Well, this chapter might be a hot mess, but I've kept you waiting long enough, so here it is. I'm trying to bring a lot of the themes, arcs, issues, etc. to the surface here, and I hope it's working well enough. As always, I'd love to know what you think, especially since we're almost at the end!


Coin, General Pierce, Beetee, Cinna, and Plutarch were all waiting for them in the conference room. On the TVs, Haymitch, Lagan, and a woman named General Ore joined them.

Coin nodded as Gale and Katniss took their seats. Katniss felt like she could drown in the gravity of the room.

"I want to thank you all for joining me," Coin said. "As you all know, Thirteen officially joined the ranks of the Rebellion last night. In the past twenty four hours, we've sent troops to Three, Five and Six to try and create a unified and independent block apart from the Capitol. I broadcast our intentions to the nation this morning. General Ore is one of Thirteen's top military advisors, and she's in charge of ground operations. She's just reported that Six and Three have rallied to our side, and our combined forces have already successfully overthrown the Capitol in Six and we should have Three shortly. We plan to strike Five in the early morning, and with help from Four, we should have that District under our control shortly."

General Ore was a tough, middle aged woman with dark skin, short hair, and a large scar stretching down the side of her face. She nodded to validate Coin's report.

"Haymitch, can you bring us up to speed on District Eight?" Coin said, turning her attention to his screen. "Where's Organdy?" she asked, suddenly noticing his absence.

Haymitch looked more tired and haggard than Katniss had ever seen him. Dark circles pillowed under both of his eyes, which looked red and cracked in the harsh light of wherever he was filming. He coughed and mumbled a response to Coin.

"Excuse me?" she asked for clarification.

Haymitch cleared his throat. His tone came out somehow both harsh and fragile. "He's dead."

Everyone in the room murmured and gasped.

"Yeah," Haymitch said dismissively, "bomb got him this morning. He's dead."

"Oh Haymitch," Katniss began to console, but he waved her concern aside and cleared his throat again.

"Don't worry about it. Calico was taken out by a sniper about a week and a half ago. He was ready."

Haymitch's voice cracked as he said it, and Katniss knew how much the loss of his comrade in arms must hurt him.

"The Capitol has hit us pretty hard here in Seven and Eight, but we're still managing to hold them off. Since Six's secured now, we'll be interested in linking our forces."

Coin nodded approvingly and looked to Ore who also agreed.

"With Organdy and Damask gone, is Johanna now leading in Seven?"

"Nope, I'm here!" Johanna's voice piped from Lagan Corsair's screen. She waved and smiled brightly, as if she was greeting a dear friend for a celebration rather than discussing war.

"What are you doing in Four?" Pierce asked sternly.

Johanna just smiled and winked at him.

"Who's in charge in Seven then?"

"Oh, uh, I guess that's me too." Haymitch said.

"You guess? What happened to Adze and Maddock?" Pierce asked accusingly. This sort of disorder disgusted him.

Haymitch coughed. "Adze wasn't cooperating," he said.

"So?"

"So I shot him," Haymitch clarified. "He was threatening to take his men and go rogue, didn't want to stick to our plan."

Everyone in the room studied Haymitch carefully, quietly. Katniss didn't want to know the specifics of what was going on in those Districts, but she could tell it was bad.

"And Maddock?" the President asked.

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know, ma'am," Haymitch repeated, "we think the Peacekeepers might have got him, but...we don't know."

"But Eight and Seven are secure?"

"You could say that."

Pierce swore under his breath and shook his head. Haymitch's eyes just narrowed.

"Look, half my men in Eight have been killed, and the units in Seven are still splintered. When the Peacekeepers show up, we generally manage to kill them, but when they don't, they go fighting about each other. Today, people perked up after seeing the President's message, we got control of another Capitol facility, so things are working pretty good. But tomorrow, the wind could blow in another direction, and I don't even know."

"Okay," Coin said, not provoking Haymitch any further. "Has anyone heard anything from Nine, Ten, or Eleven?"

Several people shook their heads.

"Only the radio signal I told you about earlier," Beetee reported. "But my initial analysis indicates it's just static, damage. If it's an encoded message, it's some of the best I've ever seen and I'll need more time..."

"Of course," Coin said, not needing to hear Beetee explain again and not wanting to hear another report of bad results. "That brings us to Three and Four. Corsair?"

Corsair was flanked by Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason. And Johanna, Katniss couldn't help but notice, had her hand intimately resting on Lagan's shoulder.

Lagan reported about the strong results his soldiers were having in Four. It was secure and functioning. They'd sent reinforcements to Three after it fell, but were having little success regaining it.

"But now that Thirteen is helping, we should have Three in our ranks soon. Especially..." his voice trailed off.

"Yes," Coin said. "That brings us to the issue at hand. Beetee."

