The Jusik twins and I had been in position going on thirty minutes, and the victor's still haven't come out of the Justice Building. I'm not exactly sure what they're talking about, but it can't be that important. The Capitol, even though they hate Katniss, would want these two out on display as quickly as possible. I warned Katniss and Peeta not to do anything that would acknowledge the people of the district. No good will come of it. All of a sudden I hear the big sliding doors beneath me open, and I hear Bardan say that lovely couple, and a small squad of Peacekeepers, has exited the building. From my vantage point on top of the Justice Building, I can see about thirty more Peacekeepers make their way out into the crowd.
"Nobody, be it civilian or Peacekeepers, dies. Am I clear?" I say.
"You got it." the twins respond to my order.
"It's bad enough that we're going to interfere, we can't cause any more problems for the people than they already have." I said.
The twin's signal the affirmative by clicking their mics. I could hear Katniss and Peeta giving a speech that seemed so boring, and dull that they didn't seem like humans. They just droned on, and on. Reading the cards that we're given to them by Effie if I had to guess. What I wasn't expecting was for the pair to deviate from the script. It's the honorable thing for the tributes to pay their respects to the district of the tribute the interacted with during the Games, but in this political climate doing so would elicit a response out of the crowd that would be deemed treasonous.
And as I expect, I could hear the District 12 whistle coming from the crowd. I could see an old man raise his left hand, and give the district salute also. I can feel the tension reach a breaking point.
"Moving into position." I said.
"You got it." Bardan said.
I turn invisible, and climb down the side of the building. I was ten feet from ground when I saw a pair of Peacekeepers dragging the old man to spot where Katniss and Peeta were at. I have no clue where they are. If I had to guess they had already been pulled back into the building.
"On my signal, smoke out the spot." I said.
"Affirmative." the twins said.
Down in the lobby of the Justice Building, Katniss and Peeta watch as the man was about to be executed. Then out of nowhere, the pair heard a bird call. Thirty seconds later they saw a man land on one of the Peacekeepers, but they didn't see how the scene ended because the doors had closed and there was a thick white smoke that had obscured the scene. What Katniss didn't miss was that while the whole thing had ended quickly, she heard one thing. A name, if she had to guess.
It's the Falcon. Katniss repeated the phrase over and over again in her head. She didn't get time to contemplate this because Haymitch had pulled the couple from the foyer. Haymitch had taken the group through some hallways, and then up into an attic of sorts. It took me about thirty minutes to shake the Peacekeepers, and get back to the Justice Building. I placed a tracker on Haymitch. And judging by the position they were in the attic.
I had to sneak past a few guard patrols. My guess is they are looking for Katniss, Haymitch, and Peeta. I make it to the attic with little problems, but I remain invisible until the door is closed. After the door shuts I turn to see the three of them staring in my general direction, and they were all shocked.
"Who are you?" Katniss asked.
I say nothing. I become visible again, and let them look at my uniform.
"You're the Falcon!" Katniss exclaims, but what shocked the group was when I took my hood off.
"Kai!" both Peeta and Katniss exclaim, but even Haymitch couldn't keep the surprise off his face.
"I don't have much time. So let me be clear. From here on out you stick the cards that Effie gave you." I said.
"We can do that, but why are you here?" Katniss asked.
"You mom, and Haymitch called in a favor." I said.
"You're the most wanted man in all of Panem, and you make a show of force on the Victory Tour. Do you know how stupid that is?" Peeta asked.
"I'm pretty certain that man that I saved would disagree." I said.
"Where is he?" Katniss asked.
"At an undisclosed location." I said. "I won't be making anymore appearance for the rest of the tour, so stick to the plan."
"What are you saying? That we can't help these people?" Peeta asked.
"That's exactly what he's saying." Haymitch chimed in.
There wasn't much time before dinner, so Haymitch ended this little pow wow. I went invisible again, and exit out the hatch first. I walked back to the train while Katniss and Peeta finished the festivities that were required. It was about two hours before the group return. But when they got to the station, they boarded the train without delay. It was near eleven o'clock at night when we continued the tour. As everybody was winding down for the night, I caught Cinna in the dining room cart by himself.
"Cinna." I said.
"Whoa!" he gasped almost falling out of his chair. "Please don't do that."
"I need you to meet me in my room at your earliest conveniences." I said.
"You got it." Cinna said.
"Last room on the right in the living quarters." I said, and then left.
I'm in my room for an hour before Cinna shows. "That was pretty reckless back in District Eleven," was the first thing he said.
"Yeah, well this little circus act isn't over yet." I said.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"Katniss's mom brought to my attention that the Capitol will be looking at the victors with a lot of malice after this tour." I said.
"Why?" he asked.
"You saw what happened." I said.
"You think the Capitol won't be able to control Katniss, so they will come after the victors as retribution for Katniss's actions?" he asked.
"Not control. Contain." I said.
"I'll get in touch with Plutarch." Cinna said, and then left.
I spend the rest of the trip on the train, which drove me up the wall because I was so bored. But that was a good thing. The fifth day after District Eleven, Haymitch came calling.
"How are you doing?" Haymitch asked, when he came to get me for the daily briefing.
"Bored out of my mind." I said.
"Be thankful. If you were to make another appearance, you'd be dead." he said.
"Fair enough." I said, and then I took a seat and listened to Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta talk. It was nothing more than Haymitch ripping Katniss and Peeta a new one for their performances.
