This story was written as a side project mainly because since I read Hunger Games I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe if I write it out I can get started on the second part of my own work. If you like Peeta, don't bother reading it.

Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is the sole intellectual and commercial property of Suzanna Collins and Scholastic Publishing. The use of which is done solely for enjoyment and no other purpose. The extra characters and changes in the story line are the sole intellectual property of Michael J. Flanders (me).

This story is a cross over between The Hunger Games and my short story Free fall.

Katniss and Gale have a third member of their hunting party that lives out in the woods outside District 12. He hunts, trades at the Hob and seems to get just about anything you might need. He's been their friend and business partner for the last year has been their friend. When Katniss takes her sister's place he volunteers to take Peeta's place and decides he must help Katniss win even if it costs him his life.

Story contains sexual situations, harsh language and somewhat explicit violence

Reaping Minus Two Days

A young looking man, slowly, quietly, walked through the thick underbrush of the wooden area that was more or less his home. His well worn brown leather boots avoided stepping on anything that could give away his position. He senses aware of everything around him. The slightest movements, sounds or even smells acted alike alarms to him. He was trained for this sort of thing but for far different reasons than he was using them now. He paused for a second and looked up at the mid summer sun through the tree canopy, closed his eyes and smiled. He wiped the sweat from his brow not minding the intense summer's heat. He was happy here for many reasons chief of which was his friends. The fact of the matter was his two hunting partners had taught him to find joy in what many would consider simple things. They taught him how to be something he never remembered being; a kid. He let the summer sun warm his face and breathed the sweet smelling air. Everything here seemed better, purer than he ever remembered before. The air fresher, the water cleaner, the plants and game he cooked tasted incredible. Even Greasy Sae's concoctions she brews up in the Hob, the local black market, tasted good most of the time. A small brushing sound took him out of his trance. He looked towards the sound and saw the tail feathers of a wild turkey moving behind a group of pine trees. He crouched down behind a shrub, brought up the bow he barrowed and notched an arrow. He lost sight of his target but continued watching, his instincts told him there was more than one target out there even though he couldn't see it. Instincts he'd learned to trust implicitly without completely understanding why. He glanced over to the 18 year old young man about ten meters to his left. Gale Hawthorn was also crouched; his bow ready but apparently couldn't see the turkeys from his position. He lowered his bow, pointed at his eyes with two fingers, held three fingers up and then pointed at the trees. Even without seeing them he was certain there were at least three of them walking around. Those turkeys could be dinner for him and his friends family or he could sell them to associates at the Hob for money. Money he would share with his friends or simply use to get things they needed. They were his only friends and he'd do anything for them; even die if necessary. Gale nodded, looked over at the other in their little trio, a skinny 16 year old girl and simply nodded in the direction of their prey. Katniss Everdeen nodded back and moved silently a little farther ahead, her father's bow ready. The man smiled. He knew Gale and Katniss had been hunting together for more than four years. In that time they understood each other so well that they could communicate the same thing he did with his hand in a simple nod. He wondered if he'd been that close to anyone that they would understand what he was thinking with just a glance. Both his and Gale's eyes were on Katniss, waiting for her to get a clear shot. Dropping her target would flush the others into the clear and give the two boys clear shots as well. Katniss stopped moving forward and in one fluid motion stood up and shot. He didn't see where her arrow hit but then the other two started leaping away from the trees. Gale got his shot off skewering his in the center of its body. He also took his shot and buried his arrow in a nearby tree missing his intended target by inches. Katniss reloaded and shot again taking down the last bird. He closed his eyes and moaned softly knowing he'd just given his friends another reason to tease him about his lack of archery skills. He didn't mind looking like a fool in front of the others for a couple of reasons. First a bow was a new weapon for him and second it would make Katniss laugh. The girl laughed so rarely he made it a point to make her laugh at least once every time he saw her. He watched Gale and Katniss, or Kat, as he liked to call her, both because it was easier to say than Katniss and just to be somewhat irritating, recover their prizes while he had to use a rusty, thin bladed knife to pry the arrow out of the tree.

