Hijacked

War Effort

"I'm so glad you have finally decided to stop by." Beetee said as he rolled toward me in his wheelchair. Apparently the shock he received from trying to stab the forcefield had restricted some of his mobility. Otherwise he seemed in perfectly good health.

"We're going out." I muttered, nodding towards Gale and Katniss. Beetee nodded.

"Yes, so I've heard." He spun his chair around and wheeled back to the table he was sitting at. "Hunting. Killing wild animals. But.. You don't hunt Peeta."

"More used to being hunted I suppose." Beetee smirked.

"I can agree upon that." He reached out to a case on the table, undoing the clasps and opening it. Inside the case, on a cushioned bed of foam is a slim steel bow. I swallow hard. Was this meant for Catora? "This was for.."

"Catora." He doesn't have to say it because I already know. He nods. "I'm really sorry we couldn't get both of you out like we had planned. You two are a team, a dynamic duo and.."

"Save it." I cut him off. I don't want to hear how sorry he is. Everyone's sorry or they don't care enough. Beetee cleared his throat.

"Right well.." He pulls up the foam holding her now and reveals a weapon underneath it. A crossbow.

"I'm not very good with bows and arrows." I point out. "That's them and Catora." I said gesturing to her friends behind me. Beetee nods his head.

"It's just a test of accuracy. When you're doing your Propo's, you'll have a gun. But since you guys are going hunting, a bow and arrow is more appropriate. He hands the crossbow off to me. It's lighter than it looks. He shuts the case, hiding away Catora's bow.

Katniss and Gale are outfitted with similar bows as Catora's and we head back to the Command Center for our ankle tracers and com units. As soon as we get outside, I watch Gale and Katniss begin to relax. Katniss even makes a joke and I see Gale smile for once in his life. I try to block them out. I didn't come out here for them. I came out here for Catora. She'd want me to hang out with them, get to know them, be their friends. This is the best way I can do that, by doing something they love.

"You should learn how to shoot that thing." Gale says once we've done a couple minutes of walking. I look up at him.

"Why? I'm not planning on shooting this thing."

"Probably but if we happen to go out into the firefight, you're going to have to know how to shoot a gun."

"Shooting a gun and a crossbow are two different things." I grumble. Katniss sighs. I think she wishes that I wouldn't be so difficult all the time.

"They're similar. They're both based on accuracy." Gale comes and stands next to me. "Now hit that knot on that tree about four feet up." He instructs pointing at a tree in front of us. The knot is pretty big and that's probably why he picked it. I grind my teeth and watch Katniss love out of my line of fire.

Looking at the same tree, I choose a smaller knot that's about two feet away from the other one. Lifting the crossbow, I remember Catora's instructs for shooting arrows. While this is different than a bow, I assume the same principles apply to crossbows. I aim and fire.

"You missed." Gale states clearly.

"No, I just aimed for that knot instead Gale. Catora taught me hot to shoot a bow an arrow in training. I was never that good at it but I would get in a lucky shot now and then. This was one of them." I say gesturing up the tree. Katniss climbs up the tree like a squirrel and wrenches the arrow from the tree bark.

"Well you're going to need more than dumb luck in a war Peeta." Katniss drops down from the tree and hands me the arrow. The corner of my mouth turns up in a smile. She smiles back.

"We're not going to war Gale. I'm making stupid, fake videos of me going to war. I'm not going to be the one out there risking my life."

"But don't you want to be?" Gale demanded.

"Yes, I do. But right now my main concern is Catora. I want to be part of the team that extracts her. I'm only playing Mockingjay until she gets back and if she wants to go out into the field.. So be it."

"You'd risk her life right after you got her back?"

"No, we'd be risking our lives. I don't want a war.. I think Catora wanted it more than I did and if she does want to go out there then I'll be next to her, protecting her."

"Oh because that worked so well in the Games." I geared up to punch Gale in the face.

"Gale! Peeta!" Katniss said sharply. "Shut up both of you!" We turn towards her. "This arguing over Catora isn't helping her. Gale, Peeta is right. Accept it for once and Peeta, learn when to stop fighting." I scoffed.

"I'll stop fighting when I have nothing to fight about." I grumbled walking away from the two of them. After a minute, I heard Gale and Katniss following me, quietly arguing.

Twenty minutes later, Katniss and Gale had downed a small deer and the three of us managed to haul it back to District 13 and hand it off to the head cook in the kitchen. She was surprised by the clean kill and praised us for the kill. All I could think about was how innocent the deer was and how it didn't deserve to die.

"Where are you going?" Katniss asked as I tore off my tracker and set down the crossbow.

"To see a friend."

----

Knocking on the small window, I watched a weary Finnick raise his eyes to me. He didn't say anything so I just headed to the door and entered as it slid open. I hadn't seen Finnick properly since the Hovercraft, when I had attacked Haymitch. Sometimes he was in the Command center looking worn out and maybe a little bit crazed.

Ever since he had found out that the other victors had been captured and placed in the cage or Snow's mansion for questioning, he hadn't been himself. He was thinking about Annie and how she was too fragile for all of this. Her state of mind wasn't the best so I could understand why he was so worried but he was barely functioning. Even now as I stared at him, the only part of him that seemed to be active was his hands.

His hands were red and raw from tying, knotting and unknotting a piece of rope. I don't know where he got it from or who gave it to him but it was the only way we knew he was still in there. Some of the knots he made were intricate and I wondered how he was able to pull them apart again. Others were simple.

"Finnick." I spoke. He stopped for a second and looked up at me.

"What do you think they're doing to them?" He asked. I ground my teeth.

"We can't think about that Finnick."

"But we have to."

"It's not doing anybody good and we need you Finnick. You were loved by the Capitol and if they see that you're supporting the rebellion then.."

"Then they might just kill Annie." He muttered. I swallowed hard.

"They'd have to do it publicly for you to know about it Finnick and if they did, if the people of Panem saw that President Snow was killing Victors, then he'd have mutiny on his hands." Finnick said nothing, just looked to the ground. "They're not going to kill her Finnick. If I believed that, I wouldn't have become the Mockingjay in fear that they would kill Catora. They're both going to be fine Finnick." He still said nothing and I had nothing more to say so I left. I had tried my best to help him. I hadn't lied, having the people see him as part of the rebellion would spark interest. If only he would join.