Soldiers, medics, and crime scene investigators quickly came to the room after Gale'd sent the emergency message. The man, still unconscious, was cuffed and taken away and a man named Commander Gray questioned Gale and Katniss about the incident while others swabbed for evidence and took photographs.

"Did he say anything to you, Soldier Hawthorne?"

"No sir. When I came in, he was attacking Katniss. I immediately pulled him off of her. He swung at me, but I was able to get him in a choke hold and then knocked him out."

Commander Gray nodded, impressed. "Thank you, Hawthorne. Now, Miss Everdeen, can you please tell us everything you can remember about the attack?"

Katniss's eyes hadn't left the space on the floor where his body had lain, but they shot up when the man questioned her.

"About the attack?" She didn't understand. "Why do you care that he attacked me? He killed another person! That's what's important here!"

"Hey, Catnip," Gale tried to calm her, but Katniss ignored him.

"You think it matters that he touched me? A woman is dead…all because…all because…"

Gale wrapped his arm around her again.

"Ma'am," Commander Gray said, "it isn't your fault that woman is dead. And we do care about her, and we want to do what's right. That's why we need to question you. So we can understand why this happened. Did this man say anything to you, anything at all that might help us understand—"

"Snow sent him."

Everyone in the room stopped and looked at her.

"President Snow?" the Commander asked.

"Yes," she said, "he sent him to kill me."

"The man told you that?"

"Yes."

"Directly?"

"Yes," Katniss said, starting to get annoyed.

The Commander immediately barked something into his communicuff and everyone in the room reacted. Katniss's eyes were wide, not understanding at all what was going on, but Gale held her extra tight.

"Alright, follow me," the Commander said after a few minutes of exchanging details to his superiors. "We're taking you to a safe room."

"What? Why? What's going on?"

"Katniss," Gale told her with heavy eyes. "If Snow sent that man, that means…that means he knows we're here."

And Katniss suddenly realized: That meant Snow knew about Thirteen.

Gale and Katniss were led to a new room in a deeply secure part of Thirteen. A guard was stationed outside their door, Katniss's mother was sent for to check on her—she was the only person Gale trusted at the moment—and the rest of Thirteen's security forces went into overdrive.

Coin, Pierce and several others held an emergency meeting to try to assess their threat. While Anise cleaned her daughter's wounds and gave her tea with lots of sedatives, Coin and her council decided they couldn't risk the Capitol getting the upper hand on them and decided to preemptively attack. After only two hours of discussion, it was decided that Thirteen would send its forces to Five and Three to try and create a unified, independent block from Four to Thirteen.

And as Gale held Katniss, his fingers lightly tracing over the bruises forming on her arms and neck, Thirteen also learned that the assassin slipped in with all the refugees that had entered from Seven and Eight, so Coin decided to lockdown everyone who wasn't a native. All the refugees were required to report to an appointed officer and had to await screening to be approved and readmitted into the general population.

Gale held Katniss uncomfortably tight that night, but she didn't mind, and let herself take comfort and safety from his strong arms, reassurance from his steady breath, love from his beating heart, because she knew tomorrow, she was going to make Snow pay for what he'd done, the eyes of Dr. Bloom still haunting her. She wasn't sure how yet, but as Gale held her that night, she promised herself she would.

The next morning, Gale insisted that Katniss go to the lab with him and Beetee.

"I don't need a babysitter."

"I'm not leaving you, Katniss."

"Well, I'm not going to just sit and watch you work all day. I've got other stuff to do!"

"Like what?"

Katniss glared at him, but didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she was going that day, but she knew she was making Snow pay. Somehow…

"Alright then," Gale said, taking her silence as compliance, "you're coming to the lab with me."

"No, I'm not!"

"Katniss," Gale said with a heavy breath. His eyes lingered on the dark purple bruise that looped her neck, the bandages on her hands. She didn't like him looking there.

