Back again but this time with a sequel! I usually can't stand sequels simply because they're never as good as the original works but I thought I'd give it a shot. And because you guys requested it. You guys wanted a sequel to Witness Protection so here it is. I hope I can keep you guys as interested in this one as I did with the first part. It's not going to start with a bang like the first one but there's a setup for a bang.
You don't have to read Witness Protection to understand what's going on in this story but there are definitely references to the previous story and you might not pick up on certain things if you aren't caught up. So you don't have to read the first part, but I definitely recommend you do.
With that written, shout out to all the new readers and returning readers to this series. After all, you guys are the reason this sequel is up. Like always, let me know how much you love/hate it by hitting that fav/follow/review button. Thanks so much.
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Simply working with the idea.
"Peeta, please not now." Katniss moans.
"What do you mean, not now?" He says as he trails a hand up the back of her shirt. "Now is the perfect, and possibly, the only time." She turns to face him. Peeta pulls her into him and kisses her slowly.
"We can't Peeta."
"Yes we can." He gently pushes her onto her back and crawls in between her legs. "God how I love that you're going commando."
"Didn't get a chance to put them on since last night." She giggles against his lips before he kisses her deeply. He kicks his boxers off and quickly thrusts into her. "We have to be quick." She moans.
He chuckles. "Quick has become my new middle name." Peeta hitches one of her legs over his waist and thrusts hard into her.
"Yes, Peeta..." She moans into his ear.
"Katniss," he captures her lips in a kiss to drown out their moans and pants as Peeta picks up the pace. The only sounds that resonate are those of skin on skin and muffled moans. "Katniss, I can't..." He drops his hand to caress her intimately.
"Peeta please..." She begs. Katniss throws her head up to the ceiling in the pleasure. His fingers press harder against her clit. She can only hold on to his strong shoulders as her release finds her quicker than she anticipated. Peeta follows shortly after with a groan he drowns out into the crook of Katniss' neck.
"That wasn't so bad." Peeta chuckles.
"No, but that couldn't wait until later tonight?"
"You never know..." He mumbles into her neck. "We might not get a chance..."
"Why-" Katniss doesn't get a chance to finish because the door to their bedroom swings open and in bounces their three-year-old daughter, Madeline.
"Mommy! Daddy!" She climbs onto their bed forcing Peeta to quickly scramble around for his boxers. The last thing he needed was to have to explain anything to their baby girl about boys.
"Good morning, Maddy." Katniss distracts their daughter from Peeta's distress.
"Mommy! Why are you still in bed?" She grabs Katniss' hand and tries to drag her out of the bed. "Let's go watch cartoons!" Maddy can't get far before she feels her father's arms around her small body. She squeals as Peeta hugs her tightly and nuzzles his face against hers. "Daddy! You're fuzzy!"
"What is my little girl up to this morning?" Peeta asks.
"Cartoons!"
"What happened to that scary movie my big girl wants to watch?" She hides her face in his chest and whimpers.
"Peeta!" Katniss shakes her head. She didn't want her watching those things. Peeta shakes his own head and gives her a just kidding face.
"I'm scared, Daddy." Maddy admits.
"Of what?"
"The monster in the movie." She frantically shakes her head in fear.
"Hey, hey, hey..." Peeta grabs her shoulders. "You know those things aren't real."
"They're not?" He shakes his head. "Will you watch with me then?"
"Peeta..." Katniss warns. Peeta laughs.
"There's my brave girl!" He signs to her. Maddy makes the same sign before he tackles her onto the bed, smothering her in kisses. She'd forget what they were talking about shortly.
Katniss can't help but smirk at the two of them; she was a daddy's girl to the end.
Her thoughts drift to when she was pregnant. Peeta had been forever attentive to her and her fears. Katniss was scared at various times of her pregnancy but there Peeta was, holding her and later talking to their baby. Then she remembers when Maddy was born. They both hadn't been able to hold back the tears once their baby made it into the world.
Katniss had made it through her pregnancy fears and, surprisingly, she wasn't scared of what was to come. Just watching her husband with their daughter, how could she be scared when all their daughter did was bring them joy.
But new, unexpected fears surfaced quickly. When Maddy was a newborn, she'd been unresponsive to sound. Whenever people would talk to her, she'd look away and not pay the sound any mind. The doctors thought she might be deaf.
