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

Chapter Twenty

A/N: Chapter 20!! I want to announce that with the publishing of this chapter, I'm officially halfway through writing this story!! Yay!! Anyway, as always I've gotta give the disclaimer that the Hunger Games characters belong to Suzanne Collins and not to me. That being said, enjoy!! :)

(Katniss POV)
I don't think President Snow meant for me to hear, I don't think the peacekeepers even knew I was listening. To be fair, for the most part, I hadn't been. Not until I heard that President Snow planned to blow up district 13, and leave no survivors. Even though my time in the Capitol has rocked me to the core, I'll still keep fighting back. The Mockingjay will spread her wings one more time. This will be my final Mockingjay song; it will go out to Rue and Prim and my mother and my father and Effie and Haymitch and Gale and Peeta and the countless others I hope to protect.

While I wasn't sure about being the Mockingjay at first, the horrors here have convinced me more than ever that we need drastic change in Panem. If there are those who can effect that change, then I, as their Mockingjay, need to make that possible, for as long as possible. Peeta is gone from me, I know that now, and so there's nobody left that I can guarantee that I can protect anymore. This is the best I can hope to do.

My cell has a leak in it, so that's the newest thing other than President Snow's order that's happened to me in the last week. The water plops down in individual drops, and by now it's managed to soak my clothes all the way through. I shiver, all the Capitol is is cold and darkness. The girl on fire being slowly drenched with water, sometimes I can't help but marvel at the Capitol's sense of irony.

A peacekeeper opens my cell and drags me out into the corridor before leading me out of the cells altogether. I'm brought to a prep team, another televised interview; good, I've been preparing for this moment. Just like they expect me to, I don't fight the peacekeepers or the prep team. They pull all the extra hair off my body, and I don't even flinch; I'm used to pain now and so this is nothing. This time, I can tell they're going over the top for me, no more innocent star crossed lovers; that part of my life is gone.

They elaborately braid my hair in a complicated pattern, but, I notice with amusement that in the end all of it is braided together into one braid. My signature style, with an extra added flair  as a "gift" from my captors. If I didn't feel quite so empty inside, I might laugh.

My makeup and nails are a bright combination of fiery reds and oranges, apparently I'll be the girl on fire one more time. If only they didn't forget that fire burns, and will destroy whatever is in its path. I just hope I'm able to show them what happens when they give the Mockingjay wings and fire; I hope that I'm able to show that there's still something of Katniss Everdeen inside of me.

In contrast, my dress is black, like a funeral shroud. It feels oddly like an omen, but I still raise my head high when the peacekeepers escort me onto the stage. They will not see me afraid, they will see that I'm stronger than they thought.

Taking a seat, I take some deep breaths. Tonight will be the end, in one way or another. No matter what happens, some feeling deep inside me tells me that things will never be the same again. The red recording light turns on, and I'm ready.

"Hello Panem, you're here tonight with me, Caesar Flickerman, and the former Capitol darling, Katniss Everdeen."

His tone is abnormally somber, although, as I read through in my head what I'm supposed to say off the teleprompter, it makes sense why that is.

"Katniss, I believe that you had a message that you wished to share with Panem."

I nod. I do have a message to give Panem, but not the one they think. As I'm about to begin, static fills the screen. Then, once the static clears up, the picture is no longer one of me, instead it's Prim and my mom and Gale and Finnick. "Katniss, we are alive and well, and we're asking you to be our Mockingjay, to lead this rebellion as its symbol. The districts have suffered too long at the hands of President Snow and his Capitol, it is time to rise up." Then, I hear the four note mockingjay tune before the Capitol regains control of the broadcast.

A bit shell shocked, I don't say anything at first. My resolve starts to melt, if I do this, they're the ones who get hurt. Just as Caesar is about to ask me for a response, I hear my sister's voice. "Katniss, I don't know what they've done to you, but please, don't give up. Be their Mockingjay but be mine too. I miss you Katniss."

"Prim?" I whisper.

"Katniss? Katniss is that you?"

"Katniss, I believe you had something to tell district 13 as well, would you mind doing that now?" From the way Caesar Flickerman says it, I can tell it's not a request.

Taking a shuddering breath, I begin. "How do you think this will go? How do you think you can defeat the Capitol, they're too powerful!"
As I see Caesar about to say something else, I shout out my warning. "THEY'RE COMING! THE CAPITOL IS COMING!! THEY'VE GOT BOMBS, YOU'LL BE DEAD BY MORNING!"

After I shout that, President Snow shouts "End it! End it now!" Almost immediately, the red light turns off.

Someone screams my name from offstage, and I turn to see that it's Peeta. He's screaming for me, fighting away from the peacekeepers, or at least doing the best he can to do that. "PEETA, I'M SORRY!" I shout back. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't see this.

A peacekeeper forces me to my knees, and President Snow walks up to stand right behind me. "You should know what happens by now when little caged birds decide to chirp. You're out of time Miss Everdeen, this is when you lose your wings."

He grabs a gun and puts it to the back of my head. "Say goodnight Miss Everdeen," he says, before the bullet goes through the back of my head, and there's a second of agonizing pain, and then....nothing.