"Stop," she said, uncomfortable with any sign of her weakness. "I've got..." She wanted to say, to figure out a way to kill President Snow, but she knew Gale wouldn't react well to that. Katniss was beginning to think that she should just go with Gale, appease him, and then sneak out saying she had to use the bathroom and figure it out from there when…

Someone knocked on the door.

Gale answered it and a uniformed soldier stood at attention. "Katniss Everdeen?"

"Yeah?"

"Come with me please."

"Where?" Gale immediately asked.

"Who are you?"

"Soldier Gale Hawthorne," Gale said importantly.

The man checked the screen of the small device he was carrying. "You're not authorized to come with us."

"What?" Gale temper piqued; but this soldier was a professional, he wasn't intimidated. "She's not going with you unless I—"

"Yes she is," the man said solidly. "Miss Everdeen," he repeated in a tone that said it'd be the last time.

"Where?" she asked, she didn't want to be bossed around by this man either.

"To see the President."

Katniss nodded. She knew that was a meeting she couldn't refuse. And she was honestly interested in learning what Thirteen was planning.

Katniss leaned in to kiss Gale goodbye as she grabbed her jacket. His body was rigid and she could feel the anger radiating off of him. She tried to catch his eye, look at him sweetly.

But Gale's eyes were focused on the bruise he could see around her neck, thinking only about how he couldn't stop someone from hurting her if he wasn't with her, how he didn't even know who could hurt her unless he was with her.

Katniss squeezed his hand, telling him it'd be okay, but when he didn't react, she just gave up.

Fine, be that way, she thought, turning to head out the door.

Gale's eyes burned as he watched her walk away, angry he could do nothing about it, angry she didn't seem to want him to.

What the hell is she thinking! he cursed to himself, alone in the room. Did she learn nothing from yesterday about just blindly following strangers!

When Gale calmed down, he reminded himself to trust the soldiers at Thirteen and Katniss. She was the strongest and most competent women he knew; though even as he said it, all he could think of were the black bruises snaking around her neck.

Gale got ready to head to Beetee's lab, but as he walked through the halls, he was stopped by an officer. The man demanded that he show his identification, and when he realized Gale wasn't from Thirteen, he forced him to enter the holding area. Gale was slightly shocked to see the hundreds of people crammed into lines, men arguing with officers, women hold crying children.

Gale stood in line for three hours before he was finally cleared, and had to stand in another for an extra two to make sure his and Katniss's families had also been cleared. He cursed as he made his way to Beetee's lab. There, he learned about the attack that Thirteen begun the night before and their screening policy for all non-natives, and as much as it aggravated him to have to wait in line, he approved of the added security measure.


Katniss didn't learn about this screening policy because she'd been passed through it. Beetee, Plutarch, and Cinna were the only other non-natives that were allowed to be waved through.

She was brought to a conference room where she met with President Coin.

Coin was sitting in a chair getting makeup applied to her face. She looked incredibly tired, having not slept at all the night before, and was preparing to go live and make a statement to all of Panem.

"Katniss," Coin said, getting up extending her hand. "I'm so sorry about what happened. It's my job to protect my people, and yesterday, I failed. I want you to know that I'm doing everything I can now to make that right."

"Make it right?" Katniss snapped, "she's dead. You can't fix that."

"I wasn't just talking about Dr. Bloom, Katniss," Coin said, composing herself again, "I was also talking about you."

Oh, Katniss thought. She'd never considered herself one of Coin's people. And she wasn't sure how she felt about it. But as she looked in Coin's eyes, she knew this woman meant what she said.

Katniss still wasn't sure if she liked Coin, but, in that moment, she felt she could trust her.

"Oh, thanks, but I don't need your help."

"I've noticed that," Coin said, almost respectfully, "I actually need yours. That's why I've asked you here today."

Coin explained to Katniss how Thirteen had entered the rebellion the night before.

"Reports are still coming in, but our initial progress is good," Coin explained. "I'm going to address the nation today," Coin said. And Katniss realized why she was getting her hair and makeup done. "And I want you to stand with me."

