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

Chapter Twelve

A/N: As always here's the PSA that the Hunger Games characters belong to Suzanne Collins and not to me!! Also, I'm excited that there will finally be some Evelark in this chapter!!

(Katniss POV)
This place is just an endless maze of hallways and stairwells. For some reason, no peacekeepers try to stop me as I run around frantically. A part of me wonders where all the guards are, it seems unusual for nobody to try and stop me, especially when security has been so tight up till now.

Still, I'm too panicked and desperate to question my luck at the moment. Some part of me is aware that the longer I take to find Peeta, the bigger chance there is that I'll get caught, or he'll be gone. By this point, I still haven't made it out of the underground section, and I'm pretty sure that if I saw anyone, peacekeeper or not, I would just shake them and start screaming that I need the way out. I need the way out of this nightmare, I need the way out of this hellhole.

And, this whole time, I'm screaming and I'm crying, I just want things to be alright again. All I want is to feel safe; and some part of me knows deep down that the only way I'll get that in this place is if I'm with Peeta. Which...is slightly out of character for me, usually I'm the strong one who can face anything that gets thrown at me. So why have I been reduced into this crying and whimpering terrified mess? What could they possibly have done to me to make me be this way?

When I eventually make it up to the main floors, I basically collapse in relief. I never want to go underground again; not after what's happened to me down there. At this point though, I'm faced with a new problem. The Presidential Palace has multiple floors and hundreds of rooms. How in the world am I supposed to find Peeta in this massive place?

Already feeling a mix of heartbreak and panic as a result of my dream earlier, I come to the conclusion that I'll just have to search all the rooms. Much as I hate the idea, I'll just have to be methodical about this, check every room on every floor, and, with any luck I'll eventually find Peeta.

It feels like it's been another two hours, but I'm finally searching the last floor. A lot of the rooms that I've tried to open have been unlocked, so I'll look for Peeta, and then I'll call out for him. Then, when I don't hear or see anything, I'll leave. By this point, my heart is pounding in my chest. Every door that doesn't reveal Peeta feels like a disappointment; a part of me wants to just start breaking some of those doors, but the more logical part of my brain tells me I don't have time.

Now I'm at the door to the final room. Every other room is one I've already checked. Except for President Snow's office that is. Taking a deep breath, and trying to keep from trembling all over, I quietly open the door. It's dark in here, and I can barely see anything. There's nobody in the bathroom or the living room or dining room, and I've almost lost hope. But then, something miraculous happens. I go to check the bedroom, and, lying in the bed, sound asleep, is my boy with the bread. My Peeta.

My breath catches in my throat, he's here, he's really here. Quiet as a mouse, I crawl into bed next to him and lie as close to him as I think I can without waking him up. He just looks so peaceful, I don't want to disturb that. A couple minutes later, he unconsciously wraps an arm around me, pulling me right up against him. I instantly feel safer, like nothing bad can happen now. Nothing bad can happen now that I have Peeta.

Almost immediately he wakes up though, and he blinks for a minute, disoriented. "Katniss, is it really you? Are you really here?"

That's all it takes for the floodgates to open. "I'm really here Peeta, it's really me." Right after that, I break out in giant, gulping sobs, mostly out of pure relief. Wrapping my arms tightly around him, I just sob into his chest.

He just holds onto me for a while, rubbing my back to try and help calm me down as I let my emotions spill out. After a while though, he talks again. "Katniss, what happened to your hands," he asks, the concern clear in his voice.

I take a look at my hands and now I see what Peeta was talking about, the tips of my fingers are still bleeding. "It was an accident," I murmur quietly.

He nods, and I'm relieved he doesn't press the issue. I don't want to get into all the awful things that have happened to me over the past two months here, I just want a little time where I can feel safe and happy. That doesn't seem like too much to ask, at least in my opinion.

"Come on, let's get those bandaged up," he says gently, making his way to the bathroom. I follow, and I sit down on the edge of the giant bathtub as he gently washes the blood off my fingers and sprays some disinfectant before wrapping my fingers up in gauze. It feels so much more gentle than when all those random people in lab coats heal me up after one of my "sessions."

I stare down at my bandaged hands, not really sure what to say next. At this point, I'm waiting for Peeta to say something. Now that we're in a room that's more well lit, he's able to see how bad of a shape I'm in; the scars and burn marks all over my body, my ribs practically showing, and my hollow eyes that speak of horrible torment. After a few minutes, he starts talking again.

"Katniss, what...what happened? How...how did this happen to you?" The heartbreak in his voice is clear, and that sets me off crying again.

In between sobs, I'm able to mumble out "P...President Snow and the people with the lab coats..." I shiver even thinking about it, about all that pain.

His look quickly changes from concern to anger. He angrily shoves a bunch of glass bottles off the sink and onto the floor, and it makes a loud crashing sound. Worried that the noise will attract the peacekeepers, I put a hand on Peeta's shoulder. "Peeta...it's...it's alright. Please don't break things...or make noise...it...all it will do is make them angry," I say, trembling.

Noticing how terrified I look, he picks me up in his arms and carries me out to the living room before setting me down on the couch and sitting next to me. "Katniss, I know it might be hard to talk about this but, what happened?"

Taking some deep breaths and snuggling closer to Peeta's chest, I start my story from the beginning.

P.s.
Wanted to let you know I hadn't abandoned you all!! Just had a lot going on in regards to school and my personal life over the last couple days but I'm posting now!!