And as she commanded, Beetee switched on another screen that showed rows and rows of Peacekeepers, all standing in line outside the gates of Three.

"Two Platoons arrived at the gates this evening," Corsair explained, "they say they want to defect."

The words hung heavily in the room. Katniss's eyes darted from face to face, some looking worried, anxious, oppressed. Why was no one excited about this?

"So," Lagan offered, and Coin looked to him.

"Let's start with your Corsair. This is at your door, what do you think we should do?"

"I'm not inclined to trust anyone from the Capitol," he said, "but they seem legit. They showed up unarmed, led by one of the top generals in Panem, having left all their weapons two miles behind them, they told us exactly where to get them, how to use them if we wanted, and the ruse they used to escape the Capitol and come to us. It makes sense. No one should be noticing them gone until at least morning..."

Katniss's heart filled with hope.

"But," Lagan said, "I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Why?" Katniss asked quickly.

"Because they're from the Capitol!" Johanna snapped.

"Not everyone from the Capitol is evil," Plutarch said.

A few people looked to him and nodded.

"Ore, Pierce, what do you think?" Coin turned to her top military advisors.

"Some of the men who joined us to fight in Six were Peacekeepers," Ore said, "not all of them support the Capitol. At least not blindly."

"Or not when they're being shot at," Johanna said. "The Peacekeepers aren't believers, they're just guns for hire. When things get real, they flake."

"I agree with Ms. Mason," Pierce said, surprised he was ever having to say it. "A few isolated Peacekeepers surrendering isn't the same as two entire platoons trying to cede."

"Aww, thanks Bob," Johanna said to Pierce. He looked at her threateningly; his name wasn't Bob—or even Robert.

"The amount of damage they could do if they're not sincere...it's too big a risk."

Many people looked to Pierce and nodded.

"But what about the risk of refusing them?" Katniss cried. "Mrs. President, you got on the airwaves today, asking all the people of Panem to join you, to join us. What does this say if we...why would anyone else want to join us if we start turning people away?"

Several people mumbled in agreement.

"Miss Everdeen has a very valid point," Plutarch said. Beetee and Cinna agreed.

"They're not people, they're peacekeepers," Johanna challenged.

"But the people in One, Two, Three, and even Five, they are especially close to the Capitol, to the Peacekeepers. If news of this gets out..." Plutarch said, "the damage could be..."

"The damage could be propaganda and hearsay!" Johanna roared, "You could just make another little commercial and change all that. If they really intend us harm and we let them in, the damage will be a lot of dead men."

Lagan and Finnick looked at Johanna and nodded. "And dead men from Four," Corsair added.

"But we don't know that they're going to kill us," Katniss said. She knew they had to be skeptical in war, careful, but didn't they also have to hope for the best? "You yourself said they seemed legit," she reminded Corsair.

"Yeah," he said begrudgingly, "Their leader seemed very sincere when I spoke with him."

"It's true," Beetee added. Since the Peacekeepers were defecting from Three, he wanted to believe the best in his District. "I ran their logistics through one of my simulators, and it's the best tactics for defecting without the Capitol noticing. They're doing exactly what anyone would do who wanted to break away from the Capitol unnoticed."

"And they're doing it too well," Gale argued. He disagreed with Beetee's analysis. "I think it's a trap," he said plainly.

Johanna loudly agreed.

"But why would they show up without any weapons, show up surrendering, if they wanted to take over Four?" Plutarch interjected. "And let's not forget, Cassius is one of the Capitol's top generals, I can't imagine he'd risk exposing himself for a ruse. That man enjoys a very comfortable life, he'd never be in any danger unless he chose to."

The conversation went back and forth as the members at the table considered both sides of the plan.

Neither Haymitch nor Cinna had a strong opinion on the matter. Haymitch seemed too tired or distracted to offer up anything useful. All he said was that he knew of four Peacekeepers between Seven and Eight who'd willingly joined their side. "They've all been good fighters," he said, "good men."

Cinna just said he wasn't a soldier. "I don't feel qualified to make decisions when it comes to war. But as I'm from the Capitol, I can assure you that not all of us are evil. I even knew a few Peacekeepers back home. They aren't all bad."

A few people nodded, and Katniss looked gratefully at him. Both Gale and Johanna looked at Cinna with fire in their eyes.

Theirs were the strongest voices against the Peacekeepers. Gale refused to believe it was anything other than a trap, and Johanna spoke with pure contempt and hate. Finnick and Lagan were a bit cooler, acknowledging the argument of the other side, but not quite willing to risk what it would cost Four if they were wrong.

"We'd be overthrown," Corsair said. "We'd lose..."

"But think about all we'd gain if they're true," Beetee argued.

"You're my top military advisor," Coin finally said looking at Pierce, "what do you think?"

