Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games and am making no money from this.

This story, like most Hunger Games stories I've read will be told from various points of view. As normal, I'll note when they change.

Katniss

I wake up with the sun, just like every day. All my life I've had to fight to survive, and all my life I've had a partner. In District 12 when I had to fight starvation it was Gale at my side. We partnered together for years, and even though we never got that far ahead, we did what we set out to do: we kept our families fed, clothed and warm. In the Games I partnered with Glimmer, and even if it was uneasy at first and she likes teasing me too much, we worked, and just like my other partnership, we did what we set out to do: we won the Games. And just like my partnership with Gale, we didn't really get ahead.

Yes, I'm Katniss Everdeen, one of the two Victors of the 74th Hunger Games. And yes, as a Victor I live in a mansion in Victor's Village, I have more money than I could ever hope to spend in ten lifetimes, and I'm not required to work or go to school. All that makes for an easy life. Unfortunately, that's also the problem.

My life is the sort of life where it doesn't actually matter if I do anything or not. Sure, if I die the money vanishes, the house is taken away and my family's back in our tiny house in the Seam, penniless and trying not to starve again, but that's setting the bar low. I have to keep breathing. That's it. That's literally all I have to do to keep my family clothed, fed and with a massive roof over their heads.

In a strange sort of way I'm useless, and I honestly have no idea how to deal with that. Ever since my dad died so many years ago I've had to always work, always do everything I possibly could to just stay alive and keep my family that way. Now it's different. I still go out into the woods and hunt, but it's for Gale's sake and for something to do.

Every morning I wake up and go into the woods, but while I do still carry my bow I don't really use it much. I'm there as much because I enjoy it as anything; I walk, I reminisce, I spend time just enjoying nature. In general I manage to burn several hours and wander home for lunch. (Alone. I miss lunch with Madge, even if I had to rely on her pity for food at times.) After lunch I tend to spend time in my greenhouse.

The greenhouse isn't a standard accessory for houses in Victor's Village; mine was built just after I moved into the house. Officially it's to help grow herbs for my mother's healing and apothecary supplies and more than a few flowers for Prim. Unofficially it's the only part of my house that's free of Capitol listening devices and so the only place that was suitable for a secured phone line. I'm sure this phone can call other secure phones somewhere or other, but mine only gets one use: Glimmer and I use it to talk.

I'm not a talkative person by nature, but since Prim was reaped my life's gotten complicated; complicated enough that it really does help to talk to someone. That used to be Gale, but I can't bring myself to discuss a lot of things with him. I haven't really talked about any of what happened at the Capitol, and the problems I have now. I just don't think he'd want to hear about them. He may act sympathetic enough, but really, Gale listening to someone complain about having all this money and not needing to work? Or how I have this huge mansion and feel useless? These just are not the sort of problems Gale can relate to, and no matter how close a friendship we may have I just don't see him managing anything close to what I need here.

Besides, Gale has his own problems. Fighting off starvation may be in the past for me, but it's still his everyday life. And as if that weren't enough he has to face the mines soon; a horror I'm not sure I could handle. Ever since my father died I've had issues with being underground. On the train to the Capitol is was uncomfortable going through a tunnel, but years before we had a school field trip to the mines. I just couldn't handle it; I broke down crying as soon as they took us down the elevator and had to be taken back up to the surface.

Gale doesn't break down like I did, but I know he doesn't like it either. The worst part is he doesn't have to do it. I have more than enough money to support his entire family along with mine and still have piles and piles of money left, but he refuses to take a dime. I understand it's a matter of pride and a matter of not wanting to owe me, but I wish he'd see it from my side at least a bit. But that's not Gale.

Glimmer's problems are generally similar to my own, but while I feel sort of useless, with her it's anger. A lot of it. She hasn't said a lot of specifics (honestly she generally uses the phone just to vent to me) but I get the impression that her homecoming was not exactly warm.

One thing neither of us has talked about is the appointments; Snow's nice safe name for his program of making whores of Victors. Literally. Glimmer and I have no choice in the matter (Snow technically giving us an unthinkable alternative doesn't count) and the start of the appointments is coming soon.

In not very long at all the train will come for the Victory Tour, the exercise of showing Victors off to each and every district. It happens half a year after the Games and exists to remind everyone who's in charge and what they can do, ending in a big celebration in the Capitol. At least that's normally it; this year there's more. Every twenty five years the Games have a Quarter Quell, a Games with new rules to show everyone just how extra specially evil the Capitol can be when it wants to.