It had been a lot for the both of them to take in. Peeta had reassured Katniss that everything was going to be okay. Once he'd taken care of Katniss, he'd spent the time researching deafness. He'd bought every book on the topic and even went as far as learning sign language.
Peeta spent all the time in the world teaching sign language to both Maddy and Katniss. It was the first thing Maddy learned how to do, sign everything. Then, one day, Maddy just responded. Peeta was in the kitchen yelling out to Katniss, who was in the living room. Katniss noticed Maddy following their conversation; and then she'd yelled out her first word.
They'd taken Maddy to the doctor the first chance they got. The doctor couldn't believe it himself; he had no explanation for why Maddy could suddenly hear. The only reasoning he could come up with was that maybe she'd fooled them all; that she was just a curious baby who'd been too distracted by the world to listen to anybody. By that time, both Peeta and Maddy had managed to master sign language. So now, seeing as Katniss had barely gotten down the basics, it had become their secret language.
"Mommy!" Maddy yells breaking Katniss out of her thoughts. "Help me!"
"Let her go, Peeta." He momentarily stops his assault to look at Katniss.
"Mmm... No!" He switches tactics. Instead of kissing Maddy, he tickles her.
"Mom!" She squeals between laughter. Katniss rolls her eyes before she reaches underneath the sheets and gently, but firmly, backhands Peeta below the waist.
"Oof!" Peeta releases Maddy who scrambles into Katniss' arms. "Katniss!" He groans as he rubs his manhood. Maddy laughs while Katniss smirks at him.
"I told you to let her go." Katniss gently runs her hand through Maddy's hair. She looks up to Katniss with a smile. Maddy was almost an exact replica of her; dark hair, olive skin, but had Peeta's piercing blue eyes.
"Mommy, you have to show me how you do that!"
"Do what, baby?"
"Stop Daddy!" Katniss laughs.
"When you're older."
"Yea..." Peeta groans. "A lot older." He massages himself, trying to soothe the pain.
"Are you guys coming downstairs?" Maddy asks them.
"Give us a minute. Okay, sweetie?" She throws her arms around both her parents and kisses their cheeks before she scrambles off the bed. Katniss throws her legs over the edge of the bed but Peeta wraps an arm around her waist.
"Where are you going?"
"To attend to our daughter." She pushes up to stand but Peeta keeps her in place. "Peeta, come on!"
"You owe me for that little stunt..." He sits up, wraps his arms around her, and kisses the back of her neck.
"Do I?" She turns in his grasp, kissing him back down. Her hand roams down his chest, slipping into his pants. She wraps her hand around him and begins stroking him until he's fully erect. "You're so bad..." She whispers.
"I am..." He concedes. He reaches for her but she suddenly pulls away. "Katniss?"
"That's your punishment for being bad. Now get up and help me with breakfast!" Peeta throws his head back with a groan as Katniss leaves him alone with his raging hard on still at attention.
"Is Mommy coming?" Maddy asks Peeta. He lifts her up into his arms and walks them over to Katniss.
"No. Mommy's staying here." He kisses her sweetly.
"Yea," Katniss kisses Maddy on the cheek. "By the time you guys get back from the park, I'll have dinner waiting." Peeta laughs. "What?"
"You're going to cook?" Katniss takes Maddy into her arms, kisses her once more before she puts her back on the ground.
"Go change into some sneakers, baby." Once Maddy's clear from the room, Katniss shoves Peeta.
"What?" He laughs.
"I can cook!" He shakes his head making her shove him again. Peeta pulls her into him.
"Okay. You can cook." He kisses her deeply. "I can't wait for dinner to be ready."
"Yea..." She fixes the collar of his shirt for him. "You better hope I don't poison yours."
"Why, is it going to be burnt?" Peeta has to dodge another swipe. He laughs some more before he pulls her back into him. "I love you." He cuddles into her neck. "Now you say it back..."
"I'm not really in an I love you mood."
"Then, should I stay and get you there?" He kisses down her neck and runs his hand up her shirt.
"You can spare a couple minutes?"
"Oh, Katniss!" Peeta throws his head to the floor in embarrassment.
"Not so nice to be on the other side of the jokes." He groans. Katniss throws her arms around him.
"You know we have to be quick now because-"
"Come on, Daddy!" Maddy collides into the back of Peeta's leg. Katniss cuddles into Peeta's neck.