"I can't disagree with anything they're saying, ma'am, but I still don't like it."

"Do we have anything firm to go on, or is this just a hunch?" Coin asked pointedly.

Katniss thought Pierce looked slightly ashamed as he said it, "No ma'am, it's just a hunch."

"Well, I for one, don't want to set a precedent of decision making based on hunches. Especially when these hunches seem an awful lot like prejudice."

Cinna, Beetee, and Plutarch looked at Coin gratefully.

"It's not prejudice," Gale said, surprising everyone, "it's common sense."

"Excuse me," Coin didn't appreciate his remark.

"It's common sense, ma'am. I don't care how good their plan looks on paper, how real it seems, no General that high up defects. Men don't get promoted that high in the military if they're not committed, through and through."

Pierce looked at Gale. He not only agreed, he was impressed.

"But Gale," Katniss said.

"No," he held his ground, "Generals don't defect. Your average soldier, sure. When they get scared, hungry, that's why Haymitch and Ore have had their success, but Generals don't become traitors. Their minds don't work that way. They can't."

"You don't know that," Katniss said in almost a whisper.

"Do any of you know this General?" Coin asked, hoping it might give them some clarity. "Personally?"

Haymitch, Beetee and Cinna all shook their heads. They'd never had occasion to consort with members of the military.

"No," Plutarch said, "but his wife makes a mean pot roast."

The whole counsel tossed a crooked look in his direction.

"What? I've attended several of her parties. She's an excellent hostess. But I've never met her husband. General Cassius, that is."

"Well then..." Coin said slowly, considering all the information she had before her.

"Generals don't defect," Gale repeated with Pierce, Lagan and Johanna supporting him.

"We just asked the people to join us," Katniss said, "said they'd have a new beginning, a better future...we promised..."

Coin's eyes locked with Katniss's. Katniss couldn't read her, but she knew her words sunk deeply.

After a few minutes of silence, Coin finally spoke. "I want to thank you all for your time in addressing this matter. It's getting late, and I don't think we'll uncover any new information if we keep discussing it. You're all dismissed."

Most people watched her expectantly, hoping she'd elaborate, but when it was clear she wouldn't, they slowly began to exit.

Gale and Katniss argued all the way back to their room and neither agreed with the other when they went to bed. "If we're going to win, we have to acknowledge that people from the Capitol will come to our side, we have to let them."

"Yes," Gale said, "but not a top-star general."

Katniss pulled herself into bed, curling in the crook of Gale's arm and muttering her disagreement as she fell asleep.

The next morning, their communicuffs awoke them. Katniss pulled herself out of Gale's arms and saw the alert for another meeting.

Both Gale and Katniss skipped breakfast and went straight to the conference room. There, Coin informed them that she'd made her decision about the Peacekeepers at Four.

Coin had deeply mixed feeling about her decision, but she didn't want to start her legacy based on distrust, prejudice, or animosity.

"At 12:00 AM our time, 9:00 PM Four's time, I instructed Corsair to offer clemency to the Peacekeepers and give them shelter in a guarded and isolated warehouse..."

Katniss felt a smile pulling at her lips. She was proud this is what Coin decided to stand for. It was the exact opposite of Snow, and Katniss knew the story of this trust, acceptance, forgiveness would spread throughout the Districts.

"...and at 12 AM Coastal time, the two squadrons attacked. They'd hidden bombs in the stores of weapons they turned over to Four, and when they exploded..." Coin took a heavy breath, not looking up from the sheet of paper that gave her this information, "they were able to overthrow the guards and reclaim parts of Four. Information is still coming in, but our best resources indicate that, while the insurgents have taken over some of the primary facilities in Four, the rebels are currently holding their position. Ore and her forces have prioritized making their way through Five to assist Four. Haymitch has sent as many men as he can spare to support her, as have we." Coin last few words fell wearily out of her mouth. It was clear she hadn't slept at all the night before.

"Also..." she said, finally looking up at the faces before her, "we've gotten reports that Finnick Odair is currently unaccounted for. He's likely dead or has been captured by the enemy, and Lagan Corsair is, eh, alive, but badly injured. He was knocked unconscious in a blast and badly burned. Apparently Johanna pulled him out, but we don't know if he will, um, make it."

Coin dropped the papers she was holding to the table and sunk her face behind her hands for a moment. She then composed herself, looked at the people before her commandingly, and said, "that's all."

No one said a word and people began to file out. Gale had to pull on Katniss's arm to get her up. She was rooted in her seat, mind a fluster, wondering what they were going to do, why everyone was leaving when they needed to figure out how to fix this. And she had to fix this. She was the one who'd pushed Coin to let them in. She was the one...

"Katniss."

She looked up at him, hardly aware if he'd said anything else to her.

"Come on, let's get you breakfast."

