Tortured but Together (A Hunger Games Fanfiction) [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter Seventeen

A/N: Standard PSA that the Hunger Games characters belong to Suzanne Collins and not to me. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

(Peeta's POV)
As fast as I can, I'm sprinting out of the room. All I can think of is that I have to find Katniss, I have to explain it to her. I have to tell her that if I didn't do this then President Snow would kill her. After all we've been through together, I can't stand the idea of her losing her faith in me. Not after all we've been through.

It doesn't take me long to make my way to my rooms, and, from almost the minute I enter, I can tell something is wrong. The living room smells like rose perfume, and then I see him, President Snow.

"Where is she! Where is Katniss!" I shout angrily.

"Miss Everdeen is back where she should be, in her cell. I'm afraid I've decided that my original plan wasn't proving...effective enough."

"Effective enough? Effective enough? What the hell did you expect? You destroyed our home, you sent us off to the games to die, twice. What crazy, twisted part of your mind thought we would defend you?"

"Mr. Mellark, I don't think you're fully understanding the implications of what you're saying right now."

"I understand the implications quite well. And yet, I don't care! You've proved to me that there is nothing I can do to save Katniss from your sadistic torture! So now my only option is to force you to listen to me. Katniss did it with the berries and the lightning arrow! You were forced to take her seriously!"

"And surely you aren't forgetting what I did to Miss Everdeen as a result. You're dangerously close to crossing a line and making a choice you can't come back from."

"Then we'll just have to see about that, won't we! What the hell do I do to guarantee you'll stop hurting Katniss?"

"Absolutely nothing Mr. Mellark, you seem to be under the illusion that you have some control in this situation; I intend to relieve you of that foolish notion. Miss Everdeen will get what she deserves, and there is nothing you can do to change it."

My voice turns cold, and it sounds foreign, even to me. "From what I hear, the districts need a mockingjay. And, last I checked, just about everyone knows my name. You once said that you are someone who I wouldn't want as an enemy; well, we're about to find out how that goes. Because I swear, from this moment forward, as long as you're keeping hurting Katniss, I would rather die than do a damn thing to help you."

"You've made the wrong decision my dear boy, I do wish it didn't have to be this way, you were always the one I liked more." He snaps his fingers, and five peacekeepers come in, and they drag me down several hallways. Eventually I get to one that looks darker than all the others, and, before I can say anything, I'm roughly thrown into a cell.

From here, I have a view of Katniss. She's just staring at the wall, barely moving. If only I knew what she was thinking, if only I could reach out and comfort her. "Katniss...Katniss I'm sorry," I croak.

She doesn't say anything. Her face doesn't even register that I've said anything. So I try again. "Katniss...I had no other choice. Please, you have to believe me!" My voice cracks at the end of saying that; I can't lose her, not now.

After what feels like an eternity she finally speaks, but her voice is so quiet that I have to strain to hear it. "You abandoned me...I needed you out there, and you didn't stand by me. You promised you would always be there with me, and you weren't. You lied, you were the one person I trusted, and you lied to me."

This time, I'm the one who's left without anything to say. She's right, I did do all of those things. When the peacekeepers drag her out of her cell, I scream for them to stop. She turns back to look at me one more time, and says, in an oddly defeated sounding voice "Give them hell, give them hell for me Peeta."

Before I can ask what she means, she's dragged away, and I can't hear her anymore. When the peacekeepers next stop by my cell, I purposely ignore them. "President Snow wishes to talk to you."

"Unless it's about him stopping whatever torture you're all inflicting on Katniss, then I have nothing to say to him."

"In case we weren't clear, that wasn't a request."

"Neither was mine. President Snow stops making Katniss get hurt, then I'll be willing to negotiate. Until then, his opinions, his thoughts, all of it, means less than crap to me."

One of the peacekeepers angrily grabs me by the collar of my shirt. "You think you're being smart, don't you?"

"I think I'm proving that once I get pushed past a certain point, I won't tolerate any more nonsense from anyone. This whole time, all of the stupid things you have me do, all of the stupid things President Snow wanted me to say; the only reason I did any of it was to make sure Katniss didn't get hurt. Now she hates me, she thinks I've abandoned her, and the worst part is, she's not wrong. I did everything right, and still you're determined to keep hurting her. So I'm done. I'm done with your games, with your trickery, with all of it. I'll be the mockingjay now, and I'll be the worst nightmare you've ever experienced."

The peacekeeper punches me in the jaw, and my head snaps back, but when I'm able to move my head of my own accord again, I turn to face the peacekeepers. "You'll never silence the rebellion, the mockingjay will live on. And if you take me down, someone else will fill my shoes. Tell President Snow that I have a deal for him. He lets Katniss go, and never hurts her again, and I'll stand down. Otherwise, he'll find this war coming straight to his doorstep."