This year is year seventy five so we get to be props on stage for President Snow when he unseals the list of this year's horrors. And then after all that fun we get rented out as sex slaves for the night. Well, I hope it's one night, but Snow did say it would be whenever he commanded, so I'm not getting my hopes up for just one night as a Capitol whore.

I blink and look around, suddenly realizing I'm already in the woods; I just zoned out through all of breakfast and my trip here. That sort of thing happens to me more than I'd like to admit when I'm alone. I've never particularly felt the need to have people around, but I always had one or two there. Now that I spend large amounts of time with no one I realize how important having someone around can be. Endless hours alone can get you to do weird things like talk to yourself.

I spend the next few hours strolling through the woods, enjoying being outside (both out of the house and out of the fence) It seems silly, but this lets me pretend for a few hours a day there's no fence keeping us in like livestock, no starvation, no poverty, no Capitol, no Games. It may be just a fantasy, but it keeps me going. Along the way I take time out for some target practice with my bow. Nothing living, that would be wasteful. I don't need the game, and anything I kill now is one less thing to kill with Gale who actually does need the game. So I just pick random objects for targets, just enough to keep myself entertained and my skills sharp.

Eventually the sun's high in the sky and I'm getting hungry so I head back home for lunch. Most of the time my mother is out seeing patients, so I'm alone in the house. I used to eat lunch with Madge in school. Neither of us tended to say much, so you'd think eating alone would be similar. It isn't.

The only upside is that not having missed a meal in almost half a year and having enough food that there's always some leftover has been good for my body. I've grown taller, put on muscle tone, even my breasts have filled out more. I may not match Glimmer's conditioning and certainly don't see ever matching her figure, but I'm a far cry from the half starved Seam rat I was six months ago.

After I finish eating I rinse the plates off and put them in the dishwasher (what an absurd luxury. A year ago I never even dreamed machines like this existed) and check the time. Seeing that it's almost two in the afternoon I head out to the greenhouse. Inside I take out a headset from a hidden panel and insert in into my ear. It's small enough that no one who happens to walk by will see it, but operates like a normal phone. I start watering the plants and wait for my ally against the Capitol to call (we alternate days. Today it's her turn to call me.)

Within a few minutes I hear the headset beeping in my ear and I push a button on it to answer. "Hello." I greet.

"Heya, Katniss." Glimmer replies over the phone. "How you doing?"

"Same as ever. Still the bored goose laying golden eggs. You?"

"Same as always. Prisoner in a district that hates me. Though I got a long cord on this thing, today I think I'll lounge out by the pool while talking. Big changes in District 1, huh?"

"Sounds as fun as here. We really need to talk to other Victors and see what the heck they do all day. Just keeping up skills out of force of habit and playing video games is not exactly much of a life."

It was Glimmer who introduced me to video games. Apparently they're one of the luxuries District 1 makes for the Capitol. They don't have them here in 12, so Glimmer had to send me some. They're a lot more fun than I ever imagined and eat up a lot of my evenings and nights. (Since it doesn't really matter if I go to bed early or not, I've stayed up way late on more than one occasion.)

"Well I know Haymitch drinks and morphling addiction is popular in 6…" I suggest.

"Oh yeah, sign me up."

"There's really nothing there? I know the Academy's out, but could you do something on your own? Start some competing Academy? Maybe take on a student or something?"

"I wish. It was the Academy that started the whole 'Glimmer's Not a Real Victor' campaign. By the time I stepped off the train it was going strong. The crowd had as many hecklers as fans. That was all the proof I needed. At this point anyone who's ever dreamed of volunteering in the Games has been told I'm not an example to follow. The Victor who didn't deserve to win. The Victor that couldn't handle it on her own so had to team up with a loser district. The Victor who no one would be caught dead talking to. Hell, sometimes I barely get service when I go to a store or restaurant. Nobody's going to sign to anything that has my name associated with it. Not here in 1 at least."

It's not the first time we've had this discussion. "There's no way you can work with your parents or anything?"

"Yeah, I know about as much about what they do as you do about your mom. Don't exactly see you being a doctor. Besides, I barely know them. Heck, they don't even live here, they're still at their own place. Not like we were hard up for money, so to them moving is just more pain than anything. And yeah, I love them and they love me, but we've been apart so long we just don't have anything in common, nothing to even talk about. Besides, I doubt they're going to love having a daughter who's always angry and always around the house."

Well at least she admits she's angry a lot.

"I'm telling you, Katniss, you're lucky to have Gale and Prim and Madge around. Makes me wish I'd had some friends. Well, makes me wish there'd been people at the Academy worth being friends with who didn't want to stab me in the back or sleep with me."

"Hey, it's still not that great you know. They all have school for most of the day. And Gale's going to have to start working in the mines soon, that's way worse."