"But..." she searched for words, her mind a tangle of thoughts. "Gale, what are we going to do?"

"We're going to go eat breakfast," he said evenly, looking her in the eyes. "Come on."

Gale's arm cradled Katniss's back and guided her to the cafeteria. There, he gathered her food and led her to the table where they both ate in silence.

Katniss didn't even notice what she was eating, or that she was eating, only becoming aware when confronted with the empty plate in front of her.

"What are we going to do, Gale?" she said, looking up.

"We'll figure something out."

"How? How can we..."

"We'll outsmart him," Gale said resolutely, believing it to be that simple, though not at all easy. She wondered if he had any of the confidence he was portraying.

Gale's face looked calm and stoic before hers, his lips forming a soft line, his eyes tender. But Katniss wasn't fooled. She knew there was a storm raging inside him, a thirst for blood, for vengeance. And she wanted him to let it out, to share it with her because all she felt was fear and panic. She wanted him to tell her how they were going to stop Snow, how they were going to make him pay for what he'd done to their allies. Their friends. Because she had no idea.

There was the only thing they could do, she realized, if they wanted to beat Snow, they had to be better than him. Better at being cruel and evil.

"No," she said, the full impact of this reality crashing down on her, "we don't have to be smarter than him. We have to be more awful…more evil!"

Katniss had no idea how to do that. She tried to force her brain to come up with the worst possible thing they could do to the Capitol, but she came up with nothing.

Katniss almost screamed as she said it, her voice shaking with what she realized wasn't panic but horror.

As sickening panic prickled over her, one she hadn't felt since she'd been in the Games.

Her spine feeling like wrung needles and her stomach tightened as she recalled the last time Snow'd forced her into one of his games, when she'd submitted to his rules, how it almost destroyed her. She shuddered as she remembered the screams coming from the sleeping careers as her trackerjacker nest fell to kill them, as she felt the arrow slide from her fingers to hit Marvel, as she saw the life fading from Cato's eyes...

But then Katniss realized playing Snow's game had never gotten her anywhere. It was only when she refused to do so that she won—like with Peeta and the berries. She only was able to beat him when she stopped playing and tried to be herself.

That's what she needed to do now, be herself. She wasn't a tribute or victor or soldier or rebel. She was just a girl who wanted to take care of her family. Her hands unconsciously curved around her stomach and she felt a strange sense of comfort, of ease as she let herself off the hook for trying to make decisions she had no business making, taking care of people she didn't know.

"Catnip?" Gale said, growing concerned by the curious look on her face and her long silence.

"Yeah," she said, shaking her thoughts away.

"It'll be alright," he said, reaching out for her hands, thinking he had to comfort her.

"I know," said, returning a small smile and trying to make herself believe in it as she figured out what she wanted to do.

Gale was trying to figure out what she meant by that when their communicuffs beeped, and she saw that it was signaling their return to the war room.

Katniss looked up at Gale and shook her head. She wasn't returning to that room. She didn't want any part of it.

"I'm not a soldier, Gale," she said, looking deeply into his un-understanding eyes. "I don't belong in there."

"That's not true..." he tried to reassure her.

But she didn't need reassurance. "No, Gale, I don't want to go," she said, her voice clear and strong.

Gale's eyes widened as he took her in, not quite following her, not having the time to, but he sensed her resolution, her strange calm.

"Okay," he said, his voice still uncertain, but trusting her. Katniss was eyeing his mostly uneaten bowl of oatmeal. Gale'd been too upset to his, his stomach feeling like ice and his skin sweaty as his processed the events from this morning. A smile found his lips as he pushed his food to Katniss, happy he had it for her, happy it could at least do something helpful for someone that day. Gale's mind was webbed with worry about how much he actually could help, how much help would actually matter in the war that raged outside.

He delicately took Katniss's face in his hands and pressed a soft kiss to her skin. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," she said, catching his eyes and his hand, wishing she could do something to make him feel better too. She could sense his tenseness, his anger, his pain, his determination to make it right. No one else would probably be able to notice it – and Katniss wondered if even Hazelle would – but she sensed it. "Gale…"

"I know," he said, forcing another soft smile to his lips and kissing her again. "I know."

Katniss watched Gale disappear from the cafeteria, hoping whatever he was headed too wouldn't be too hard on him but feeling it'd go much better without her there.

As Katniss ate the rest of his breakfast, she was seized with moments of panic, sinking with her loss of control, determined that if she just fought more, tried harder, she could somehow make everything right. A few times, she was almost ready to jump up and run to the war room, tell Gale to forget everything she'd said, and swear she'd do whatever she had to to help the rebellion, the people of Panem.

But every time that sensation overtook her, Katniss reminded herself that she didn't belong there. I'm not meant to make those decisions—and I only cause problems when I try, she told herself. Things always seems to work out better when I'm just myself anyhow…she reflected, even though she had no idea how or why that was.