Katniss was only vaguely aware of what this meant-that the Mockingjay, the figure of hope and power for the rebellion was supporting President Coin.

"It's going to mean a lot, if I support you."

"Yes," Coin admitted begrudgingly. All of Panem knew and loved Katniss and didn't know a thing about her. She needed Katniss's endorsement.

While there was a whole host of implications she should have thought about, Katniss only cared about one thing.

"Will we be able to stop Snow?"

A faint smile flickers on Coin's lips. "Yes."

"Alright then," Katniss said, pretty sure this was the only information she needed. "I'll help you, but I want him to pay for what he's done."

Coin met Katniss's eyes severely. "He will, Miss Everdeen, he will. But if you want to kill him, you're going to have to get in line."

Katniss still wasn't sure what she thought about Coin, but she smiled when she said that.

Katniss suited up as the Mockingjay and stood to Coin's right as she addressed the nation. Coin'd clearly practiced Plutarch's well-written speech, speaking emphatically, rousingly, assuring all the people of Panem that Thirteen was coming to help them fight Snow's injustice, all the while Katniss just stared into the camera ahead of her, eyes burning, promising revenge.

"Thank you for your support today," Coin said, extending her hand to Katniss's shoulder when they finished.

Katniss met her eyes and nodded. She felt strangely relieved, even though Coin's speech meant that war was a reality now, it also somehow made it official—they were no longer a ragtag group of rebels. No longer playing games. Snow could no longer win.

Plutarch told Katniss that her presence was no longer needed, so she decided to go visit Gale, knowing Beetee's lab was nearby, and feeling sorry for how she'd left him that morning. She knew Gale just wanted to protect her, and she couldn't imagine how scared the attack yesterday made him feel.

When Katniss entered the room, Gale and Beetee were hunched over one of the computers watching a war scenario play out. Katniss opened her mouth to say hello when a bright flash appeared on the screen and several figures suddenly dropped. Katniss realized they were dead.

"That only shows a 36% kill rate," Gale said in a disappointed voice.

"What if we wait another 30 seconds before detonating?"

"Then some of the first to arrive will get away by that time. I don't think our numbers will change too much."

Beetee punched something into the computer. A few seconds passed. There was another flash and more dropping.

"Hmmm," Beetee frowned, "Only 28%..."

"We need something that will detonate much later. Once they've brought it back to the camp. That's our best chance at taking out the largest numbers, and those in charge. The bomb will have to be disguised as Capitol dropped supplies, food or medicine maybe. Now we just need to figure out what will take out the most soldiers. Maybe during dinner time, or while they're asleep…"

Beetee nodded solemnly, taking his chin in his hand. "That could work..."

"No!" Katniss said, horrified and startling both men, who didn't know she was there.

"Katniss," Gale said, but his look of surprise quickly changed to concern. "Why are you in the Mockingjay suit?" Anger immediately flared inside Gale, worried she'd agreed to do something dangerous.

"How can you even—" Katniss began to sputter, annoyed that was the first thing Gale said.

The strange reassurance she felt from standing next to Coin slipped away from her. War was supposed to be orderly, controlled. Men and women who signed up fighting on a battlefield…not dying helpless in their sleep. Katniss couldn't believe what she'd just seen.

"You and Beetee were just talking about killing people in their sleep, and you ask me about my suit!?"

"Katniss, we're at war."

"This isn't war, Gale! This is murder! This is…" This was the Games, she thought. "It's wrong."

"Now, Miss Everdeen," Beetee tried to interject, but Katniss wouldn't listen.

She felt sick to her stomach, and even though the little figures on the screen looked like lowercase i's instead of humans, she couldn't help but feel as if she'd just watched dozens of lives end. And she felt responsible.

"No, Beetee. This, what you two are doing, it's wrong. It's not war and it's not right. It's something that Snow would do, not us."

