart was racing a million miles a minute and she wanted nothing more than to touch him, feel with her own two hands that it was the man she'd fallen in love with all those years ago sitting across from her once more, his eyes steady and calm.

He waited for her to sit before walking over to the other chair, using his cane heavily. He sat down and set the cane down on the floor. "Thank you for coming. I know it can't have been easy after the last time." He sighed. "This is harder than I thought it would be."

"What's harder Peeta?"

He met her gaze. "I'm going home soon, back out into the real world." She nodded and he continued, picking at a thread on the chair arm. "I still have a long road ahead of me, but Dr. Aurelius thinks that eventually I could have some sort of normal life. It's not going to be easy, but-"

"Are you saying goodbye?" Her heart leapt to her throat and she bit back a sob, fingers clenching tightly together in her lap.

"What? No! God no, Katniss," he said quickly, leaning forward. "I just wanted to tell you, let you decide if you wanted to…be with me."

The tears she'd held back began falling in earnest and she slid off the chair to kneel in front of him, clasping his hands with her own. "Oh Peeta, I thought... I mean you sounded so formal."

His hand cupped her cheek, thumb curving over her skin. "You love me, real or not?" he asked, lifting her left hand in his and kissing the knot on her ring finger.

"Real," she breathed, leaning up to press her lips to his.

The country was rebuilding. President Paylor cleaned house and everyone associated with Snow was sent packing. Snow was found hanging in his cell, a bloody rose stuffed in his mouth two hours before the jury came back with a guilty verdict.

"Peeta!" Katniss called as she pushed open the door to Mellark's Bakery and held it for the dark haired little girl that was dogging her heels. "We're here for lunch."

"Daddy!" Peeta came out of the back, bending down to catch his daughter in his arms as she barreled forward, shouting for him. He hugged her tightly before lifting her up so that he could kiss Katniss as she made her way back behind the counter.

"Just in time, the Stromboli is just about out of the oven," he said, running his hand lightly over the taut curve of her stomach as he brushed a kiss to her cheek.

"Bolies! I love bolies!" Faith cried, pulling on Peeta's shirt.

Katniss laughed and slid her arm around his waist as they walked through the double doors into the back. "She was hoping that was what you were making, she's been chattering about it nonstop since I picked her up from kindergarten. She nodded to Lavinia as she walked by them to cover the counter while Peeta took his break to eat with his family.

"Of course I'd make bolies," Peeta said, tickling Faith's stomach. "They're your favorite, right?"

Faith beamed at him and he winked at Katniss. "I've got cheese buns in the oven as well and a loaf of the raisin nut bread you wanted last night."

"You'll spoil me," she said, leaning closer to kiss him. Peeta shifted Faith to his other arm and pulled Katniss closer, the bulge of her belly pressing tightly against him as he gave her a long kiss.

"Ew, daddy!" Faith protested, pushing at his shoulder. He pulled back and set her down on the floor. She bustled over to the small bowl and rolling pin that he kept for her.

"Let me get her some dough," Peeta murmured.

Katniss nodded and sat down at the chair he kept back her for her. She watched as Peeta gave Faith a small lump of dough, flouring the board so that she could play baker. Her stomach lurched gently and she rubbed at the spot, her lips curving as the baby pushed back against her fingers.

Peeta looked up and met her eyes from across the room and her heart swelled with love and contentment. They'd done it, made a life from the ashes of the old. Her gaze drifted down to the double knot tattooed on her finger and she rubbed it lightly. "Always."