As Katniss tried to figure that out, her mother found her.

"Katniss," she said a bit out of breath and surprised to find her daughter still in the cafeteria. "What are you still…I've been looking everywhere for you."

Katniss slowly registered her mother's frantic tone. "Mom, what is it?"

"Katniss…I…" Anise struggled finding her words. "Have you seen your sister?"

Katniss shook her head. "No."

Anise's face faltered. Katniss reached out for her mother's hand. "Why do you need Prim?"

Katniss was sure her sister couldn't be that hard to find.

"Katniss, she…" Anise didn't want to worry her daughter, knowing how protective Katniss was of Prim, but she didn't want to waste any more time. "Prim never came home last night."

"She what!?"

Katniss's first emotion was more akin to anger than worry. Her last memory was of Prim leaving Torry's sisters with her while the two of them went off together.

"She's with Torry," Katniss said.

"I know. His parents haven't heard from him either."

"Oh," Katniss said. "Don't worry mom, they're good kids, so I'm sure…"

But Katniss realized her mother's real worry as she said that. Since Prim and Torry were good kids, the only reason they wouldn't have come home was if something bad had happened to them.

"Oh," she repeated, this time her voice dark and heavy.

Katniss got up, purpose filling her body, and left with her mother forming a game plan. Anise was to check all the hospitals, all the patients who'd been admitted the previous night, while Katniss went off to figure out what could happen to someone who didn't get taken to a hospital.

There was no Hob in Thirteen, but Katniss knew enough about the world to know there had to be something similar—and she was going to find out where that was in Thirteen.

Katniss first tried to track down some of the people from Twelve who'd been in Thirteen the longest. She realized she shouldn't have been surprised that she couldn't find any. The one's she'd filmed with who'd signed up for the military were out fighting, and the rest were busy working in a variety of locations.

After wandering around for several minutes, she finally decided to just ask the next person she saw.

"Hey. Hey! Excuse me!" She called to a young, uniformed man who was walking by. "I'm talking to you!"

"You're not supposed to be here." He told her coldly.

Katniss didn't care and ignored that. "I'm looking for someone who can-"

"There are people in designated areas who can assist you, ma'am."

"Great," she said dismissively and wrinkling her nose at ma'am. But Katniss decided to let that go.

"Just follow me please," he said taking her arm and leading her down the hall.

"But you don't know where I want to go," she said, trying to pull away, but his grip only tightened. "Hey, let go of me! Do you have any idea who I am?"

But it was clear the soldier didn't care. He led her through a series of doors and Katniss suddenly found herself in a large room.

"What the-" Katniss didn't even know how to process what she was seeing.

The room was filled with a winding line of people, all being patrolled by severe looking guards.

"She was trespassing and needs to be processed." The soldier told a man behind a desk.

"Resident of Thirteen or Alien?"

The soldier knocked Katniss in the back.

"Oww...Resident," she said, her eyes still lingering on all these people. "Who are they?"

Both men ignored her.

There must be at least 200 people here, Katniss thought to herself when she heard her name.

"Katniss! Oh my god, what are you doing here?!"

Katniss's head spun, at first not registering the voice, and then, not believing it.

"Prim!" her jaw dropped, and without thinking, she ran to her sister, who was currently handcuffed and being led by guards.

"Get off of her, what the hell are you doing?!" She screamed at the men who had her sister.

But they didn't listen, and Prim shrieked at them not to hurt Katniss, at Katniss not to provoke them in the ensuring mess that only ended when one soldier recognized her as the Mockingjay.

"Stop. Guys, stop. She's the Mockingjay."

They all froze and he pulled Katniss away. If Katniss had paid attention, she would have recognized him as one of the men who'd gone with her to Eight, but she wasn't thinking about that right now. All she was thinking about was Prim and how these men had her handcuffed.

"Get your hands off of me and untie my sister!" Katniss screamed. All the men responded, but it was only Prim's voice she heard.

"No, Katniss, it's okay. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? What the hell do you mean don't worry?! You're in chains!"

"I know," Prim said nonchalantly. "But they'll let me go soon."

Katniss stared open-mouthed at her sister and Prim proceeded to explain how she and Torry had gone to protest the way Thirteen was treating the arriving refugees, how some protesters got a little out of hand, and how everyone had been arrested.

"But don't worry," Prim said again, "They're releasing everyone once they've been cleared as not a threat."

Katniss couldn't help but not that her sister was completely unphased by her own arrest.

"No, Prim, I'm getting you out of here now. Mom and I have been so worried."

"Katniss, it's fine," Prim said, looking her sister straight in the eye. "There are other people you should be worried about."

"What are you talking about?"