"If you're supposed to prove to President Snow that you love Peeta, you're failing miserably." Haymitch said.
"The cards that Effie gave us are dull and boring. You try reading them." Peeta shot back.
"Okay, I'm going to interject here, and add my two cents." I said.
"What's that?" Katniss asked, exasperated.
"I'm not exactly sure why you're upset. There is no way for Katniss to prove her love for Peeta the way things are going." I said.
"Then how is she supposed to prove that?" Peeta asked.
"Something terrible has to happen to Peeta. No other way will work." I said.
"How about a marriage proposal?" Katniss asked.
This got our attention, but I'm the only one that didn't get side tracked. "It won't work." I said.
"It could buy us sometime. It's a drastic measure, but it might work." Haymitch said.
I didn't get to speak up because Peeta got up and left the room. "What did I say wrong?" Katniss asked, after Peeta left.
"Peeta understands what must been done." Haymitch said.
"You said it yourself Haymitch, there's no getting off this train once you're on it." Katniss said.
"This is not how Peeta envision getting married." I said, and then got up to leave.
"How is Kai holding up?" Katniss asked.
"He's a disgraced rebel soldier, reduced to this. Something about him doesn't feel right, though." Haymitch said, and then left.
That night on the train, I heard Katniss scream as she woke up from her nightmares. The nightmares had become a common occurrence since we left District Eleven. Peeta would always enter, and then a few minutes later he would exit, but tonight when he entered to comfort Katniss, Peeta never left. I'm not exactly sure why Peeta never stayed with Katniss, but that was a thought for another time. I saw Cinna come walking down the hall. I opened my door all the way, and shut it after Cinna entered.
"What's the word from the Capitol?" I asked.
"Plutarch said that there will be a meeting at midnight, but we will be heading home before that meeting is over." he said.
"I can get a ride back from Cross." I said.
"Here's where the meeting will take place." Cinna said, and then left.
The last five districts were a blur, although I did have contact with Cross about getting a ride back from the Capitol. The morning of our arrival in the Capitol, I waited for the cameras to leave, and then I made my way to one of the homes that the rebels had bought in the Capitol. I wanted to go see Lianshi, but I knew that was a stupid idea.
As I was prepping to go out tonight, I heard a knock at the front door. I saw through the peephole that it was Lianshi, and I was baffled by her showing up. I stepping to bay window to make sure she hadn't been followed. When I was satisfied that she was alone, I opened the door and let her in.
"What took you so long?" she asked.
"I'm the most wanted man in the most dangerous place in the country. What do you think?" I asked.
"You think the president is going to have me followed?" she asked.
"You said it yourself. You father sits on the Council of Nine." I said.
"I'm the least of their problems." she said.
"No. Maybe not for them, but it is for me." I said.
"How so?" she asked.
"If they even suspected my true identity, and they found out that you were seeing me, President Snow wouldn't hesitate to hold you prisoner to lure me out." I said.
"Oh." she said.
I lean in and kissed Lianshi. "These Games are going to change the coming history of the country. I'll tell you when I return in six months." I said.
"Okay." Lianshi said.
Lianshi kissed me one last time, and then left. I killed sometime waiting for midnight, but the appointed hour was on me before I knew it. I head to the location that Cinna told me about. When I arrive, I see that all of the Gamemakers were present. My mouth started to dry up when all of the eyes were on me.
"Ah. Our guest of honor has arrived. This is Noctis, and he is thinking about joining our ranks after these Games." Plutarch said, covering for me sudden appearance.
The meeting lasted an hour, and they discussed some seriously nasty traps and monsters. After all the other Gamemakers left, Plutarch was able to speak candidly. "What's the problem?" he asked.
"I'm certain you saw the events in District Eleven." I said.
"Yes, I did. And I have to say that was extremely reckless for you to interfere." he said.
"Well get ready for more reckless things, but not from me." I said.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Katniss will defy the Capitol at every turn. In doing so the Capitol will not be able to contain her, no matter what they do. They send in a bigger Peacekeeper force, she will defy them to protect her friends and family. We only have one option." I said.
"What's that?" he asked.
"We have to pull all of the able body victors out of the districts." I said.
"And how do you suggest we do that?" he asked.
"We already have the means in place." I said.
"We reap them in the coming Games." he said. "Do you know how stupid that sounds?"
"President Snow will eat it up. This will be his chance to punish Katniss without impunity. And this will be our best chance to get the victors out of the districts without the Capitol catching on." I said.
"A lot could go wrong with this plan. What happens if we have to leave some of the victors behind?" he asked.
"I'm going to remain behind to get the rest of them out. I'm going to need a medicine that can stop a heart." I said.
"Why?" he asked.
"We have to get Cinna and Portia out. Plus if we need a doctor that is loyal to us." I said.
"That won't be a problem." he said.
"All we have to do is tag Cinna and Portia so we can give them the medicine once we get a solid location on them." I said.
"What's you part in all of this?" he asked.
"I'm going to be the decoy." I said.
"What?" he asked.
"I'm the most wanted my in the country. If I was to say make myself known that I was in the Capitol, and in the Presidential Palace, what do you think would happen?" I asked.
"They would send in the troops. I'll work on getting the rules changed." he said.
"The rules have to be along the lines of being reaped from the current pool of victors." I said.
"I'll get right on it. I'll see in six months." Plutarch said.
"See you then." I said, shaking Plutarch's hand.
I left the building, and shot a message to Cross that I was heading to the L.Z. for pick up.