"He still insists on going into the mines? The guy won't just let you pay his way?" I can practically hear Glimmer shaking her head.

"It's not going to happen Glimmer; it's just not Gale to take money like that."

"For what we had to do to get the money and what we're going to have to do to keep it you'd think he could swallow his pride. Especially if it makes you feel better."

"Self reliance is a huge thing here, Glimmer, you have to understand."

"Yeah yeah, so you've said. Still sounds stubborn to me."

"Maybe, but that's just how it is. Chalk it up to another thing we don't really have a say on." I don't really want to argue with her, and Gale's a bit of a sore point for me. He's trying to be understanding, but I haven't told him a lot of what happened, so he has no idea just how much he has to be understanding about.

I honestly don't want to discuss what I have or haven't told Gale with Glimmer so I change the subject. "If you're so unhappy there why not spend time here? It'd be better for both of us I think."

"Oh yeah, they're gonna let me do that. Most of District 1 doesn't even want to talk to me, I don't see them doing me any favors like that."

"Is it up to our Districts or is it up to the Capitol?"

"Hmm, that's actually a good question. If it's up to the Capitol I may have a shot. They love me there after all." I believe this would be the part of the conversation where Glimmer would do this super girlie hair toss and pose. "But then you don't have a pool there do you? I don't know, that's a big downside. A girl has to have her standards after all."

"Glimmer, it snows here in winter! A pool will freeze!"

"So heat it. It costs a fortune, especially if you do it right, get a pool deep enough to dive in and have it good sized, but so what? You're not going to go pleading poverty on me here."

"I'm not putting in a pool, Glimmer! There aren't any in District 12 anywhere! No one even knows how to build them!"

"Oh please, you can get plans from the Capitol. And it's not hard to dig a hole and lay a few pipes. If 12 really is as dirt poor as you say I'm sure people would be lining up for the work."

I shake my head. Sometimes I wonder if she's serious or just says these sorts of things to tease me. She does have a point about the money though. She and I really do have enough to just live every silly idea that comes into our heads. "I'll have to think about it Glimmer."

"Trust me, you'd like a pool. I'm sure Prim would love it. Kids always seem like they do."

"Ok, ok, I said I'll think about it Glimmer. Really though, I gotta go. Gale will be waiting."

"Sure, no problem. Have fun with your boyfriend, Katniss."

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"No boyfriend, no pool, I'm really starting to wonder about you Katniss."

I sigh in exasperation. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Glimmer. Take care."

"You too, Katniss. Later."

I touch the headset's button, ending the connection and carefully put the unit away. No one's ever come in here looking for anything illegal that I know of, but still, can't be too careful. This phone line is blatantly illegal, and give how much Snow already hates me I'm sure if it was found the price would be someone's life.

With the phone secured and the plants all watered I head out for the woods again. I duck under the fence (which is barely ever electrified) and recover my bow from its hiding place. Finally I make my way to Gale's and my meeting spot, where he's already waiting. I try and be quiet, seeing if I can sneak up on him, but when I'm five or so yards away he greets me, not even bothering to turn around. "Hiya, Catnip." How does he always do that?

"Hi Gale."

"How you been Catnip?"

"Same as always. You?"

"Ah yes, the tough life of a Victor."

I try to hold back. I really do. I can imagine what it must be like for Gale. His best friend all of a sudden has money, a huge house, all the things he wants for his own family, and he can't see most of the price. I try to understand his point of view, but it's hard. Mostly because this is about the hundredth time I've had to do this. "Gale, it's not all that it looks like."

"And how would I know that, Katniss? You come back from the Games moody, depressed and it hasn't gone away; it's gotten worse. I just don't get it Katniss. Yeah, the Games were terrible, I saw them. I can't begin to imagine how much worse it must have been to actually live it, but it's over. Now you have the huge house, the piles of money and life is good. So I don't get it Katniss. What is the problem?"

I want to tell Gale, tell him everything; I've wanted to since the day I got back. After all, Gale and I have been partners for years; we've faced everything together. But I just don't know how to say it. Oh hey Gale, by the way, I'm a Capitol Whore and President Snow it my pimp! And that's where this train of thought dies, the same as every time. So I lie. "Gale, I killed people, Glimmer killed a lot of people. We have to go face their families soon, and we have to do it while looking good and letting the Capitol remind everyone even we're just pawns and they're the ones really in charge. If it was you, how would you feel?" Ok, so it's technically true, and it does bother me, but it's tiny compared to the rest.

