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

Chapter Twenty-Four

A/N: Usual PSA that the Hunger Games characters belong to Suzanne Collins and not to me. With that out of the way, enjoy!!

(Katniss POV)
I don't know how long it is till I fall asleep too, but what I do know is that when I get up, there's something wrong. Looking around, I see that about twenty peacekeepers guard the door to my hospital room, and, in front of them stands President Snow. He doesn't look happy, in fact, he looks downright furious.

"What exactly do you remember Miss Everdeen?" I'm not sure why he's saying it accusingly, unless there's something I'm not supposed to remember...

"Is there something I'm not supposed to remember," I ask, genuinely curious.

Instead of getting a calm answer back, President Snow marches forward until he's standing right next to my hospital bed. His perfume smells like roses. "Tell me what you remember Miss Everdeen, and we won't have a reason to be enemies," he says in a dangerously quiet and soft voice.

"I remember a countdown, it started at 60 and when it got to 0 my heart was pounding and I was running faster than I ever had in my life. There were voices...saying they were planning to kill me, something about me being a threat, I'm not totally sure. There was some sort of beehive in the tree I was in and I remember cutting it down to fall on top of them, but I can't remember why I did it. Then a little later I heard a cannon go off and a hovercraft fly by..."

He interrupts me at this point. "What else do you remember Miss Everdeen?"

"I remember...I remember there was this young girl, Rue. She reminded me of my sister in a lot of ways. We made a plan to blow up some food...but when we were going to be meeting up again, someone put a spear through her stomach. I sang to her while she died, and then I covered her body with flowers. I wanted it to look like she was just sleeping..."

At this point, I'm not sure how I would describe the look on President Snow's face. If anything, he just looks deep in thought. "What happened next Miss Everdeen? And remember, it's very important you leave nothing out about what you remember."

I nod. "Then I heard a rule where there could be two winners and I ran to find Peeta. He had a bad wound in his leg, and so I tried to heal him up as best I could. We stayed together, I got him some food, some medicine, things like that. I looked out for him. After that things get a little blurry, I remember growling, like you would hear from a big group of dogs. Then there were the screams...after a while another cannon went off. After that I remember something about some berries, and then someone shouting for me and Peeta to stop. The voice told us we were the winners of something called the Hunger Games." I finish, taking some deep breaths to calm down.

President Snow lets out a snarl. "Who told you about the Hunger Games? Who told you?"

"I...I don't know..." I say quietly, starting to be afraid now.

"My dear Miss Everdeen, I thought we had agreed not to lie to each other?"

That bit of dialogue just pops into my head, unprompted, and then, suddenly, I remember. "You did. You told me about the Hunger Games. I volunteered for my sister. Peeta and I threatened to eat the berries so that you would either have two victors or none at all. A few months later you visited me in district 12, told me that I had to convince the districts that the stunt with the berries was because Peeta and I were in love, not that it was an act of rebellion. You said I had to convince you. I didn't, and you put us back in the games! You put us back in that nightmare!" I scream. By this point I'm crying out of not only anger, but grief also. Remembering all those awful things all at one time...

"Doctor, please sedate her. I don't need Miss Everdeen in hysterics." Even though I fight it, I feel myself getting sleepy, and after a minute, my eyes close, and I'm off to the land of my nightmares.
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When I wake up, I have a hellish headache. Peeta is holding onto my hand, and when he sees my eyes open, he starts crying and laughing while whispering my name again and again.

"Peeta? What is it?"

"You were asleep for a week Katniss, and the doctors couldn't seem to wake you up. But you're back here with me again now." He wraps his arms around me tightly, "I thought I'd lost you Kat, I thought I'd lost you..."

"Peeta, you won't ever lose me," I say softly before leaning in and kissing him.

He runs his fingers through my hair and pulls me closer, kissing me back even more intensely. We would have kept going, and probably for a long time, if someone hadn't tapped me on the shoulder. "Miss Everdeen, it's time for you to prep for your interview."

"Interview?" I ask, confused.

"Yes, your interview. So if you could follow me..."

"Will Peeta be there?"

"That wasn't part of the plan, but the two of you can catch up afterwards."

"I want Peeta there with me, I don't want to face whatever this interview is alone. Please? I just want him there with me. Surely there's something you can do about that?" My voice turns desperate, with my memory being fuzzy, the only person here that I know I can trust is Peeta, and so as a result I don't want to go without him for too long in this weird place that I can only vaguely remember.

"I'll see what I can do. But for the moment, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me." The peacekeeper grabs my arm but I yank out of his grip.

"Just...just tell me the way and I'll follow. I promise. Just...just don't touch me," I say. I'm not sure why I'm so wary, but there must be some reason.

He nods, and heads out. After giving Peeta's hand a quick squeeze, I follow. What I find when we stop walking is a spa type area, and three people with very colorful hair and neatly pressed uniforms standing by a chair.

Feeling like I'm supposed to sit down, I decide to do that. Something tells me that if I don't, the consequences won't be pleasant; it's sort of a tiny voice in my head. Almost as soon as I take a seat, the three people rush over to me. They pull out any hair that they deem is "unnecessary." By the end of that process, I feel a bit like a plucked chicken. The rest of it passes in a blur, they style my hair and my nails and then give me a dress to wear. Before I even fully realize what's happening, I'm walking on stage.

Sitting on a sofa across from who I assume my interviewer is, I just wait, not sure what's going to come next. About a minute or so later, a red light turns on, on a camera. And then my interviewer starts talking. "Helloooo Panem! Today, I have with me special guest Katniss Everdeen! Tell me Katniss, how are you feeling?"

Suddenly, I freeze up. How many people are watching me? How many people are seeing this? I curl up in the fetal position, closing my eyes tightly. I'm vaguely aware of someone saying my name, most likely the interviewer.

Then, I'm pretty sure I hear "President Snow, we have a problem with Everdeen." A problem? I'm a problem? What are they going to do to make me not be a problem anymore? I start to hyperventilate.

"Kat, it's alright, I'm here. You're safe, you're safe, love." Looking up into Peeta's eyes, I swear I could cry from relief. "It's alright Katniss, you can do this. You're stronger than your fear, I know you are," he whispers softly. After a few deep breaths, I nod.

"Alright, I'm ready, I can do this," I hope saying it out loud will help convince me that what I'm saying is the truth. The red recording light turns on, and I look into Peeta's eyes. "Stay with me," I whisper quietly.

A single tear slides down his cheek. "Always."