Gale tucked his kill into his belt and yelled, "Saint John, how are you going to get that to the Hob?" The two long time hunting partners were looking at him smiling.

And it begins, Saint John thought. He replied, "I got an axe somewhere. Maybe I can convince Sae its dog wood and she can throw it in the soup."

Gale chuckled softly and said, "Might improve the taste."

Katniss looked down trying to hide her smile.

Saint John smiled. He liked seeing Katniss smile. He looked at the tree for a second like he was studying it, rubbed his chin and said, "Then again, if it was dog wood I'd have to tie a leash around it to keep it from chasing Kat up a different tree."

She pulled her arrows out of the turkeys and held them up admiring the kills. He could tell she was trying to ignore him but could see the ends of her lips curl up slightly.

Saint John smiled, looked over at Gale and decided to get some help. He said to Gale, "Must be proud of her work. She looks like the cat that swallowed the canary."

She started smiling just a little wider but Gale finished what Saint John started by saying, "I think you have a little milk on your whiskers Catnip."

That did it. Katniss started laughing and replied, "I don't have whiskers! My name is Katniss, not Cat, Kitten or Catnip, Katnisssssssss," and made the end of her name sound like a cat hissing at them.

Saint John meowed at her. He knew she wasn't mad, they teased her all the time and usually she gave as good as she got. Although there were days when she wasn't in the mood to be teased. On those days Saint John would ask her questions about the woods, various plants or setting snares. It normally got her mind off whatever was bothering her and then he and Gale could start a line of stupid jokes or exaggerated stories that sooner or later would get her nearly on the ground laughing.

She sat down on a downed tree and started cleaning her kill. Saint John sat down next to her, picked up the other turkey and cleaned it for her. She scowled at him for a second but didn't say anything. The first time he helped her clean a kill she grabbed it back telling him it was hers. He smiled and told her all he was trying to do was help. It took a while but eventually she let him do things for her. He finished with his bird, leaned back and said, "Well I guess if I plan on eating today I'd better go fishing." He then set the bow and quiver of arrows he barrowed by the game and said, "Here, it's pretty obvious if I have to rely on my aim to eat I'd starve."

Katniss looked at him with just a hint of concern in her eyes and replied, "You're not that bad, only missed by an inch or two."

"A close miss is still a miss."

Gale looked over from the other side of Katniss and said, "You just need more practice."

Saint John looked down at his feet smiling and said, "That's a switch; you two trying to cheer me up."

There were times when he could hear both of them from a half a kilometer away talking about how unfair their government, namely the Capital, was towards the districts. Since reaping day was only a couple of days away Saint John thought they'd be even more angry about their situation. He knew on that day every child in all the districts would have to stand corralled like cattle and wait for their names to be called. The two chosen, one boy and one girl, would then be sent to the capital, made a ridiculous spectacle and then put in an area and made to fight to the death until only one remains. Both Gale and Katniss were eligible to be chosen to represent district 12; the one where Saint John had decided to make his home. For some reason they seemed oddly subdued about the whole thing. He wondered if it was because they were trying not to think about it or they didn't want to talk in front of him. Saint John told them he was 17 so he should be in the reaping. But since the Capital didn't know he was here his name would never make it into the reaping bowl. He looked over and wondered if may be they were jealous that it seemed he found a way to avoid what they must be fearing. Saint John wanted to help them but wasn't sure how to without making things worse or getting everyone killed.

Gale looked over scowling and asked, "What are you trying to say? That we're not happy and overjoyed about being forced to forage and hunt for enough food to feed our families? That in a couple of days we get to wait and see if one of us gets to die for the Capital's entertainment? That even if we do make to adulthood the best we can hope for is to work in the same mine that killed our fathers? Why wouldn't we be happy about that?"

