I decided against the morphine for now, so I stumbled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen. Searching the cabinets I found what I was looking for, a nice big bottle of whiskey. Making sure no one was around; I poured myself a pretty big glass and went to sit on the couch. If Mrs. Hudson or Molly came out I was dead, but for the moment I really wouldn't mind being dead. I turned on the TV out here, turning the volume down in case it woke one of them up. I took a sip of the drink, which warmed me from the inside out. Right now it was showing the snake boy jump around, stamping out the fire that had caught on his attempted food. I guess he wasn't eating anything that night, because once it was out the snake was no more than a pile of stomped on ash. I sighed, he was an idiot. Slowly the alcohol took its toll, my mind calmed down and I could sit on the couch and relax. I knew I couldn't get drunk, then I'd suffer for the rest of the day when I could be out there with sponsors. John must've fallen asleep or something because they didn't show him again all night. I wanted to see him, I wanted him to talk to me and tell me that everything would be okay. Nothing would be okay, we both knew that, but he was the one that had the ability to make me almost believe it. When the sun came up I washed the glass and removed any evidence that I'd ever had it, because still according to them, I had never had drugs or alcohol in my life. I sat back on the couch, knowing they wouldn't question me much if I told them I had another nightmare and couldn't sleep. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. Never would I tell either one of them what the nightmare was about, but if I just said nightmare I bet they could piece it all together.

"Good morning Sherlock." Molly said pleasantly as she came in, sitting on the couch opposite of me and watching the screen. Currently the Careers were waking up, getting their things together for another fun day of murder. Soon they would leave the cornucopia, but for now they were still depending on it for supplies. I knew they still didn't have water; it wasn't something that was supplied, so they'd have to start looking along with everyone else. I didn't respond, I just watched the screen.

"You look tired, did you sleep?" she asked.

"Not much no." I muttered.

"Bad dreams?" She guessed. I just gave her an obvious glance.

"I understand." She agreed.

"You get them too?" I asked, surprised. She never had the night attacks or the drugs, at least none that I've seen.

"Oh ya, the first year after the games I was just as bad as you, maybe worse, but now I just get small nightmares about it, flashes of memories." She said simply.

"I didn't know that." I said with a frown.

"Like it or not, we actually share some traits." She pointed out.

"Not traits, life experience. All the mentors do." I debated. Molly rolled her eyes at my logic.

"And if John makes it out, he'll need all the help he can get, because he'll get the dreams too." she pointed out.

"He already had dreams going into this." I muttered.

"I bet he did. Did you help him with it?" she asked.

"That's why we always slept in the same room, I'd sleep in the leather chair and it both clamed us down enough for peaceful sleep." I admitted, leaving out the hand holding. She didn't need to know my whole life.

"That's adorable." She said happily. I frowned at her, trying to make her remember that now he was probably going to die.

"Don't call me adorable." I snapped. She just laughed and I scowled. Mrs. Hudson arrived a little bit before the Avoxes brought us breakfast, so we all sat at the table and started to eat. I missed John sitting by me already, it felt way too empty without him making jokes and cheering me up. I wanted him back right now; I was done with this miserable hiatus.

"Sherlock you should eat something." Mrs. Hudson insisted, pushing the plate of hash browns closer to me.

"Not hungry." I muttered.

"We're going to go down to find sponsors today right?" Molly asked between bites.

"As soon as possible." I said determinedly. I memorized the faces and names of the sponsors; I needed their respect, trust, and most importantly their money. "Do you think anyone will sponsor Joh?" I asked nervously.

"Of course, he's a very determined boy." Mrs. Hudson assured. I rolled my eyes, if that was my reason to fund John was as good as dead. I had been thinking that maybe I could use the necklace and talking to me to my advantage, I could twist it all into some sad love story maybe, whatever I had to do.

"Where do you find sponsors?" I asked.

"Usually they're in bars or restaurants, the capital's viewing room is a good place to start." She decided.

"The what?" I asked curiously.

"It's pretty much a room for rich people to hang out, watch the games, and eat fancy food. Sometimes the President himself shows up." Molly explained.

"Oh, if he shows up I'd love to give him a piece of my mind." I said, thinking about punching him in his old man nose. Nothing would give me greater satisfaction, except maybe having John back in my arms.

"I'd advise against that, he'll have you executed or worse." Mrs. Hudson pointed out.

"I'll do my best to restrain him." Molly promised.

"Oh shut up." I snapped.

"How's John then?" Mrs. Hudson asked, obviously trying to change the topic.