"Take her to the park, come back for dinner, and later, after Maddy's asleep, you can show me just how wrong my joke is."
"All night, huh?" Katniss bites her lip and nods. "Make sure you get a nap in then before we get back." He kisses her before he ducks down and picks up Maddy. "Ready for the park?"
"Yea!"
"Have fun guys."
The moment they step out of the car, Maddy doesn't stop trying to get out of Peeta's grasp.
"Calm down, baby girl!" Maddy groans as she tries to wiggle out. "Okay, okay..." Once he puts her on the ground, she runs off towards the monkey bars. "Play nice!" He barely gets out.
"Peeta!" He finishes locking up his car before he turns towards the voice.
"Hey Finn!" Living close by for almost four years now, Finn had finally got what he wanted; a best man friend in Peeta. They only lived a mile or so down the road from each other and they had kids a year apart.
"Where's Katniss?"
"At home. Giving cooking a try once more."
"Oh." Finn laughs. "The spaghetti fiasco..."
"Hey! I'm the only one who can crack on my wife. Matter of fact, I should invite you over for dinner tonight as punishment!" They both share a laugh.
"Oh. It looks like my boy is making a move on your girl..." They both take a seat on one of the park benches. They watch as a miniature copy of Finn sits in the grass next to Maddy. He digs in the dirt next to her until he pulls out a dandelion which he hands to Maddy.
"If he knows what's good for him, he'll keep his distance..." Peeta warns.
"At least he's got good taste." Peeta shoves Finn away playfully.
"Stop hitting on my three-year-old!"
They continue to watch their children as they chase after one another. They climb up the stairs onto the platform on the jungle gym. They wait in the short line to go down the slide. Finn follows Maddy down the slide. They laugh as they fall to the ground together. He helps her back up but another kid at the playground pushes them back down.
"Oh, we might have a problem." Peeta says as he eyes the interaction. Maddy tries to get in the middle of the whole thing but Finn Jr. stands up to the bigger kid.
"Finny can take him." Finn says.
"You're going to let your son get into a fight?!" Peeta stands just as the bigger boy pushes Jr. to the ground. "Finn!"
"Hey!" Finn shouts. Maddy only stays by Finn Jr.'s side for an instant before she barrels for the bigger boy.
"Damn it!" Peeta and Finn break out in a full run. Katniss was going to kill him if Maddy came back bruised up. When they reach their kids, the bigger boy is hiding underneath his arms, protecting himself from the barrage of fists that come from little Maddy. "Maddy!" Peeta pulls her up and off of the boy. The boy runs away from the whole thing before anyone can say anything.
"Daddy! That boy-" He pulls her into his arms.
"I know." Peeta whispers quietly. He chuckles softly as he looks her over. "You are your mother's daughter."
"Huh?" Little Maddy questions. He shakes his head. He looks over at Finn with his son. Peeta lifts Maddy up into his arms.
"Do you want to go home now?"
"No, Daddy! It's too soon!" She kicks her feet, begging for her father to put her down. She tries to run off but Peeta stops her.
"Hey, you know fighting is bad, right?"
"No. But that boy pushed Finn!" She tries to explain.
"Yea, I know but-"
"If fighting is bad than that boy did something bad, right Daddy?"
"Yes."
"And I did something bad too?"
"You were defending yourself and your friend. So no you didn't do anything really bad. Just...don't fight anyone for fun. Don't be a bully."
"A bully?" Peeta kisses her cheek. It was complicated to explain all of this to her, seeing as she was so young.
"Go play. But we're going home in a little bit." Maddy walks over to Finn Jr. who's still in Finn's arms. She grabs his hand and kisses him on the cheek. That's all the cheering up he needs as he runs off again with Maddy. "And he's his father's son."
"What?" Finn asks.
"One kiss and Maddy's got him wrapped around her finger." Finn laughs. He pats Peeta on the shoulder before they head back to their seats.
"You think she got those moves from her FBI father?" Peeta slows his pace, not even listening to the question; a man standing by his car just across the street catches his attention. He raises a camera in Peeta's direction and a flash goes off. "Hey Peeta, you okay?"
"Do you know that guy?" Finn looks in the man's direction.
"No...I've never seen him."
"Is he taking pictures of you or me?" Peeta asks.
"Maybe they're of the kids...Hey, you creep!" Finn yells. Peeta has to stop him from chasing the man down but Finn's outburst makes the man run off.
