DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

Words not spoken in English will be italicized.

A/N: So it appears some are disappointed with Dez's secret. I like to have drama in my stories and wanted to have a character have a hidden secret. Because Katniss has her own issues (and I didn't want to add to them) and because I didn't want to make Gale go too off character, I decided to have Dez be the one. It may seem extreme that Gale would give an ultimatum like that but I always felt because his hatred of the Capitol was so great and the fact that the Capitol/Career Districts could take things for granted so easily something like that could be a deal breaker for him. Keep in mind though, that Dez's character had gotten better-until Katniss came back into the picture. I didn't intend for the character to be seen as weak, I look at her as a flawed person who is at times dependent and immature and is desperately afraid of losing Gale. Katniss will meet Dez in the future which will be an interesting chapter to say the least. Stay tuned!

Chapter 32-The Return

It didn't take long for Katniss and the new team to find the Sioux tribe. The tracking locator found the tribe were about a 3 days walk from the Comanche tribe. Katniss had the hovercraft land a safe distance away once the tribe set up camp for the night. Katniss decided to wait until just before sundown to approach. She wanted to go alone despite Spencer's pleas not to.

"We've landed an hour away from where they are, what if something happens to you? Commander Hawthorne will be furious with me." Spencer said to Katniss as she strapped on her bow/arrow and backpack.

"Don't worry about Gale. If something happens to me, tell him that you tried to have an escort go with you but that I refused. Trust me he would NOT be surprised. Besides, if something does happen to me, I have a way to call for help."

Spencer looks at her curiously, and she fills him in on the tracking device Gale gave her.

"Okay, that makes me feel better, but I still think you should let me come along at least." Spencer said in a more relieved tone.

"I just think this will go over better if no one else is there besides me. It is going to take some convincing to get them to even consider traveling with us on this hovercraft."

Spencer reluctantly agreed. After eating dinner on the hovercraft with Spencer and the rest of the team Katniss headed out for the hour long walk. She was given a device that was synched with the tracking locator to help her find her way.

When Katniss approached the camp, it was almost sundown and getting dark. She saw the tribe had started a large bonfire and were all sitting around the fire, eating and laughing. She continued to approach cautiously with her hands raised in the air.

One of the tribesmen she knew didn't care for her saw her first. He yelled out, "Someone is out there!" Katniss saw some of the tribe members look up in concern, conversations halted. It became silent.

Katniss stopped walking but with her hands still raised shouted, "It's me-Killing Bird-I am alone."

Katniss heard mumbling and people moving, she then saw Red Bear and White Wolf approach with Morning Sun trailing behind for she never moved fast.

Red Bear smiled as he approached and said, "You came back."

"I did" Katniss said smiling back.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Morning Sun asked when she finally caught up.

"Yes. I got what I needed, but now, I need your help."

Katniss did her best to explain to Red Bear, White Wolf, and Morning Sun that she had access to a hovercraft and that she had the information and access to soldiers that could help take the cameras down in the other tribes. She then asked if they would help convince the tribe leader to go with her on the hovercraft. Like last time, she had to get creative with her words. It appeared to have worked.

"No! We will not go into any object made by the white man." White Wolf said harshly.

Katniss wasn't surprised, Rain had told her that the Natives were very suspicious of technology and anything modern and wanted nothing to do with anything made by Panem.

"Please, I need your help. I won't have access to what we need to help the other tribes if we travel on foot." Katniss pleaded.

"We will travel by horse, you can meet us there." Red Bear said.

Katniss sighed, she knew this would be the compromise. "I have information for the tribe that is north of here, how long would it take by horse for you and the others to meet me?"

"North of here is the Blackfoot tribe. It will take 10 days by horse, 20 days on foot." White Wolf informed Katniss.

Katniss knew she didn't have 10 days. She had to try another approach.

"Can you please trust me on this? I understand your concerns, but I can't wait that long. I am sorry. Why don't you come and see for yourself? It is about an hour's walk from here. You said I was a part of the tribe, I need the tribe's help. You know I would never put any of you at risk, I am trying to help you—all of you."

Red Bear looked at White Wolf and then both looked at Morning Sun. "Get Hawk, the three of you go with Killing Bird back to the flying ship, then come back and we will talk to Strong Wind" Morning Sun said. Strong Wind was the tribe's leader. It was the name he took after becoming head of the tribe.

Katniss, Hawk, White Wolf, and Red Bear walked the hour back to the hovercraft. Katniss watched as the three of them eyed the ship, suspicion evident on their faces. They declined to go inside and asked for Katniss to meet them at camp first thing in the morning.

Katniss asked Spencer once they left if they could contact the Capitol and see if she could speak to President Paylor. Spencer came back a few minutes later and said they were instructed to call back tomorrow morning, President Paylor felt as long as it not an emergency it could wait till tomorrow.

The six of them set up camp outside the ship that night. While in her tent Katniss lay awake, for she had too much on her mind to sleep. For the first time in a long time she wished she could talk to Gale. She wondered how his visit with his family and fiancé went and she couldn't help but wonder if he was thinking about her too.


Gale laid awake in his room in the President's Mansion, looking up at the ceiling. He thought about Dez, while he enjoyed his visit with her as much as he could, he was still bothered by the fact that her eating disorder returned. He didn't know what he could do to get her to see that she didn't need to starve herself in order for him to want her. He had hoped that their engagement would make her see his commitment and love for her. Despite the great evening he tried to have with her, even their intimate love making could not comfort her-for he saw in Dez's eyes when he left what was wrong. He knew her well enough to know when she was feeling insecure and he saw the insecurity on her face.

He knew the insecurity was coming from the fact that Katniss was back in his life.

Katniss-the one person who once meant more than anything to him. The person he has tried to forget but couldn't. He was beginning to wonder if he had made a mistake in accepting her offer of friendship again. He knew this was going to complicate things with Dez and now with her eating disorder resurfacing, the situation just became way more complicated than it already was.

But then he thought of the smile Katniss gave him when he told her they could be friends again. The look of joy on her face, a look she used to give him all the time back in District 12 when they were in the woods. A look he almost forget existed, he hadn't seen that look at all in District 13.

He knew it was selfish, but he wanted that back, what they had, and he knew Katniss wanted it as well. At one time he knew her better than anyone, and he could tell not much had changed with Katniss even with the years of estrangement between them.

He would just have to find a way to convince Dez she was still his, and that Katniss would be what she always was-his best friend.

Growing up his mother used to say one could not have their pie and eat it to, well, for the first time in his life, he was going to try just that.