Gale and Beetee shifted uncomfortably for a second, and a shadow passed in their eyes.

It was Gale who finally spoke. "Then how are we supposed to beat him?"

"What?"

"How do you want to beat him, Katniss?" Gale said with genuine concern, "how do you think we can beat him if we don't," Gale swung his hands open widely, "if we don't follow his rules?"

"What's the point of beating him if we do?" Katniss fired back, and both Gale and Beetee looked legitimately hurt. "If we have to be like him to win? Then tell me what the point is."

Neither of them had a response. Katniss glared at them for a moment longer and then stormed out, not wanting to hear anymore either of them had to say.

She went back to her room to shower and change, and then had lunch with her mother, which was a needed distraction from her anger at what she'd seen in Beetee's lab.

It was at lunch that Katniss first learned about the non-native screenings.

"What?" she said, completely shocked. "Nobody said anything to me!"

"Well, dear," her mother said, wondering why anyone would have told Katniss.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. And anyways, Gale came to make sure your sister and I got through."

Katniss felt a pang in her heart. Of course Gale would do this—take care of her family. Even though she still deeply disagreed with him, she hoped she hadn't said anything too harsh to him earlier. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the discussion she knew they would have when he got home from the lab, but she knew they needed to have it.

"And, since Prim and I have been working here so long, it was easy to get people to vouch for us. What all the people who've recently arrived will do, I don't know…"

Katniss sighed heavily and spooned the beans around on her plate.

Anise noticed her daughter's agitation and waited to see if she'd say anything, and when she didn't, she decided to change the subject.

"Do you plan on going back to work?"

Katniss sighed again and rolled her eyes. She hated working at the hospital.

"That's what I thought," Anise said with a small smile as she spooned the rest of her beans onto her daughter's plate. "It's probably best you don't work in your third trimester anyway. I'll write you a medical leave of absence."

Katniss looked up at her mother gratefully and finished her meal.

She went back to her room and waited for Gale to return, thinking about what she wanted to tell him but more what she wanted to hear from him. It didn't exactly frighten her, hearing about his and Beetee's plan, but she was worried about how far they'd go. She well remembered his long rants in the woods, how his eyes kept stopping at the bruises on her neck. Gale'd do whatever he had to to stop the Capitol, but she had to believe there were ways to stop Snow without stooping to his level. She just hoped Gale believed this too.

Katniss found herself staring at the door as the hours passed. At first, she was happy for the time and space, it gave her room to figure out what she was thinking, what she wanted to say. Then, she grew hopeful for Gale's return. She wanted to speak to him, hash out her ideas against his, come to some sort or agreement, or at least understanding. But as the hours continued to pass and she began to grow hungry for dinner, she grew upset Gale hadn't returned. Didn't he know they needed to talk? Didn't he care?

Her communicuff beeped, signaling mealtime, and Katniss angrily headed to dinner. She snapped at the guard, who was still stationed outside her door and ordered to follow her, wanting to be alone. No matter how many curses she threw at him, he remained firm, and escorted her to the cafeteria.

Katniss rudely grabbed her food from the attendants, and purposefully sat as far away as she could in the corner to eat her meal of tomato and chicken stew and bread.

She was about halfway through with her meal when Gale found her.

"There you are," he said, taking his seat. "I was looking everywhere for you."

"You wouldn't have had to if you'd been home before dinner." Katniss didn't look up from her plate.

Gale eyed her and took a deep breath. He knew it'd be too much to ask for her to be in a good mood.

"Katniss," he began, but her stormy eyes shot up and silenced him.

"Don't, Gale."

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

"I don't want to hear you justify what you were doing today."

"I wasn't doing anything. We were just talking about it."

"So? The fact that you were even thinking it-"

"Is how you win a war, Katniss, Christ, what did you think war was?"

"It's not killing people while they sleep."

"People die in war, Katniss. Anyone who signs up for the job knows that..."

"I know, Gale, I know people have to die…"

"You think it really matters how they die then?"