Saint John cringed inside for getting his best friend in the world angry about life in district 12 again. It wasn't that hard to do; Gale went off on that topic quite easily. Externally he didn't let any reaction show. Instead he leaned back farther and said, "Not you, you're always happy." He then bumped his shoulder against Katniss's and said, "Now sour puss here…..," and that was all he got to say. He felt her leg move under his and didn't try to stop her from pushing him backwards off the log. His back slammed into hard packed dirt. He set out a small gasp and said, "Ow." He wasn't hurt but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Gale looked at him chuckling again. Katniss picked up her turkeys and the other bow, stood up and started to walk away.

He caught a glimpse of a small smile on her face and smiled himself. He then remembered something, said, "Kat wait," and got up off the ground.

She stopped in her tracks rigid and obviously annoyed.

He walked over to her and said, "Sorry, Katnissssssss," exactly the same way she did. It got another small smile out of her. He reached into his green, burlap game bag he carried across his body and under his right arm and handed her a large white cloth tied at the top to keep its contents from falling out.

Katniss undid the knot, saw the collection of medicinal herbs and roots and inhaled sharply. She looked up at him questioningly.

Saint John said, "I found them out in the field. I was going to sell them but thought your mom might want them."

Katniss looked back down and replied, "Yeah, I've been looking for some of this but couldn't find any." She looked up at him and said, "You'll have to show me where."

Saint John gave her a sad look and said, "Then you wouldn't have any use for me."

She closed her eyes, another small smile showing on her face.

Saint John looked even sadder and said in a small almost childlike voice, "Then you would just stop letting me hang around you and leave me all alone in the big scary woods…"

That got him a slap in the arm as well as a big smile and laugh. He then pulled out a long silver tube and handed it to her.

Her eyes became very big and she asked, "Where did you get that from?"

Saint John shrugged and said, "I found it."

Katniss scowled at him. She repeated, "You found it."

"Yeah, I'm good at finding things."

She examined the tube for a few seconds, handed it back to him and said, "It's too expensive."

He gave it back to her and said, "It didn't cost me anything."

Gale yelled from the log he was still sitting on, "What is it?"

Katniss replied, "It's medicine from the Capital." She looked back at Saint John and said, "You could buy a house with what you could get for it."

"What would I do with a house?"

"Live there, being out in the woods during the summer is one thing but it gets cold around here in the winter."

Saint John shrugged and said, "I got places to go when its cold or raining. Your mom can find better use for it than I can."

Katniss took the tube back, pulled one of the turkeys from her belt and tried to give it to him.

Saint John refused to take it and said, "You keep what you kill."

"But this is too much."

"Fine, tell you what. When I get you mad enough that you finally do shoot me in the butt, you'll have your mom pull the arrow out, ok?"

It was Gales turn to fall off the log only in laughter. Katniss just scowled at him either not finding his comment remotely funny or not wanting to owe him for such an expensive gift. Most likely both. He'd told her many times that he helps his friends because he wants to not because he expects anything in return.

She said, "Fine, that could be any day now." She looked at Gale and asked, "I'm heading to the Hob, sell one of my birds and get something for Prim; you coming?"

"Nope, I think I'm going to help Saint John catch his dinner, meet you later Catnip."

Katniss nodded and started making her way back to the fence.

Saint John watched her walk away and asked, "Why does she let you get away with calling her Catnip but gets mad when I call her Kat?"

"That's easy, she likes me."

Saint John felt a wave of sadness come over him and quickly leave. He said quietly to no one, "Yeah, maybe it's better that way," and started heading towards the creek for dinner.