"Katniss, look at these people."

And Katniss did. She realized these people all looked tired, even scared, desperate. They were all in various states of frustration, exhaustion, and unease. Men stared with flashing, hungry eyes, children clung frantically to their mother's skirts, muttering, crying, and the women looked tired, afraid.

"What is this?"

"They're all the refugees," Prim said as the guards began to pull her away. "We've got to do something about this, Katniss. We've got to help them! They're not feeding them. Not giving them any place to sleep. We have to do something..."

Katniss nodded slowly - still taking in the images of the people before her, still trying to understand – as Prim disappeared through a set of doors.

"Prim," she said, looking around.

"Hey," the soldier who'd recognized her as the Mockingjay said, politely taking her arm, "let's get you out of here."

"What?" Katniss said, her senses suddenly coming to her. "No. I'm not going anywhere. Not until I help these people."

"You're not supposed to be back here." He told her gravely.

"So?" And she jerked away and went off to talk to the people to find out what they needed.

She quickly learned why her sister had been involved in a protest. It turned out that Thirteen was only letting a very small percentage of refugees through their doors, and only after they'd passed health screenings and background checks and found a place to live and a job they could do. Their list of open rooms and job was growing very slim, and now, only a few refugees were being let in. The rest had to wait in rooms like this.

Katniss couldn't believe it and demanded to talk to who was in charge. She was politely asked to leave and eventually dragged from the room.

"Fine!" She huffed at the soldiers who'd escorted her from the area, "I'll just go and find someone who will help me."

Katniss's attempt to find the person in charge led her through several military offices - and she was pretty sure she at one point spoke with the same Major who'd tried to help her when she was upset about her rejected marriage license. She was essentially told by everyone she spoke with that the matter was either not their problem, not her problem, or just "a low priority at the moment."

"Well, I'm not asking you to make it a priority," she snapped, "I'm asking you to let me to!"

The Major just took a deep breath and looked at her. "Ma'am..."

Katniss's nose crinkled. She didn't like being called that.

"I just don't know what you want me to do. It's not like anyone here wants to keep these people out. But we don't have a place for them all. What happens when we let them all in and can't clothe them? Or give them a place to live? Or feed them?"

"But they're hungry."

"There's only so much food, Miss Everdeen. Do you want to starve so we can feed them?"

No, Katniss thought. But she didn't say that, and she wasn't ready to give up.

"It would be irresponsible of us to let people in we can't support. And we've already cut back our rations…"

"So there's not enough food? That's the problem?"

"Food, then getting them all screened by the doctors, and then finding a place for them to live."

"But first food, right? Even if they have to stay out in the halls and sleep there for a while, they first have to eat, right?"

"Yes," the Major said, rolling his eyes. "But we don't have enough-"

But Katniss had already turned to leave. If there was one thing she'd learned from growing up in Twelve, there was always a way to get more food, if you really wanted it.

She went to Cinna's quarters and strapped on her Mockingjay suit, which was nearly impossible to squeeze into, she regrettably noticed and did her best to ignore and grabbed all her bows. She then went back to the area where she'd run into Prim and all the refugees. No one tried to stop her now that she was suited up.

"Alright," she said to the rows and rows of people. Who here knows how to hunt?"

The soldiers, of course, tried to stop her. But Katniss reminded them that the refugees weren't technically under Thirtheen's jurisdiction, so they could do whatever they wanted. And then she reminded them that it wasn't exactly a good idea to try and stop her.

"I'm the Mockingjay," she told the young and clearly inexperienced soldier at the door. "I can do what I want."

"Oh, right, of course," he said, opening the doors to let her and the nine men who'd volunteered to help hunt.

That young soldier would later get into trouble for letting them out, but Katniss didn't care. These people needed food, and that was something she knew how to do.

She felt alive again out in the forest, and she'd forgotten how good it felt to have sun on her face, wind in her hair. She didn't regret at all that she wasn't in the war room trying to figure out how to save the rebellion. She knew she'd be no good in there. But out here—she remembered again how she could actually help.

It turned out the volunteers were all very capable hunters. Most were from Seven where she learned it was very common for most people to go out and scrounge for their own food. By the end of the day, they'd got four deer, one of which was a very large buck, and several turkeys. Katniss resisted her urge to shoot every squirrel she saw, knowing they would offer little in the way of trying to feed an entire population.

When Katniss and her team arrived back at the gates of Thirteen, several soldiers, the Major, and General Pierce were waiting for her.

"God damn it, Everdeen, I've got better things to do than..." Pierce said as he took a pair of handcuffs out. He'd clearly come to arrest her, but then he saw all the meat the volunteers were dragging. "What the hell is this?"

"Food."

The General opened his mouth, but clearly didn't know what to say. Katniss smiled.

"You guys need food, right?"