Gale looks down, wounded. "I'd hate to be paraded around to help the Capitol too. Sorry. I know how much you hate them, especially since the Games. And seeing those families, I'm not sure how I'd deal with it. Except for the Careers none of them deserved to be there; they certainly didn't deserve to die. Sorry, it's just that I see the huge house and the money, and hell, every time I look at you I see how it's obvious you eat well and it's hard, you know?"

"I know Gale, I know. And I'd love to help you out if you'd let me…"

"Katniss, we've been over this. You know the answer."

Yeah, I know the answer. And this conversation basically sums up Gale's and my relationship for the past six months. We stare at this invisible wall between us and neither of us is willing to do what it would take to tear it down.

Gale breaks the awkward silence. "Look, Katniss, let's just drop it, ok? We've had this discussion before, so let's just drop it and move on, ok? Please? I hate arguing like this. It never used to happen. We shouldn't let it happen now either."

"Yeah, you're right. We should get going; the light won't last forever."

Gale

Katniss and I move into the woods, hunting, the same as ever. Sometimes it feels like the only thing the god damned Capitol didn't take away. Some days it feels like Katniss never really came back at all. Before the reaping I knew Katniss as well as myself, maybe better. Every look she had I could read her facial expressions, every bit of body language, everything; we could talk without saying a word.

I've never been so close to anyone else who wasn't a blood relative. Now the only time Katniss and I are close anymore is moments like right now: in the woods, hunting. Times when we can't talk for fear of spooking the game, times when there's no Games, no nothing. Just us and the woods.

We move silently, steps perfectly in synch, Katniss just a few feet to my right. We spend the better part of an hour following a game trail before we finally catch sight of it: a deer. I look to Katniss; she's seen it too. With a few quick looks we agree on our plan. Katniss circles to downwind of it, I stay where I am, keeping eyes on the animal. The deer simply minds it own business, eating, totally unaware of our presence. Less than a minute later an arrow streaks out of the bushes, embedding deep into the deer's chest. From where I am it looks like an organ hit, so likely fatal, just not instantly so.

The deer staggers into the bushes and I run after it, arrow ready to fire. Its trail is easy to follow, bright crimson paints a path right to it. I catch up to it after it's made maybe thirty yards. It lies on the ground, dead. Katniss' shot was perfect as always; a kill shot that was almost instantly fatal. My job as tracker (and potential follow up shooter if Katniss didn't finish the job in one shot) done, I call out to my partner. "Hey Catnip, over here! You got him!"

Second later Katniss appears all smiles. Just like old times. "Great, that'll sell for a lot at the Hob."

"Yeah, but we're pretty far out from 12 now. It'll take us most of the afternoon to get back with this thing."

"It's more than enough to call this a good day."

She's right, a deer is a great haul, and since she brought it down clean we won't even lose any value for damage to the pelt or meat. There's enough here to feed my family for days and days, with still enough left to sell for a pretty sum.

I hand my bow and arrow off to Katniss and pick the deer carcass up, putting it across my shoulders to carry. "Need any help?" Katniss asks me.

"Not right now, might later on. It's a long walk." I start back towards the fence, Katniss falling into step next to me. "So you talked to Glimmer lately?"

A little over a month after Katniss got back from the Games she let slip that she and Glimmer talk regularly. I don't know what the big deal is, Victors have phone lines in their houses and everything, but Katniss made me swear not to ever tell anyone or talk about it except here out in the woods. Whatever it's about, it scares Katniss, and that's not something I'm used to seeing.

Katniss talking to someone regularly other than me is another thing I'm not used to. It's not that I mind Katniss and Glimmer talking, nothing like that at all. It's just odd that there's this whole piece of her that I never see. I don't know how to deal with it too well.

Honestly, it seems like there's almost two Katnisses. There's my Catnip: my hunting partner, the girl I knew for most of my life, and then there's Katniss who came back from the Games. At first I figured she was just traumatized by what went on there. I mean, who wouldn't be? So yeah, just crap that'll diminish over time I figured. But it hasn't.

I don't know if I'm jealous of Glimmer or just pissed at the Capitol or what. If I knew who to yell at maybe I'd feel better, but since I don't know what the hell is in Katniss' head anymore I can't even have that. She's so damned moody sometimes, and when she isn't moody she's just depressed. She lives in a huge house, she has piles of money, what the fuck is there to be depressed about? I'd kill for that. Well, ok, she actually did, bad way to put it I guess.

We keep a fast pace back to 12 (My idea. I don't want to carry this thing longer than I have to.) It's a bit before dark when we make it to the Hob (moving the deer under the fence cost us some time.) Once we step into the Hob with that deer there's instant interest; after all, these are rare kills.