Saint John stood bare foot in the cool stream water keeping himself absolutely still, spear ready waiting for the right fish to swim by. The water only came up about half way to his knees but the current was swift enough to make it difficult to stand still. Gale stood down current from him, a second spear in his hand also waiting. He looked over at Gale wondering why he was here. Saint John might not be the best hunter in the world but he was very close to being the best fisher easily able to bring out a couple dozen or so on a good day. He had woven nets, poles attached to tripwires that could set the hooks themselves but what he really liked to do was take them with a spear. The funny thing was he didn't really like eating fish. He let a couple small ones swim by until a striped fish the size of his foot slowly swam past his leg. He waited for the fish to get a little farther out from him, adjusted his aim to compensate for the distortion water causes light and let his spear fly. He pulled it out with a ten inch sized rain bow trout attached to the five prong barbs at the end of his spear. He nodded at his prey satisfied with the size, pulled it off the barbs and tossed it on the shore next to three others.

He was inspecting the tip of his spear when Gale asked, "What do you think of Katniss?"

He looked up for a second and thought that's a loaded question. Katniss Everdeen was in his opinion, attractive in a tomboyish sort of way. Her long braided hair constantly popping out of the green cap she tried to keep it in. Gray eyes, skin a couple of shades darker than his paleness. He looked down at his sun tanned arms and thought maybe he wasn't so pale anymore. She was very thin and kind of short. In fact between that and the clothes she wears hunting he at first thought she was a young boy, like Gale's younger brother or something. A superb hunter, gatherer and survivor not to mention without a doubt the best shot he'd ever seen with a bow. She was driven and committed to the welfare of her family and what few close friends she had. She was very good at thinking on her feet. Katniss Everdeen although quite young seemed like a women he could really like even maybe love. Confusing memories of others that he believed he loved came to mind. He closed his eyes for a second and willed them back.

He noticed he'd have to replace the tips on his spear and walked back to the shore. He looked over at Gale and considered the source of the question before he answered leaving out the personal stuff highlighting her hunting abilities.

Gale slammed his spear into the creek bed and came up empty. He shook his head and said, "That's not quite what I meant."

Of course it isn't, Saint John thought. "Gale, you didn't come out here to fish did you?"

Gale looked over at him and ran his left hand through his long dark hair. His grey eyes, almost identical to Katniss's told Saint John he guessed right. Saint John waved him over and asked, "Are you hungry?"

Saint John cleaned, scaled and filleted the fish while Gale collected some wood and got a fire ready to start. Saint John tossed him a shiny metal lighter to start the fire with. Gale looked at the lighter and asked, "Where do you get stuff like this?"

Saint John shrugged and replied, "Got it in a trade years ago, the hardest part is keeping it in fuel and flints."

The fish were cooked and mostly eaten and Gale still hadn't said anything. Finally Saint John asked, "So, I'm guessing there was a reason you asked me about Kat? Want to tell me or should we just sit here and pretend you're not into her?"

Gale looked at him like he was speaking a different language, which in a sense he was. Saint John shook his head a little annoyed at himself for using slang that he knew wouldn't translate well here. Slang he wasn't sure where he even learned. He smiled and asked, "Into her, like her, love her, want to sleep with her. That's what you're thinking, right?"

Gale looked down at his feet and nodded slightly apparently embarrassed that it was so obvious to his friend. Saint John smiled at his friend's reaction. You would have to be blind to not notice something going on or at least would be going on between them in a different world. He felt the need for a smoke; the idea of long difficult conversations usually brought that on. Which didn't make any sense because he can't remember ever smoking. He sighed and started telling Gale a little about what he knew of women. How both boys and girls play the same game only girls are usually a little better at it. Boys act like jerks a lot of the time to get a girls attention; showing off and stuff like that. Gale nodded, he had to have noticed that by now. Girls are usually more subtle than that and can do anything from harassing to completely ignoring a guy they are interested in. When he finished Saint John paused for a second studying his friend to see if he was catching on. Gale looked like he understood so Saint John said, "Now there are exceptions to every rule especially when you're dealing with people and Kat is kind of one of those exceptions."

Gale looked at him intently, very interested in what his friend was about to say.