"Well, yes..."

"And now you have it," she said nonchalantly and began walking back in doors.

"Now wait just one moment. I can't let you back in there."

Katniss exhaled deeply and turned. "But I bet you can use that meat, can't you?"

"Katniss Everdeen," the General said, his face a mix of frustration and apology, "for leaving the premise of District Thirteen without permission and breaking Order 237A, 822S and 147G-12, I have to place you under arrest."

Katniss stared steely eyed at Pierce, her look belittling more than anything else. He knew she thought he was being nothing more than a nuisance, and for a man who'd dedicated his life to earning the respect and esteem of his people through his hard work, dedication, and sacrifice, it bothered Pierce more than he'd ever let anyone know.

Katniss held out her wrists and let him take her.

"Alright, Miss Everdeen," he said, leading her to a small holding room, "wait her until..."

"You figure out what to do with me?"

"Yeah," he grumbled.

"Well, good luck with that."

Pierce looked at her like he wasn't quite sure if he appreciated her snark or not. He poured her a glass of water and took off her cuffs.

"You'd probably like to know that we released your sister earlier this afternoon."

"Thanks."

"No need for thanks. She was determined to be a non-threat, and we don't imprison people here who aren't."

Katniss wondered if that meant he thought she was a threat.

"Well, just make sure all that meat gets eaten."

"We will. We don't let things go to waste here."

"Okay."

.

"Katniss, what the hell, Katniss!"

She'd been resting her head in her arms on the table, and looked up to see Gale running towards her.

"Let her out of there right now!" Gale demanded of the guard stationed outside her door.
"Jesus, Katniss are you okay?" Gale said. His eyes were full of worry and her took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead.

"Yeah, I'm fine, hey," she said, sensing how great his concern was. "I'm fine." She pressed her lips deeply against his.

Katniss could tell by the lines of worry on his face and the shadows under his eyes that Gale had had a very rough day. She felt bad for having not worried more about how the rebellion was going or what extra concern she might have caused Gale.

"Hey," she said, squeezing his hand in reassurance, "I'm okay."

"Okay," he finally said, pulling away. "I'm going to get you out of here."

Katniss smiled weakly, "okay."

She now felt bad for having become an extra problem for Gale to deal with, especially when he'd spent the whole day in the war room having to help make god-only-knew what type of impossible decisions. She almost wanted to tell him to just leave her, that she'd eventually get this sorted out herself, but she knew Gale wouldn't do that.

Two hours later, he came back. He was extremely irritated, and she could only imagine that it was because of all the stupid bureaucratic paperwork he had to go through to get her out.

The couple had again been thwarted by the fact that they weren't married, and Gale spent about thirty minutes trying to be polite and professional and explain who he was and why he was trying to get Katniss out of jail. But after the third person apologized to him, saying he didn't have access to any of Miss Everdeen's files, Gale lost it. He screamed and made a few threats, and finally, after flashing his badge, rank, and mentioning the Mockingjay, he was sent to talk to someone who could help him.

That someone happened to be the same poor Major whom Katniss's had spoken to about acquiring food – and her marriage license. His name was Major Cross.

"Oh, Miss Everdeen, yes I've heard of her," the man said wearily, rubbing his stiff knee. He'd hurt in in action, which was why he was now assigned to a job of paperwork and file-keeping instead of in the field. But his knee always bothered him when it rained or had to sign a lot of paperwork. He knew that day, the skies were perfectly clear. "Let's see what I can do for you."

Major Cross read over a list of infractions Katniss had been accused of, and Gale cursed under his breath when he learned she'd gone off premise without permission and without protection.

"Well, one of these citations is for using an unauthorized weapon, but since it's her bow and arrow, I'm pretty sure I can get her cleared of that one," the Major said, beginning to whittle away at her list of offenses.

The Major made a few phone calls, filed a few forms, and after an hour, told Gale that Katniss had been cleared to go. He led Gale back to Katniss's cell. Shew as pacing the room this time, growing restless in her small cell.

"All right, Miss Everdeen, you're free to go," Major Cross said, opening her door. "But I feel the need to express to you that free doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want…"

"Right," Katniss half-ignored him as she walked towards Gale who took her under his arm but looked at her sternly.

"Have you eaten?" Katniss said as they walked away, "I'm starving." She began to walk towards the cafeteria, excitedly telling Gale that they were probably serving the deer she'd helped catch earlier.

"Do you care if we have dinner with my mom and sister? I want to talk to Prim about what happened last night."

"Yeah, that's fine," Gale said vaguely, clearly distracted, but Katniss was too hungry and excited to notice.

She did notice, however, by the time they reached the cafeteria. Gale was quiet, brooding – neither of which was particularly out of character for him – but he was also tense and almost callous any time Katniss, her mom, or Prim said anything to him. All three women eventually just let him be, and he remained quiet throughout the meal, except to huff once when Katniss and Prim were practically bragging about their actions and congratulating each other for what they did that day.