"I think it matters how we kill them."

Gale stopped and considered her point. He'd never really thought about it this way before. "That's valid," he finally said.

"But?" She knew there was a but. He couldn't disagree with her, but that didn't mean he agreed with her.

"But, Beetee and I were trying to figure out a way to take out soldiers, Katniss, not sleeping civilians. And better to kill them when they don't have a very good chance of killing our men at the same time."

Katniss listened and nodded.

"And I'm not going to wait to kill them until they've got a fair chance of killing me. Or anyone else, for that matter." His eyes never left the bruise around her neck as he said this. Katniss was beginning to think it hurt Gale more than her.

Katniss looked Gale in the eye. She knew he meant this, and she knew he'd do anything he had to do to win. She just didn't think he knew what it'd cost him. She remembered how going into the Games changed her, how killing changed her. And no matter how many times she tried to tell herself it was self-defense and not her fault, that still didn't stop her nightmares and the nagging feeling of guilt.

She told Gale this and leaned in to kiss him. "There has to be a line, Gale."

"There is," Gale promised.

"It's just, someone tried to kill me yesterday," she said, almost off handedly.

"I know," Gale's voice suddenly grew more serious.

"And that probably makes you angry."

"Yeah," Gale said, fire rumbling in his voice.

"I just don't want you to do anything…"

"Out of anger?"

"That you'll regret," she clarified, taking his face in her hands.

"I won't," Gale said with a confidence she wondered how he possessed.

"Gale, you can't let them change you."

Gale's look suddenly softened, and he folded her hands in his, finally seeing her point. "They won't," he assured, but Katniss looked unconvinced. Gale reached out for her hand and took it softly in his, rubbing her fingers slightly. "There is."

Katniss looked into his eyes, eyes she knew better than her own, better than her mother's and sister's too, perhaps. Eyes that somehow always seemed to see things clearly, that had always watched her back, eyes that she trusted.

And she still trusted them now.

Gale leaned into kiss her forehead, his touch as gently as the wings of a moth, and Katniss twined her fingers.

"You know I don't want anyone to die, Katniss."

She turned to look back up at him, uncertain where he was going with this.

"I know," she said, her tone not entirely convincing.

"But people are going to have to die. Snow decided that. The Capitol…"

His voice quivered slightly as he said it, so slightly that only because Katniss knew him so well did she notice, and she squeezed his hand, knowing how rare it was for Gale's emotions to get the better of him.

"Since people have to die, I'm going to make sure as few die as possible."

"I know."

"From our side and theirs."

This actually surprised Katniss a little. She knew Gale wasn't a callous monster, wanting to kill as many Capitol citizens as possible. But she was a little shocked to hear that he was actively trying to kill as few of them as possible. She squeezed his hand again and smiled, bringing his fingers to her lips to kiss. It took Gale a moment, but he smiled back and the two fell into easy conversation.

"Hey, look at that baby," Katniss told Gale, gesturing to the kid at the table behind him. A woman there had put her child on her lap, and he was now peering back at Katniss. She couldn't stop herself, she waved. The baby stared at her with big, curious eyes and then buried his face in his mother's shoulder.

Gale chuckled softly and smiled. "Don't steal it."

Katniss smiled, remembering what she told him the day before. "But he's so cute! Look at those chubby little cheeks and that curly blond hair!"

"Yeah," Gale said, less enthused about blond hair than she was.

"Do you think we could have a blonde baby?" she asked, fondly remembering how cute her sister was as a baby.

"We better not have a blonde baby," Gale said harshly, his disdain for the townspeople spilled out. Katniss turned to look at him, her smile completely gone from her face.

"Sorry," he said, registering her reaction and not meaning to offend her.

"It's just Prim was a blonde baby," she explained, realizing she'd struck a nerve.

"I know."

"It's not that I think we'll have a blonde baby."

"I know," he stressed again, feeling bad for his harsh remark.

"Unless I steal one," she said with a smile.