"Katniss is a very private person, that's just who she is so she never had many close friends. When her father died she took it upon herself to feed her family. So instead of learning how to flirt and play the "I want him to notice me game" she had to learn how to hunt, gather, fish, trap and make deals for stuff they needed. Because of that she doesn't completely understand how to do play that game or it could just be she's not even interested in the things most girls are. She may not even be interested in boys. But I think her biggest problem is she's afraid."

Gale snorted and replied, "You sure we're talking about the same Katniss? She's not afraid of anything."

"Yes she is. She's afraid of living."

Gale frowned; his expression conveyed not only his disagreement but the need for further explanation.

"Kat's afraid of losing what she has even to the point of not dreaming of more. Look, you're her only real friend, the only one she tells all her secrets and feelings to. Now that sometimes works in a guy's favor because the girl already knows she can trust you. She already has that emotional connection with you. She can feel safe around you. But it can also work against you because if the romance thing doesn't work out they not only lose a boyfriend but they're afraid they might lose that confidant as well."

Gale's eyes narrowed in suspension. He asked, "You've thought a lot about her, haven't you?"

Saint John leaned his head to one side; like he does when someone says something about himself he wasn't aware of. He thought, maybe I have thought about her more than I realize.

"Saint John, I'm not her only friend. She sees you as someone she can trust too."

Saint John frowned for a second, laughed joylessly and replied, "Dude, the girl barely tolerates my being around you two."

Gale smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "She talks about you a lot, just when you're not around. It's actually a little annoying."

"What does she say?"

"That you seem to be there with whatever she really needs like medicine for Prim or food or stuff to trade and you never want anything in return. That she thinks you'd be there for us if we needed you. She worries about you though. That you have no place to live except out in the woods. You have no family to take care of you if you're sick or hurt. That someday the Capital's going to find out you're here or you're bringing things in from other districts. Crey'll have to do something about you then." Cray was the leader of the local law enforcement known as Peace Keepers. So far he hadn't asked a lot of questions about Saint John mostly because Cray and the other Peace Keepers liked the stuff he could get for them.

"They can kill both of you for poaching out here as well."

Gale laughed and said, "They're our best customers."

"Mine too. Don't worry about me; I've been taking care of myself for a long time."

"I don't worry about you, she does."

"What else does she say about me?"

Gale thought for a second and replied, "That you like annoying her. That you never take anything seriously, you act like a fool sometimes just to get a reaction out of her. She complains but I can tell she likes it most of the time, she seems almost happier after hanging around you."

"Being serious is highly over rated. You need to have fun when you can or what the hell's the point."

"So you're never serious? Nothing matters to you?"

"I'm serious when I have to be but for the most part I avoid it and yes some things matter to me like my friends; namely Kat and you. I think you two might be the only friends I've ever had. Besides I like making her smile. Kat has one of those smiles that a man would crawl through ten miles of solid rock just to see."

The glare Gale gave him made Saint John laugh. Gale suddenly looked hurt. His head dropped down and he started staring at his boots. Saint John shook his head and said, "Dude, trust me I'm not good for her. Another girlfriend would complicate things."

Gale looked up smirking and asked, "How many girlfriends do you have?"

"None right now and that's just the way I like it, no one to take care of except me."

"How many have you had?"

"A few and trust me they were all train wrecks."

Gales questioning look told him he did it again. "They ended badly."

They both sat there staring at the dying fire not saying anything. Saint John wasn't sure if he should tell his friend what he was thinking or not. He wasn't lying. He had memories of being in love with two women. He just wasn't sure how much of those memories were real and how much were illusions. God he really wanted that smoke right now. Saint John clapped his hands to break the tension and asked, "So you're into Katniss and wondering how I think you should handle it?"

"Well, I really just wanted to know if you were, well interested in her but since you seem to know so much what would you do?"

Saint John laughed and said, "Did I mention the train wreck part?"

"Well, you could just tell me how you met them and leave that part out."

"Ok, meeting girls without wrecking the train. Hmm, well the way I see it you have three choices; one you could let her make the first move. It's the safest for your ego but in this case it's also the most likely to flat out fail. You could find another girl and try to make her jealous, that sometimes works but it also back fires a lot and then you have two women hating you for life. Plus in a small place like this it will get out and you might have trouble getting dates after that. I think you're best option is to just tell her how you feel and let her decide."

Saint John tried not to laugh at the look of disappointment on his friend's face.

"Yeah I know that's easy for me to say but there really isn't a secret way of doing it. Well, not one that can you use on a woman you're thinking about spending your life with."

"Ok, and how do I do that without looking…stupid?"

"You can't, no matter how you say it you're going to be vulnerable. That's what happens when you open yourself up to another like that. Now I wouldn't recommend saying, 'Oh, Katniss, I love you so much I want to drink your used bathwater…'"

Gale was laughing so hard Saint John lost his train of thought and started laughing. When Gale could breathe again he asked, "That's disgusting, where do you come up with stuff like that?"

"I'm just your average sick puppy." And again with the slang no one can understand. Saint John said, "Never mind, look you could try testing the waters a little. Ask her if she thought about having a boyfriend or maybe what she thinks about getting married or maybe, I don't know…." Saint John snapped his fingers and said, "Ask her if she would run away with you. That way if she says yes you know she at least considered the idea of being with you to some degree. If she says no, well, then we'll just have to convince her she's wrong."

"We'd convince her?"

"Hell yeah, Kat's too cool a person to spend her life alone. If the two of us can make her laugh we can show her you're the best thing that could ever happen to her."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course I would. I've seen the way the two of you act around each other. You two belong together. Just remember, I help you get in the door you have to do the rest yourself."

Gale looked up at the setting sun, stood up and said, "It's getting late and I still have to get this bird to Cray's. See you tomorrow and thanks."

Saint John stood up and replied, "I'm not going to be around tomorrow, got something else to do. We'll get to work on Project fixing you and Kat up after the Reaping."

Gale looked at him like he wanted to say something else but instead he just nodded and walked away.

Saint John sat by the dying fire and cursed under his breath. The conversation with Gale bothered him for several reasons. Primarily he wasn't sure where his advice to his friend had come from. He stood up, kicked out the fire, collected his belongings and headed to his home. By the time he arrived at his camp at the tree line of a large grass field it had become quite dark. He went into his lean-to shelter, lit a candle and sat on his hammock. A soft voice asked him how is day went. He told the voice about the conversation with Gale and said, "I wish I knew how I know what I know." He didn't need the voice to explain his condition to him. His form of amnesia was not caused by any natural disease or injury. Even though his stomach was full of fish he was still hungry. He wanted a thick cheeseburger, well done French fries and ice cream. But more importantly he hungered for companionship. Talking to Gale had made him in a word horny and hungry to blow off some steam. He stood up and said, "Let's get out of here. I want to party, get drunk and get laid."

The soft almost female voice replied, "Sounds like a good idea. I have the perfect place in mind. We can both see some old friends."

He smiled, grabbed a small, black back pack from under and behind his hammock, walked to the center of the field and disappeared from site.

It seemed like he was above the center of district 12. The square full of all the districts children, separated by ages. He could see the mayor, the districts only living victor of the game and the escort from the Capital. He heard the escort call a name. Saint John snapped awake immediately and said, "Gale." He looked around not sure where he was until he heard a soft woman's voice ask, "You alright?"

He looked down to his left and could make out the shape of a thin woman lying next to him and the queen sized soft bed. The room lights came with a word from her and he was looking at a very young and attractive, not to mention naked, woman. He looked into her soft brown eyes and smiled. He touched her blonde hair and said, "No, just a bad dream I guess."

She propped her head on her right arm and asked, "Who's Gale?"

"A friend, he was who I was dreaming about."

She frowned. "You're sleeping with me and dreaming about a guy? That might explain a few things."

He smirked at her, rolled on top of the blonde girl pinning her arms over her head. She made a weak attempt at fighting him off but knew it was just a game. A game she was more than willing to play. Besides she was trained by the same group that trained him. If she really wanted to she could fight him off. She could kill him with her bare hands. He looked down into her eyes and said, "It's not like that. I dreamed he was in trouble."

The playfulness changed to concern. She asked him to explain his dream to her. He frowned not really wanting to involve her in his or his friend's problems. However, he knew she wouldn't just let it go. So he rolled off her, let her snuggle up to his left side and told her about his dream. When he finished she said, "A little vivid for just a dream."

He looked over at her and asked, "Don't tell me you think it's some kind of portent or vision of the future. You don't believe in that shit do you?"

"With everything I've seen in my life I don't take anything for granted anymore."

He stroked her hair. "If my mind wasn't so jumbled maybe I could tell if it was just a dream or something else."

She took his left hand, kissed his fingers and said, "I wish you could remember too. It wasn't all bad, some of it was pretty nice."

He rolled over on his left side and stared at her for several minutes. She was very pretty, beautiful even but he couldn't stop thinking about his friends.

She could tell he was bothered by his friends being in danger. She asked, "Do you want some help?"

She smiled and replied, "No, its my problem not yours. Besides I'm not sure what you could do that wouldn't make things worse."

She rolled him on his back, got on top and replied, "You sure? I could get the band back together. Well what's left of the band at any rate."

He laughed. Well, a band was a good way of putting it. "Maybe we could hire Ozzy to be the opening act?"

She kissed him. "No, Rob Zombie."

He laughed. "You're right, he'd be a better match."

She began kissing his neck and he wasn't thinking about anything but her anymore. It wasn't love or romance, it was just two people who for a few minutes in time didn't want to be alone anymore. They both knew this would end the moment either one of them found someone special to them. After they finished she asked, "So, what does this Gale look like?"

He smiled and asked, "So you make love to me and think about another guy?" He rolled away from her and said in the best hurt voice he had, "Guess I didn't make much of an impression on you."

She touched his shoulder and said, "Well, you're no Snake but…"

He rolled back to face her and asked in mock horror, "You didn't sleep with him did you?"

She smiled at him and said, "So what if I did? You don't own me."

He didn't really care who she slept with as long as he didn't catch anything from her. He put a sad look on his face and said, "That's true."

She laughed. "No, I didn't fuck Snake; I have standards."

They both laughed. Snake was supposedly his oldest friend but he barely remembered him. Like most of his past the memories of both Snake and the woman known as Hacker to most of her former associates were just a almost unorganized mess of images in his head.

She asked again what Gale was like. He described him as tall, strong with grey eyes and dark hair. He told her he was a good hunter and trapper. When he finished she said, "So, tall, dark and handsome. I should go back with you. You can introduce us."

"He's interested in someone else."

"Pity." She ran her hand though his chest hair for several minutes not saying anything. She rested her head on his chest and asked how long he had before his friend's name would be drawn.

He shook his head and said, "Jordan, it was a dream; nothing else."

"If it was just a dream why are you still thinking about it?"

"Because I'm an idiot."

She scowled at him, said, "No you're an idiot for insisting on dealing with this yourself," and got out of the bed.

"Jordan?"

She picked his pants up off the floor, tossed them on the bed and said, "I'm taking a shower. Don't be here when I get back."

"Jordan?"

She turned around and said angrily, "Your call Boss. Go get yourself killed. Perhaps if you survive whatever you plan on doing you'll understand someday that as good as we are alone we are far better as a team."

He watched her small, muscular, naked ass walk away and yelled, "Jordan! Hacker!" When the door closed he looked at the ceiling and said, "Fuck." He got dressed and left the room.