"He's doing fine. Did you hear his message last night?" Molly asked. I felt my face start to glow.

"No, when was that?" she asked. Molly glanced at me, but I suddenly had an interest in the fork on my plate.

"Well he just said hello and that everything was fine, Sherlock had given him... well." She trailed off, as if I might not want Mrs. Hudson to know about the necklace. I didn't see it as that much of a big deal, but apparently she did. Mrs. Hudson looked confused, as if she wasn't in on a big secret.

"What?" she asked, trying to be polite about it but obviously wanting to know. 

"I gave him the necklace that I had; it's not really a big deal." I said rather quickly. Mrs. Hudson's face broke out into a sad smile, but she looked thrilled to hear that.

"That's so sweet dear, you really must love him!" she exclaimed. I groaned, not wanting to hear this again. They were going to team up and beat me down to telling them about everything that had happened before he went in the games, I knew that coming.

"Can I be excused?" I asked as politely as possible.

"If you're finished." Mrs. Hudson agreed, but she sounded rather disappointed.

"I never started." I pointed out, getting to my feet and walking back to my room. I took a shower and got into my best clothes, which was a black suit with a white shirt. It felt weird, I hated ties, but I had to look professional, and this was my best option. It was also odd to have the chain absent around my neck; it felt empty in a way. But I knew it was around John's neck at the moment and that made me feel better.  Now I was about to go to try to save him, and God knows I will do everything I can to make sure he gets out of there alive. I made sure I looked super professional; using one of the hairbrushes John torments me about to brush out every curl. With that I walked back to living room, where Molly and Mrs. Hudson were watching TV together. When she saw me, Mrs. Hudson smiled widely and clapped her hands in excitement.

"Oh don't you look stunning!" she exclaimed. "I feel like I need to get a picture or something!"

"You look great Sherlock!" Molly agreed, blushing a bit. I scowled and ignored their complements.

"When are we going?" I snapped, using the only thing I knew to reflect the positivity in the air, annoyance.

"Whenever you want I guess." Molly shrugged.

"Now." I decided.

"Give me a couple of minutes to get ready I guess." Molly agreed, getting up from the couch and walking swiftly to her room. I sat in the lonely armchair and watched the games. There was a bit of a fight going on between the Careers, apparently one of them went out to find water and came back empty handed. I wanted to see how John was doing, but I guess scream fights were more entertaining than a cute boy walking along the rocks.

"You really dressed up huh?" Mrs. Hudson asked.

"I thought you had to look this way." I defended.

"Well I certainly think it will help." She guessed. There was silence for a little while, which I certainly appreciated.

"You know it's perfectly fine to love him, I don't want you to get the feeling that I'm trying to talk you out if it." Mrs. Hudson added, making me groan. I just glared at her with annoyance.

"I don't think that." I assured.

"Well I know that every time I bring it up you always leave." she pointed out.

"I just don't want to talk about it." I defended.

"Did you tell him?" she asked.

"That's not really any of your business."

"Well, I know you did because Molly told me." she said guiltily. I groaned, I should've known.

"At least there's privacy here then." I snapped.

"Did you kiss him?" she asked with an excited curiosity.

"That is also none of your business, if I don't tell you things there's a reason." I defended.

"Does that mean yes?" she asked.

"That means go away!" I exclaimed, completely done with this twenty questions of hers. Mrs. Hudson just smiled and sat back into the back of the couch as if I was a defensive kid with his first crush. I guess it's pretty much what I am actually. Molly came out a couple of minutes later, thankfully ending anymore questions Mrs. Hudson asked. She was wearing a red dress and her hair was pulled into a braid down her shoulder. Mrs. Hudson looked like such an excited grandmother, rushing off to her room saying something about a camera.

"We should probably leave before she gets back." I decided, trying to escape to the elevator.

"Come back Sherlock!" Mrs. Hudson called, running back out faster than I thought old ladies could run with her camera in her hand.

"Oh thank god she made it." I grumbled, but walked back to the living room.

"Get together, come on Sherlock, closer." Mrs. Hudson snapped, raising the camera. Molly put her arm around me, smiling as if we were prom dates or something. I just stood there, trying to get more distance in between us.

"Smile!" Mrs. Hudson called. I didn't smile, but the camera flashed anyway. "Sherlock you look so grumpy." She frowned, observing the picture.

"Can we please go?" I groaned.

"See you later Mrs. Hudson!" Molly said, giving her a quick hug before joining me in the elevator. I pressed the ground floor button immediately, barely giving her time to slip inside before the door almost shut on her foot.