She finally got Gale to return it. He laughed slightly and shook his head.

"But you have to admit, they are kind of cute."

Gale just shook his head. "Ours will be cuter."

"Yeah," Katniss said, cradling her stomach and smiling.

Then, Gale's communicuff beeped.

Gale's eyes immediately shot down to it.

"What is it?"

"Umm...I don't...I need to go back to the lab."

"What?"

"Yeah," Gale said, getting up, eyes still glued to his cuff, "I have to go."

"Gale, we were just having a nice moment,"she said as he leaned down to kiss her on the head.

"Sorry. This is important."

"And this isn't?" she too quietly for Gale to hear as he walked away.

Katniss tried to tell herself that Gale had something really important to do, but she couldn't imagine what was so urgent, and it did little to lift her mood. When she'd clean both her and his plates, she went back to her room to stew.

She was pacing back and forth when someone knocked on the door. Her heart rose for a second, hoping to see Gale before she realized he had no reason to knock.

Prim and Torry stood outside her door. "Um, hey," Katniss said, surprised to see them.

"Hi Katniss. I need to ask a favor," Prim said. "Can you babysit for us?" Prim moved aside to reveal Torry's two little sisters, Bobbin and Eyelet.

Angry thoughts were still running through Katniss's head, and she needed a minute to process Prim's request.

"Um, yeah, I guess."

"Great," Prim said, pushing the girls in Katniss's room. "Torry's parents both had to work tonight, and we've got some place to be."

"Oh, okay."

"Thanks!" Prim said brightly as she and Torry left. They were already down the hall by the time Katniss thought to ask where they were going, how long they'd be gone, and what she should do with the girls.

"Hey," she said, waving slightly at the two girls. They both had curly, sandy hair and light brown eyes. The older one had freckles. Katniss couldn't remember which name belonged to which. They were both quiet and started up at her expectantly.

"So," she said, after several moments of uncomfortable silence, "what do you girls like to do?"

They said nothing and kept staring. The littler one stuck her fingers in her mouth.

Katniss racked her brain. Certainly, it couldn't be that hard to entertain kids, she thought. But the more she thought, the more she realized how little she knew about children. It was a thought that was particularly troubling considering her impending motherhood.

"Well, you guys like to play, right?" she asked. That's what all kids like to do, right? she thought to herself.

Both girls looked uncertain, but finally, the small one nodded.

"Great," Katniss said, before she realized she had nothing for them to play with.

She spent nearly half an hour trying to get the girls to play with objects she found in the room. She made sock puppets, pretended her shoes were cars and that pens and pencils were people.

But the girls remained quiet. Katniss wasn't sure if they were unimpressed or confused, but it finally occurred to her that she knew another little girl about their age, and if she couldn't play with these kids, Posy certainly could, so Katniss packed the girls up and headed in the Hawthorne's direction.

When she got there, Vick answered the door. His mom was also working that night and Rory was out with friends, so he was watching his sister. When Katniss explained her predicament to him, he suggested they go to the playground.

"There's a playground?" Katniss asked, astonished.

"Yeah, it's over on Row 18. I think it'll be open for another hour. Hey, Po, you want to go to the park?"

Posy hopped up excitedly and came running to the door. "Hi!" she waved at the two girls. "Are you coming to the park too?"

The small one looked up at Katniss and then nodded. She was beginning to wonder if they were mute.

"Great! We can be friends then!" Posy grabbed her hands and charged off in the park's direction.

Bobbin and Eyelet turned out to just be incredibly shy. Once at the park, they slowly opened up and began playing and running around with Posy. Katniss was astonished when she first heard one speak, and she smiled as she watched them from the sidelines with Vick.

"So how'd you end up with these two?" he innocently asked, and nearly fifteen minutes later, after Katniss vented about her and Gale's arguments that day, Vick realized the conversation wasn't going to circle back to how Katniss got the girls.

"Meanwhile, Gale just goes off and does whatever he wants," she huffed.