"Yea..." But Peeta's not convinced. "Let's hope he doesn't come back."
"Mommy!" Maddy runs into Katniss' arms.
"How was the park?"
"Fun! Look," She hands Katniss a dandelion."
"And who gave you this?"
"Who do you think?" Peeta asks her. "Her boyfriend..."
"No, Daddy!" Maddy blushes before she runs off to her room.
"Finn Jr., huh...I hope you were watching them like a hawk."
"Katniss, they're three and four. But, yes, I was watching them the entire time."
"Good!"
"Do you know what else happened?" Peeta starts before he takes a seat behind the island. "Your daughter walloped a boy almost twice her size."
"What?!"
"You should have seen her, Katniss! This kid pushed little Finn and Maddy went after him! I was as worried as I was proud."
"Oh my god, Peeta!" Katniss looks up the stairs. "Maddy, come down here!"
"What are you doing?"
"Looking after our baby!" She doesn't let Maddy make it past the half way point of the stairs. Katniss is there, lifting Maddy into her arms. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, Mommy!" She struggles against her mother's hold. "I can't breathe!" Katniss places her back on the ground in front of her so she can examine her. "Mommy?" Katniss releases a breath.
"You're fine." She runs a hand through Maddy's hair. "Go wash up. Dinner's ready."
"Katniss-"
"How could you let her get into a fight?!" Katniss shouts.
"I didn't! She beat him up!"
"You said you were watching her!"
"I was but I can't keep her on a leash! She was playing! I can't help it if she inherited her temper from her mother!"
"You're blaming this on me?!"
"I'm not blaming this on you! I'm proud of the fact that she stood up for herself and her friend."
"If anything, this is your fault." Katniss crosses her arms.
"Mine? Why?"
"Your FBI background...your martial arts fetish..." He laughs.
"My FBI background is not genetic and neither is my love for knowing how to defend myself; your temper, though, is."
"Peeta, what if something would have happened?" He grabs her hand, pulling her into him.
"Nothing happened." He kisses her cheek. "She's fine and she understands that fighting is not good."
"She does?" Peeta makes a face.
"A little. When she's older, I'll show her how to put someone in a chokehold." Katniss laughs as she playfully pushes Peeta away. He kisses her cheek, then slowly trails his kisses to her lips.
"Peeta..." Katniss throws her arms around his neck as she deepens the kiss. The sound of their daughter's feet moving towards them makes them stop. "Tonight, okay?"
Katniss wakes the middle of night, drenched in sweat. She had a nightmare, which was odd because she almost never had them; at least since Peeta joined her. She quickly noticed that they weren't coincidences, seeing as they only happened when he wasn't around. There were nights, back when he was in the FBI, that he'd take a night shift or night watch and he'd leave her alone at night. Those nights, she didn't sleep until he came home.
But he wasn't in the FBI anymore and was always home at night now. Katniss looks around the room and notices that Peeta's not in bed. It must have been for a while too, if she'd had a nightmare. She throws the covers off and pads downstairs to look for him.
"Peeta?" Katniss pushes the door of the last possible room in the house he could be. When they first moved in, they'd taken a risk and bought a place together. To compromise, they both had to get rid of a lot of things. She remembered Peeta had made two stacks; one for everything he was taking, the other of things for the trash.
Flashback
"Peeta, you don't have to get rid of so much." Katniss looks over his trash pile. His stack was three times as high as the stack of the things he was taking with him.
"It's just some stuff I don't need." Peeta yells from another room.
"Yea? Like what?" She opens one of the boxes. "Peeta, these are perfectly good pots!"
"Yea, but you probably have some." He peaks at her from the doorway. "Don't you?"
"And when exactly have you seen me cook?" She asks with a laugh.
"You're right." Peeta grabs the box and puts it in the other pile. "My baby can't cook." He smiles big at her. He gives her a kiss before he heads back into his room. She shakes her head. If he was throwing away things they could still use, what else was in the boxes?
"Aww," she says as she opens the next box. "This is cute!" Katniss waves a stuffed animal into the air. "And you have so many..." She digs through the box; there had to be at least two dozen plush toys.
"Oh those are definitely going to the trash."
"Why?"
"You really don't want to know." His answer definitely gets her attention. She makes her way over to him.
"Why don't I want to know?"
"Katniss," He stops packing long enough to answer. "Those were all gifts from my exes." Katniss laughs.
"And you still have them? Why?"
"Never really got a chance to throw them away."
"But why so many? One for every girlfriend?" He laughs as he grabs her hand and leads them back over to the box. He takes the one Katniss has.
"This one was from one ex who insisted I was too hostile; stressed from work. She said it would help me relax." He grabs another one. "This one was supposed to do the same. This one, is was to help me sleep. This one was for my birthday."
"How many girlfriends have you had?!" He laughs.
"90% of these were from one ex who thought everything could be solved with some 'poofy' love. She sent me most of them after I broke up with her. Then," He digs through the box and pulls out one. "My next ex gave me this one and I'd honestly had too much from this one!" He gestures to the box. "I dumped her on the spot."
"So all these are from two exes?" He nods.
"Yep, Crazy and Nice Girl..."
"Nice Girl? Sounds like you still like this girl..."
"Wouldn't know. We didn't really get that far." Peeta looks at the stuffed animal. "She could have been the one but..." He shrugs.
"I got in the way?"
"No!" He shoves the stuffed animal in her face. "This did, which broke us up and then a lot later, I met you." Peeta throws the toy back into the box and grabs her hand. "The love of my life."
"Yea, yea, yea." She waves him off before she continues to the next box. Peeta wraps his arms around her waist to watch her.
"You going to check all my boxes?" He kisses her neck.
"What's this?" Katniss pulls out what looks like a police uniform.
"Oh, that's my stuff from my patrol days." He helps her look through it. "My uniform, old vest, old t-shirt from the academy..."
"Why would you throw these things away? These are part of your memories; your past."
"Hey," He pulls out an old picture. "This is from our graduating class." He keeps digging. "What's this?"
"Looks like an award, 'In recognition of outstanding service, honor, and loyalty.'" Katniss reads.
"I got promoted after this..." He tells her.
"I still don't understand why you would throw this away. Any of it!"
"Because..." Peeta kisses her cheek. "You don't like this part of me."
"Peeta," she turns in his arms to face him. "This is how we met."
"You don't like that I'm in danger all the time..." She grabs his face.
"True, but without this," She grab something from his box. "You would have never made it to the FBI. We would have never met. We wouldn't be in love or be where we are today."
"Katniss-"
"Yes, I don't like you being in danger but I love you. All of you. That includes your past, Peeta. I'd never ask you to get rid of this."
"You don't have to. Eventually, I'll quit and the last thing you're going to want around are reminders-"
"Of our past? Of who you are?" She shakes her head. "I love you. You should keep this box." He looks down at the box.
"You sure?"
"I'm positive. I saw the way your face lit up when you pulled out that picture. I know you want to keep it too."
"I do. I just didn't think you'd want me to." She gives him a deep kiss. Peeta closes the box back up and moves it to the other pile.
"Of course I would. If only for that shirt."
"My old shirt? Why?"
"You know how I like to wear your shirts to bed. That one looks like it might fit me better too."
"That's because it's from back in the day when I wasn't rippling with muscles!" They both share a laugh. Katniss throws her arms around him, kissing him passionately.
"How about we take a break from packing?" Katniss runs her hands up the front of his shirt.
"And do what?" She sighs before she rests her head on Peeta's chest and lets out a laugh. For an FBI agent, sometimes he could be so clueless.
The room downstairs was where he kept all that stuff. He had more now, from several years with the FBI, so the room was almost like a shrine; decorated with plaques, awards, his old uniforms. He very seldom went into the room anyway; it was only on days when he wanted to remember or worse, when he'd listen to the police scanner. On those nights, Katniss was afraid that he'd go out and do something stupid. But the worst part of it was that Katniss feared Peeta missed those days; that he'd want to go back. He'd always put a stop it to her worries by denying that he'd ever go. But that's where she found him.
"Peeta? What are you doing?" He's sitting at the desk, stroking his chin pensively.
"Nothing." He turns down the scanner, knowing how much she hated when he listened to it. "Couldn't sleep."
"Something on your mind?" He shakes his head.
"No." He stands and kisses her sweetly. "Go back upstairs. Get some sleep."
"Are you coming?" He walks her to the door.
"Yea, just let me turn off the radio." Peeta kisses her once more. He walks back over to his desk and finishes up the text he was in the middle of sending. He puts the sketch he was working on back into the desk then turns off his radio. Tomorrow, he'd deal with what was on his mind.