As soon as I set the carcass down people are here haggling over the pelt and the meat. Those negotiations go quickly, but the negotiations for all the other parts of the animal take longer. When all is said and done I have a small stack of deer steaks and a pouch full of coins to split with Katniss, assuming she actually takes her share.

"You want to split a bowl of Greasy Sae's soup?" I ask Katniss.

"No, I can't. Dinner's waiting back home. There's plenty for you too you know."

"I don't know, Katniss.."

"Come on Gale, you must be tired from carrying that heavy thing. Think of it as payback for not helping get the deer here."

"Oh all right." I sigh. Sometimes I give in to requests like this, sometimes not. Honestly I'm not that comfortable at Katniss' new house; it just doesn't feel like her, or me for that matter. But we're friends, so I compromise sometimes. "Oh, I still have to give you your share of the coins too, Katniss."

"Oh, I'll um, I'll get them from you when we get back to my house." I don't push it. It wouldn't help; Katniss can be as stubborn as me sometimes.

It's not a long walk to Katniss' absurdly large house. We go in and see Prim setting the table. Once she hears the door open she turns and waves. "Hiya Gale. Hiya Katniss. Good timing, we're almost ready to eat."

The past half year's been good to Prim. Katniss always made sure Prim had enough to eat and was taken care of as well as any Seam child (sometimes Katniss did this at the cost of her own food and health.) But even the best of intentions and the greatest of efforts can fall short in the Seam.

Of course now that's not an issue. Now it's not just food, Prim has new clothes, money to take care of her cat and goat (no, money hasn't made the cat friendlier or cuter. I suspect even Capitol science might reach it limits there) and Prim's carefree attitude and smile aren't at constant risk of being lost. After all, in the Seam there was never a margin of error, but now Katniss can afford anything Prim may ever need. The girl can live her entire life and never know hardship, and to be honest, I'm delighted. Prim's as good as my own little sister, and whatever distance there may be between Katniss and I, there's nothing like that with Prim.

Dinner at the Everdeens' is still similar to how it always was. Granted, there's more food and a lot more variety than we can bring back from the woods and it may be a dining room, but somehow it still feels similar. Katniss and I never poke at each other in public like we do in the woods so that same familiarity we used to have creeps in again. It's one of those moments with my Catnip instead of the Capitol's Katniss, so even though I feel a bit guilty just taking their food like this, it doesn't bother me as much as it probably should.

Just as we're finishing up eating the doorbell rings. (Why does that even exist? What's wrong with just knocking?) "I'll get it." Prim announces, going to the door. She opens it and sees Madge on the other side. "Oh, Madge, hi. Come on in."

Madge comes inside and waves to us all. She started hanging around during the Games. I wasn't much a fan of it, or her, but rather than take the hint (it wasn't a very subtle one) she actually yelled at me. I'll give her credit for that. She's a rich girl, Mayor's daughter and all that, but she's Katniss' friend and actually had some guts, so I put up with it. And honestly, she wasn't so bad, it was actually sort of nice to have one more person there during the Games. She never really fit in at the old Seam house though. It's like she was always too well dressed, too well mannered for that place; it just was a mismatch and she knew it.

Here though, it's just the opposite. She fits in perfectly in this mansion, far better than me, or Katniss for that matter. The huge rooms, the plush furniture, the huge TV, it's all familiar to Madge and she fits in perfectly. I've never really looked around her house. Hell I've only ever been in the place once, but I imagine it's similar. So yeah, she looks like she belongs in a place like this. Me? I spent the first two weeks worrying I was tracking mud in the house. (For the record I was, I've gotten better about it though.)

Madge is sitting on the couch playing video games with Prim now. Those two are actually a pretty good match. Prim was always weird for a Seam girl; blonde, blue eyed, always smiling and happy. Finally she's somewhere she fits in. It's good to see.

The video games though? That's a step too far for me. Prim loves them, Madge too, even Katniss plays, but I could never get into them. They're just too weird, too much going on, everything's moving and flashing and trying to get my attention. It's just weird and artificial. Madge is here playing with Prim and Katniss practically every day, and to me that's usually my cue to leave. This is more a Capitol Katniss sort of thing than a Catnip sort of thing, and besides, I have my own family to get back to, so I say my goodbyes and head home.

Author's Notes:

So there it is, chapter 1 of the sequel people asked for. I hope everyone likes it. It was a bit of a rush to get a new, longer (the rough plan is for 21 chapters) story planned out and a chapter done in this time frame, so I hope it came out ok. I know the pacing is quite a bit different from the previous story, but Katniss and Glimmer's lives are quite a bit different too. Thanks to my friend JB for help with editing. Like always I'd love to hear from anyone with something to say, so please, review. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading.