*insert evil chuckle* enjoy!

She sighed as she listened to yet another captain in yet another meeting. This was the fifth one this week and probably the twentieth this month. They had been in Thirteen for close to three months now and Coin had finally strong armed her into attending the meetings since she was the queen of Panem. It never failed that the prince always sat next to her and tried to engage her in conversation. After the third attempt, Haymitch had taken to standing behind her which stopped the prince for a while. Her mind strayed to her fiancée. He was out on another raid. He had been going on missions since they had successfully raided the fortress their first week in Thirteen. She had gone with him until the fifth mission when Coin had stopped her, demanding her presence in the meetings. It never failed, whenever there was a mission, there was a meeting. She and Haymitch had talked about the possibility of there being an ulterior motive behind them, but they could never pinpoint exactly what it was. They hadn't mentioned it to Gale either. He was being accepted by the people of Thirteen and to tell him that it wasn't real would crush him. She felt that they should go to Panem and get away from the political intrigue of the prince and the president in Thirteen.

"What do you say to that, Majesty?" One of the captains asked, breaking her train of thought.

"What was that?" Katniss asked. Coin smirked.

"It was proposed that we leak a rumor that the Mockingjay lives." She answered. "We don't have many people from Panem. If word reaches them that they have a queen and she is supporting Thirteen, more recruits will flock to us."

"And when the Peacekeepers start suppressing the rumors and killing the people for spreading them?" Haymitch challenged. "Without proof, you'll kill half of the population and the other half will live in fear."

"We need more recruits." The captain replied. We don't have the man power to invade the Capitol. It's hard enough to get recruits from the Districts which is why the prince is here."

"He is only a figure head." Katniss said bitterly. "Everyone knows that the Districts are ruled by the Capitol. My father freed Panem by winning the Games. That is why I was promised to him, if that is even true. If I had been raised by my parents and Panem never invaded, I would have married the prince and his people would have been free as long as I won the next Hunger Games. It's no small wonder that I, the oldest, would have to marry the youngest if the elder brothers were dead."

"How dare you?" Peeta growled.

"She has a point." Haymitch said from behind her. "Your being here suggests that you are next in line for your father's throne. But everyone knows that you have older brothers, or had. So what is it?"

Peeta glared at him and then looked at her before turning back to Haymitch. "Because you ran off with the princess, my brothers tried to win our freedom." He turned back to the captains. "It was their own idea, the three of them together. They left me out of it until the younger of them was the last one. He told me that they were trying to free us like Panem's king had been able to do. I never told my parents, not even when my last brother died. I knew that I couldn't follow them in their plan. But I had heard some of my people talk about Thirteen. I knew that they could help us free ourselves by overthrowing the Capitol. I figured that if they refused to help us, or refused my help, then I would try to win the Games myself."

"Winning the Games isn't enough anymore." Katniss said silently, but everyone heard her. "If it was that simple, I would go and volunteer right now and make sure I won. But then I would have to live and know that my oldest child would have to go into the Games and win in order to keep that freedom. That's not a risk I am willing to take. Most of you know the fear that runs through the people on Reaping Day. The Games have to end, for good. We have to overthrow the President and end the Games."

"That's not going to be an easy task, Majesty." One of the captains said. "Our intel suggests that all of the victors have come from the president's family or another citizen of the Capitol."

"My father won the Games. I can win them to. I know I can."

"And what of your fiancée? Surely he won't want you to risk your life." Boggs asked. He had led several raids that she and Gale had been a part of and knew that they were engaged to be married.

"Of course I don't want her risking her life." Peeta said before he could stop himself. Katniss turned to him and punched him, knocking him from his chair and out cold. Everyone, including Haymitch and Coin, stared at her in shock. She stood and walked out of the room. Haymitch looked at the captains a moment before following her. Coin walked over to the unconscious prince.

"He still has a lot to learn before he is ready to be a leader." She muttered. She looked at the other captains. "We'll adjourn for now." The captains nodded and left. Boggs picked up the prince and took him to his rooms.

"That wasn't very smart, Katniss."

"I don't care. He's got to get it into his head that I am not going to marry him. It's time the Districts learn to fight for themselves. But Boggs does have a point. I need to talk to Gale about my going into the Games. Thirteen needs more manpower. Telling the people of Panem that their queen, their Mockingjay, lives without showing her to them is going to turn the people against Thirteen. They need to be shown that they have leader they can follow. That they have a queen who is willing to risk her life for their freedom, and their lives."

"He'll want to go with you."

"I know. But I can't let him. Though, I'm certain at least one person would be happy if he didn't come back alive." They were silent a moment. "Dad, what would happen if the prince went into the Games and died, like his brothers?"

"Well, his parents could try to have another child. If that fails, or they decide not to, when they die, complete rule of the kingdom will go to its sovereign ruler."

"The Capitol."

"Yes."

"And if we overthrow the Capitol?"

"I don't know."

"Gale!" Katniss flung herself into her fiancée's arms and kissed him. He hissed in slight pain. She pulled back and looked at him. He had some bandages wrapped around his arms. She lifted his shirt and found a large bruise on his ribs. "What happened?"

"Got into a scuffle with one of the Peacekeepers on the way out. It was my luck that he was the biggest man in the tower." Katniss gently wrapped an arm around him and walked him inside. "So, what was the meeting about this time?"

"Getting more recruits. They want to spread word that Panem's queen is alive without revealing my person to them. Dad brought up a good point that it would do more harm than good."

"And what do you think about it?"

"It would work if I were shown to my people. But if that happened, I would have to go into the Games and win." Gale recognized the tone in her voice.

"No, you're not going in."

"It's the only way to fix this. When I win, I can support Thirteen with my men. The people of Panem will follow me. Winning the Games isn't enough anymore."

"Are you thinking of your people or someone else?" Katniss didn't answer. "Catnip," A smile twitched.

"Both. Say for a moment that the prince goes into the Games and wins. The Districts will be free. I do the same and Panem is free. There are still the people in the Capitol who cannot escape them because it is their president who enforces them."

"So, you want to go after the source." She nodded. "You know that's crazy."

"I know. But he makes his own family go into the Games and ensures that they win. I don't want to take over the Capitol, I want to cut the head off the snake."

"Who would take his place?"

"I don't know. Maybe one of his family who knows the injustice of the Games. My father killed his son. They know they are not invincible, yet they have to play in the Games every year." Gale sighed as they reached their room and opened the door.

"Never could have imagined that this is what war would be like." He said.

"We're not at war. Not yet. When you go on raids, you are going for supplies and information. We haven't actually attacked. Coin's reason is that we don't have the manpower."

"Citizens of Thirteen," Coin's voice echoed in the hall over the speakers.

"Speak of the devil." Katniss muttered.

"There will be a mandatory assembly in five minutes." The speaker cut off and people started walking out of their compartments. Katniss and Gale set their weapons on the bed and followed them. Haymitch joined them outside the room and the three of them entered together, not saying anything. Boggs found them quickly and ushered them closer to the stage where Coin was already standing at the podium. Peeta appeared next to them, a grin barely concealed on his face. Katniss and Haymitch didn't like it. Gale didn't see it. His eyes were on Coin as she called for quiet. Katniss kept a hold of Gale's hand. "Citizens of Thirteen," she began, "I have recently learned some very disturbing news. There is a spy among us!"

"Gets right to the point, doesn't she." Katniss thought to herself. She noticed Peeta's grin widen and her stomach dropped. "NO!" Soldiers circled the three of them. Peeta attempted to pull Katniss from Gale's side. She wrenched herself from his grasp and pulled Gale back with her.

"He's no spy!" She screamed at Coin. Coin ignored her and kept talking to the crowd. Boggs was looking at them in shock. Gale was in shock himself. They had been told what happened to spies in Thirteen. Haymitch pulled both of them to him and then stepped in front of them. But he wasn't in his prime anymore and the soldiers easily pushed him aside. Boggs was next to them.

"I'm sure that this is just a misunderstanding, Majesty." He whispered in their ears. "Go with them peacefully, Gale. It should buy you some time. We'll get this figured out." Katniss forced herself to let go of Gale's hand. There were tears in her eyes. He kissed her forehead and let himself be led away. Katniss crumpled against Haymitch who had showed up next to them again. She didn't care that people were seeing her cry. Then Peeta was there.

"I'm sorry about your fiancée." He said. "Who knew he had been pretending to love you all along." The words angered her and she was on her feet, holding the front of the prince's shirt in her hands.

"He's no spy, you damned coward!" She spat. "And he wasn't pretending either."

"Of course he was. We found proof that he was spying for the Capitol. You haven't been with him on his recent missions. You don't know your fiancée as well as you thought you did."

"If that was true," she hissed, "then the Peacekeepers would have taken me from Haymitch when I was still a little girl. They never knew that I was living right under their president's nose." She pushed him away and stormed out of the hall. She didn't look at Coin as she left. There was nothing left to say. They had planned this all along. Their plan was to force her to marry Peeta and then force her into the Games to win. "They are in for a big surprise." She thought as she slammed the door to her room closed.

*insert evil laugh* Thanks for reading and please review!