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Disclaimer: The Hunger Games and all related copyrights belong to Suzanne Collins. Just borrowing.

A/N: Anyone miss vanilla bean's "a perfect sonnet"? Well, I missed it so much I started writing this little story, and she's kindly given me her permission to publish this little mission one-shot. One-shot in the sense that it'll be short (hopefully), and it centres around one of Katniss's missions with the squad.

If you haven't read her masterpiece yet, where have you been? It's hands down the best post-MJ sequel. This story takes place shortly after Gale and Katniss's steamy reunion. As you remember, she joins President Paylor's elite squad in charge of ensuring Panem's safety and security. So what happens when a mystery ship docks in Four? What will they find?


There are days when Gale wakes, and she's already up, lying on her side and watching him like a cat. He wants to rub his eyes in disbelief, but this isn't the first time it's happened, and more than once means its real, right? Sometimes, if it's dark enough, he'll raise a hand to her cheek, bringing her in for a kiss that often escalates into a fierce, furious blur of passion. Before she came back, he thought he'd seen it all, been there, done that. Sex with Reeva was mere sport, a form of weekly entertainment. But with Katniss, it's like nothing he's ever felt before. He completely loses his mind when he's in her. When they come together it's almost as if Gale Hawthorne disappears. There's nothing in the here and now except for this insane, mind-fucking flame that connects and incinerates them at the same time.

But this morning, it's almost light when he stirs, the faintest beams of grey dawn streaming in under the blinds. The sheets beside him are wrinkled and she's not there. Panic seizes him for a moment before rationality takes over, and he hears the sound of the tap running in the bathroom. It's been two months since that fateful morning when she appeared on his doorstep, but he still can't shake the occasional fear that he's living in a blissful dream and one day he'll wake up, like now, and find her gone.

"Gale?" She's standing in the doorway, wondering why he's staring at her spot on the bed with such a curious expression. But his face breaks out in a boyish smile when he turns and catches her eye, and she fights hard to resist the urge to crawl back into bed with him. Then they'd never get up, and they have a plane to catch in an hour. "We need to get going," she reminds him in a gentle voice as she goes over to his side and plants a kiss on his forehead.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" He grumbles, pulling her back in for a longer kiss. She'll never tire of his kissesevery one says a different thing. With Peeta, kisses were pure, simple shows of affection, an expression of love. But Gale's a physical person, and sometimes he communicates better with his touch than his words. Of course, the possibility also strikes her that she's just so attuned to his body language, perhaps even more so after reaching this new plane in their relationship. His kiss this morning is demanding, and his hand clings on to her arm even after they break apart. It makes her wonder if he was doing that thing again, doubting her sincerity in staying here and making their relationship work. For good measure, she leans in and finds his lips again, trying to dispel the flicker of worry she caught in his eyes. He seems a little more satisfied that she's not about to disappear, and they finally get out of bed, dressing and heading out of the house.

It's a short, forty-five minute flight to the military airport at District Four, and they each make use of the time to go over the case notes filed by Rhys Flint, the district's security chief. After the war, the Peacekeeping forces were dismantled, but there was still a need for local law and enforcement. From the dregs of the rebellion army, Paylor picked a trusted officer from each district, tasking them with the responsibility of drafting and training their own security forces. It worked as long as each district's chief remained loyal to Paylor and the Capitol, but the risk of individual fiefdoms developing was always present. There's been talk of raising a national army, but memories of Snow's brutal Peacekeepers go back a long way and there's still strong resistance against the Capitol possessing a large uniform presence across all districts.

Their mission to Four is classified as green or low-risk, meaning they are there to investigate, not engage in any combat action, and to return with intelligence for Paylor and the team to decide on the next course of action. But Gale can't deny this is one of the strangest missions he's ever encountered. Four lines the westernmost edge of Panem, with a long jagged coastline that seems to have no end. One summer at Annie's, he tried jogging as far north as possible, beyond the forest, just for kicks. The gradient was uphill all the way, and by midday he was exhausted and still the coast went on for miles, farther than he could see.

Four is the frontier, the youngest district in Panem. The air there is different, and it always holds the possibility of new discovery to Gale. But no one knows what to do with the strange boat of aliens that landed on its shores last week. There were nine of them, looking like nothing anyone ever saw in the whole of Panem. They were definitely human, but their bodies were so malnourished, their hair so wild and skin dehydrated by exposure to the elements, it was hard to tell their ages and sex. Three females, post-pubescent, and six males, estimated between twenty and forty, Rhys had written in his report. The nine aliens spoke in a foreign tongue that nobody could understand. It was Panem's first recorded contact with the outside world in over a hundred years.

And no one knows what this means.


A/N Please let me know if you like this! The next update is ready, just waiting for your review :)