"I can't believe you just went out to hunt, Katniss! You're so brave."

"There's nothing brave about hunting. And, we needed food," Katniss said like it was no big deal. Though secretly, she was pretty pleased with herself.

"I wish I'd thought to just go do that. But I always just follow the rules…" Prim spoke like it was her greatest failing.

"I wouldn't be too hard on yourself, little duck. You did just get arrested."

And both sisters laughed.

Gale and their mother, however, exchanged a heavy glance. Anise just looked at Gale and shook her head. She knew there was no use, and Gale exhaled deeply.

His breath caught Katniss's attention, who just smiled at him and put her hand on his leg. But when he didn't smile back at her, she knew there was something wrong.

"Alright, Gale, tell me about your day," she said, leading him to the bed when they got back in their room and beginning to message his shoulders. She couldn't believe how stiff he was. His muscles hadn't felt like this since he was working in the mines.

"Katniss," he said, not knowing where to begin.

"What's wrong?" she said, sweetly leaning in to kiss his neck and preparing herself to hear about the state of the rebellion.

"I can't believe you went out hunting today..."

"Why? We needed food."

"Katniss, it's dangerous…"

She turned to face him. "Gale…hunting isn't dangerous. We've done it our whole lives…"

Gale shook his head and had a heavy look in his eyes.

"Come on, Gale," she said with a small laugh.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Katniss flushed. She felt bad she'd caused him such worry, but was also excited by seeing how much he cared. And she had to admit, it turned her on a little. She liked knowing how much she meant to Gale. Or, not knowing, she realized, she always knew how important she was to him, how much he loved her. She liked seeing it. She began pulling at his shirt and let her hands slide up, savoring his skin.

"You could have been hurt," he said, leaning into her chest.

"No I couldn't have."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah, but I'm pretty good at staying out of trouble."

"No you're not," Gale said, still nuzzling her chest, his hot breath calling all her nerves to attention, her skin ready, waiting, wanting more.

She took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead and then his lips. "Okay," she smiled, "but I'm pretty good at getting out of trouble."

Gale chuckled slightly at that, but his body was still tense, still worried.

Katniss looped her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. A hot urgency was working within him, a raw need that was fierce, wild, and pure.

Katniss helped Gale remove her shirt and moaned as he began to kiss her breasts. She moved to recline on the bed and pulled him down with her, a wave of pleasure rushing through her.

But when Katniss's eyes met Gale's, he looked at her with such a pained expression.

"What's wrong Gale?" she asked, her desire fading to concern.

"I just want to hold you," he said, burying his face in her chest again.

"You are," she said with a small laugh. But it wasn't enough to lighten his mood. She could still see the dark shadows that crossed his eyes. It was like looking into a well. "What's wrong Gale?"

He exhaled deeply and kissed her again and let his hands roam her body. He needed to have her, hold her, protect her…Gale just needed to know he could keep something safe, making something matter after the day he'd had.

"Hey, talk to me," she said again, wanting to get lost in the pleasure his lips were her pulling at her skin, but knowing that wasn't the solution. "Tell me what's wrong," she said, tilting Gale's chin up and forcing her to look him in the eyes.

He sighed deeply again, making almost a choking sound as he tried to keep everything within him. Katniss could see his struggle, and she pulled his arm around her and nuzzled close to his side, running one of her arms across her chest and pulling his hand to her stomach.

"Tell me what's wrong, Gale," she said again, softly kissing his skin as she did.

Gale sighed heavily again, not wanting to talk about any of it. Not wanting to think about any of it, but, finally, he did.

He told Katniss about the conditions in Three and Four. He told her about the gains the rebellion had made that day. And then about the men they had lost doing so.

And finally, he told her that he didn't really know what to do, that he didn't know how to fix things, that he didn't know how to make it right.

And Katniss realized for the first time that what she felt was guilt—but what Gale felt was accountability. He felt personally responsible for taking care of everything and making it right.

She tried to get him to realize it wasn't all up to him, that he didn't have to take care of everything, but it was hard. He'd stepped up and taken care of his family when his father died. And he'd done the same thing for her family when she'd gone into the Games. Gale had somehow always been able to take care of everything and everyone.

Whatever worked inside of him to make him do that was pulling him now—only Katniss realized it was pulling him down.

Gale, she said, again and again, telling him it wasn't all up to him, that he couldn't do everything, and, especially, that it wasn't his fault.

They kept talking, Gale slowly letting his fears and anxieties out, slowly believing what Katniss told him, slowly feeling better.

And, even though the lovers didn't end up having sex that night, both realized that they had, nonetheless, been intimate.