"You look so nice." She commented. I tugged at my tie with annoyance; it felt like it was strangling me.

"I just want to get him out of there alive, and if you or Mrs. Hudson make one more comment about me and him you two won't make it out of this building alive." I pointed out.

"Oh Sherlock, always one for threats." She said as if it was some type of inside joke we had. The elevator doors opened up with a peaceful ding, letting us out into the crowded lobby.

"Where are we going first?" I asked curiously.

"I know you wanted to go to the Capital's viewing room, so I guess we'll start there." She decided.

"Good." I agreed. "And who are you going to fund for?"

"Well, I don't know. Since Irene is in with the Careers I'll do my best to get some water to her, but that's pretty much the only thing she needs at the moment."

"So you'll help me?" I said hopefully.

"I'll do my best." She agreed. If I had to hug her once in my life, it would've been then, but of course I didn't. To my absolute disappointment Greg came up to us before we could escape the lobby.

"Well don't you two look snazzy?" he said excitedly. He had a drink in his hand and was undoubtedly drunk.

"Oh hello Greg!" Molly said.

"Don't encourage him." I muttered loud enough for both of them to hear. So close to freedom, the door was right there.

"Ever the happy huh? Where are you guys going?" he asked with a bounce.

"We're going to go find some sponsors." I said flatly. "So if you'll excuse us..." I gave Molly a hopeful look.

"Of course, sorry, have a nice day you two!" he called rather loudly. Molly said goodbye politely, but I couldn't wait to get rid of him.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to be nicer sometimes." She pointed out, opening the door and letting us step outside. It was crisp outside, a chilly wind blowing but the sun beaming down on us. The streets were crowded, the colorful people walking to and from where ever they had to be. Molly and I joined the crowd, I just followed her since she knew where we were going. A couple of girls seemed to know who I was, trying to take pictures and flirt with me, but I just kept walking, trying to get as much distance as I could between me and them. Soon we came to another skyscraper thing, Molly opened the door and led me inside. The lobby was a lot fancier than the one in the Tribute Center, which was really saying something. Molly introduced us to the secretary, who looked somewhat normal except for her striped pink hair. She gave us two passes, each with our name and picture on it, they would get us up the elevator to the viewing room where, apparently, the sponsors all where. When the elevator doors opened, the room was complete white. White marble floors, white painted walls with pictures of snow and rubbish that was also white. There were vases of white flowers and the white armored peacekeepers. The people on the white couches looked almost out of place with their fancy black suits, so expensive it made me look like a slacker in mine. There was a huge flat screen TV playing the games, where it showed a tribute struggling to get over a ravine. The people, mostly men with the occasional women were all sipping champagne and eating fancy foods on toothpicks served by white suite waiters. I knew that the President's color was white, pretty much because of his last name, Snow, but I didn't know he went all out like that. Molly went right over to the couches, she acted as if she knew these people personally, which, I figured, might be true. I looked around, trying to spot one of the men from the wall. There was a small bar in the corner with three smaller TV's playing overhead and a lone man sitting on one of the bar stools. I decided to start with him, and not with such a big crowd. I walked over, trying to think of something to say. He was bent over the counter, staring into his small glass of what looked like whiskey.

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked in my best polite voice. He looked up at me with boredom, and waved his hand in approval. He reminded me of myself a little bit. I sat in the stool next to him, taking a glass of champagne from the waiter walking around. "I'm Sherlock Holmes, and you?" I asked, thinking that would be a good place to start.

"Harry, Harry Grossman." He muttered, as if disappointed in his name, he seemed almost as positive as I was.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Grossman." I said politely.

"Wait a minute, did you say your name was Sherlock?" he asked, suddenly sounding interested in me.

"Yes sir, you probably know me from last year's games." I agreed with a slight smile.

"That tribute was talking to you right, that John kid?" he asked. I didn't know what to reply to that, yes, that's my boyfriend isn't he adorable?

"Yes, John Watson, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." I agreed.

"He's funny, made me laugh." Harry said with a chuckle.

"Oh yes sir, he makes me laugh all the time. Do you think maybe you'd like to donate to him, make those laughs last longer?" I asked hopefully.

"Oh I don't invest, sorry kid, broke." He said, twirling the glass in his hands to make the liquid swish in his cup. "Everything goes to this stuff." My heart sank; I thought I could have luck with him.

"Well, than your for your time Mr. Grossman." I said, quickly getting off the chair and walking disappointedly back to Molly.