DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

A/N: A lot of your questions will be answered in this chapter and the next.

Chapter 121-Second Move

The river was only a five minute walk from the village. It was the tribe's main water source, along with a lake that was near the other side of the village. Katniss reaches the edge of the river out of breath from sprinting. She realized she hadn't run that fast since she fought in the war, when she and Gale and Peeta were being chased by the Capitol's soldiers, blasting their fellow squad member into a million pieces.

She looks around and sees no one there, she turns around and sees no one behind her and when she faces the lake again, sees a man standing there, seeming to come out of nowhere.

She blinks a few times to make sure she is not imagining what she sees-a man dressed in black military outfit. He's older, looking to be about her Mother's age if not older. He had a full head of hair that was white. He looked tired, and determined.

She sees no sign of her son, and knows she needs to plan her moves carefully. She reaches slowly behind her and grabs one arrow, keeping it in position with her bow pointed to the ground.

She approaches slowly and says, "What did you put in my teepee?"

"Is that what those things are called? We didn't learn much about the Natives back when I was in school. My District had more important things to teach us, like what an honor it was to represent our District in the games" the man says in a snide tone.

"What was it?" Katniss says, her tone indicating the man needed to answer the question.

"A scent I sprayed in your teepee, it only lasts a couple of hours. Lucky for me, I timed it just right. The scent causes drowsiness. I knew you would come back to the teepee, I was surprised it was just you and the baby though, I wasn't expecting that. Perhaps I over sprayed, you fell asleep pretty quickly."

"How did you get it?"

"That's my secret, along with how I managed to take your son without anyone noticing."

"Where is he?"

"In a safe place, I gave him his bottle."

"Where is he?" Katniss repeats, raising her bow and aiming it at his chest.

"I already told you he's safe."

Katniss releases her arrow and sees the man crouch down and do a somersault letting the arrow fly by overhead before raising to his feet. His movements so quick Katniss knows this was a person who had extensive combat training.

"I'll let that slide. I know you weren't prepared for this" the man says glaring at Katniss.

"You're a soldier" Katniss says in a matter of fact tone.

The man raises his eyebrows at Katniss, waiting for her to continue.

"You are wearing one of their uniforms."

The man smiles and says, "Recognize this?"

Katniss stares at the uniform, and suddenly gasps in shock. She finally realizes where she's seen that particular uniform before, and on whom.

"That's how you snuck into the village" she says softly.

"You'll need to speak up. I think I just heard you say you realize how I've remained hidden for the past week."

Katniss tries not to let the impact of his words show on her face. The man was wearing the same exact outfit the soldiers wore who snuck into the compound back in District 10. The suit allowing someone to become invisible.

"You've been here this whole time?" she says, her voice shaking.

The man nods and says, "Since you've been here yes. You knew I had your map, I watched you, observed your routine. I saw more than I cared to see, especially when you had your….alone time."

Katniss gives the man a scowl, angered that he had invaded their privacy in such a way. She realizes that not only had the man seen her and Gale having sex, he also had seen what was most precious to her, spending time nursing her son, and taking care of her children.

"You were told I was coming here" she says.

"I have friends everywhere. But I'm not a solider. I would never serve in the military under her leadership" he says, his tone indicating his hatred for Paylor.

"What is your real name? I know it's not Jasper."

"No-it's not. I don't know if I should bother telling you what my real name is. Considering the fact you didn't remember what my son's name was, my son who is dead no thanks to you."

Katniss almost drops her bow, caught off guard by his words. She moves in closer, her feet instantly becoming cold from touching the water. The man moves closer to the water as well, letting Katniss get a better look at him.

After a few moments she realizes who the man is, and who it was that he was referring to. She knows the man is from District 1, and that his son was the first person she killed the games, Marvel.

"Your Marvel's Father" she says, her voice no longer shaking.

"I'm impressed, you remember his name."

"You think I didn't?"

"Your lover boy was the one who did most of the speaking that day. When you visited District 11, you said those tributes names. You never mentioned my son, he didn't matter to you."

"It was the games. You know the odds. Your son killed my friend."

"You don't have friends in the Hunger Games. Marvel would have won those games. But he aligned himself with the boy from 2 and let him call all the shots. They were so focused on getting to you, he should have planned on taking them out and then gone after you."

"So this is what this all about? Avenging Marvel's death? Not a day goes by that I don't think about what I did, what I had to do to stay alive."

"Avenging him is just a part of it. When the militia groups started, I felt I finally had a purpose again. My son was to do what I never could, have the honor of serving our District in the games and become a victor. I trained in the academy, but I wasn't good enough to volunteer. I wanted more for my son. I wanted him to have a life of honor as opposed to working as a jeweler like me. I made sure that his training started early, much earlier than the other kids in the District. I was so proud of him, but he showed weakness, going along with the group instead of going his own way. It's what got him killed. I joined Geffen's group because I was useful, I helped train new recruits, and I got to use my skills again. After Geffen was killed, it was easy taking over the group, people are desperate to follow a leader, you should know."

"So you decided to do things differently with the Jay Killers, wanted to get more people to join the group" Katniss says.

"It worked, sort of. I was able to get connections inside not only the Capitol, but the military as well. Unfortunately though I underestimated Paylor, I didn't think she would push back as hard as she did. I had to give up wanting more members, and I wasn't going to drag them back up here to live in these conditions after the attack on the compound. I decided I had to go smaller. My biggest mistake was trusting Enobaria. Very few people surprise me, she did."

"So you killed her."

He nods and says, "And now, I'm going to watch you die the way I watched my son die" and just as quickly as he ducked from her arrow he reaches around and pulls out a knife, throwing it in her direction.


Gale heads back to the teepee to check on Katniss. She had been gone for four hours, hoping that she had gotten her sleep, he was not concerned at first that she hadn't come back. But it was almost 2:30 and Red Bear had asked him if she was still planning on joining the hunting party that was about to leave.

While Gale still didn't know Sioux nearly as well as Katniss did, he managed to tell Red Bear he would check on Katniss and see if she was planning on going. Sienna and Avery helping Morning Sun prepare dinner, he leaves them with her while he jogs to the edge of the village where their teepee was located.

"Katniss?" he calls out as he opens the flap and goes inside. He sees the fire is nearly burnt out and sees no sign of her or Jackson. He looks around and sees that her bow is gone, along with Jackson's bag.

Sensing immediately that something is wrong, he begins looking around the teepee. Seeing that the very back of the teepee looked out of place, he heads outside and walks around and sees footprints in the snow by the back of the teepee, close to the tree line. He bends down and sees that the back of the teepee had been lifted up. He also sees a small hole above the area, and sees that the hole was obviously cut to peek inside. He gets up and as he turns to leave, sees off to the side one of the tribesmen passed out in the snow. He runs over to the man and sees that he is unconscious, appearing as if something or someone struck him on the head. He picks the man up and places him on his shoulders and heads for the main area of the village, knowing he needs to get to Red Bear and ensure his daughters are taken to a safe location before calling the Capitol for help.