Vick let out a low whistle, finally deciding it was time to chime in. "Gale does what he has to, not what he wants to."

Katniss looked at Vick pointedly. She was looking for support more than anything, but she knew he had a valid point.

"I know," she huffed, sitting down, "I just wish he'd..." Katniss wasn't actually sure what she wished.

"Gale doesn't like to show weakness," Vick explained.

"What?"

"He's not going to tell you about his problems because that means he has to admit that he has problems, and only weak people have problems, at least, to Gale," Vick said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He think admitting problems will make people doubt him, and he doesn't want anyone he cares about to feel...insecure."

Katniss was amazed at the wisdom of the youngest Hawthorne brother. He just looked at her and nodded.

"If you want him to open up to you, you've got to make him think it's for your benefit and not his. That's the only way he'll do it."

This all made an astounding amount of sense. When she could finally formulate words again, Katniss thanked Vick for the perspective he'd given her, and just for listening.

"No problem," Vick shrugged like it was no big deal.

Katniss couldn't believe his nonchalance. "No, Vick, really, it means a lot to me. Gale's been so busy recently, so distant, I just want you to know how much I appreciate..."

Vick just shook his head. She didn't need to thank him. "I know how difficult Gale can be when he's upset," he said, "and I can only guess how upset he must be right now judging by that bruise on your neck..."

Katniss self-consciously touched it.

"So I'm sure he's in overdrive right now, trying to do whatever he can to make sure no one ever hurts you again..."

Katniss nodded; Vick was absolutely right.

"It's just because he cares."

"I know," Katniss said, "I just wish he knew..."

"Yeah. He can be a bit dumb sometimes. I'm the smart brother," Vick said with an absolute serious face.

Katniss couldn't help herself, she broke into laughter.

Katniss and Vick stayed at the park for another half an hour, but Vick finally had to leave, deciding it was time for Posy to get to bed and Katniss wanted to get the girls back to her room, worried Prim would be showing up to retrieve them sometime soon.

She was a bit surprised Prim wasn't there when she got back. And even more surprised when Prim didn't show up over the next hour. Katniss finally called her mom, wondering if she knew what her sister was up to.

"I think they went to a meeting of some sort," Anise informed her.

"A meeting? What type? Where?"

"I don't know, dear, I didn't ask." Katniss huffed and hung up the phone. What was she going to do with these girls? What about their parents? Where were they and weren't they worried?

Katniss asked the girls if they knew where they lived or how to contact their parents, but both just looked at her with big, silent eyes and shook their heads.

"Great," Katniss huffed. "I don't know what we're going to do," she told them plainly.

"Can we watch TV?" Eyelet asked.

"What?"

"Yeah!" Bobbin joined, pointing to the wall.

Katniss suddenly remembered Haymitch showing her and Gale Peeta's interview. She'd never watched television otherwise, and didn't know how to turn it on.

The girls, however, watched TV all the time, and quickly switched the device on once Katniss had given them permission and were glued.

Katniss left them to their entertainment, and she was in the bathroom when Gale returned.

"Katniss," he said, stopping as soon as he saw the girls, his voice full of alarm.

"Yeah?" she called from the bathroom.

"Where did you get these children?" Gale looked slightly horrified at the girls.

Katniss dried her hands and came out of the bathroom. "Their Torry's sisters. I'm babysitting them..."

"Oh thank god," Gale said, clutching his heart and letting out his breath, "I thought you stole them."

"What?! No! Gale!"

"Sorry, but after what you said..."

Gale tried to explain himself and they both laughed.

"When's Prim coming to get them?"

"She didn't say..."

"Can your mom watch them?"

"Why?"

"We have to go to a meeting."

"What? Gale, it's almost bedtime..."

But the look on Gale's face told her this was very important. And she realized it had to be, considering how he ran out during dinner.

"Yeah, probably, let me call her," she said, trying not to let her mind race with all the horrible things that could have happened.