A/N: Thank you for your continued support and appreciation of this story. Great news I've got legit nearly 30 chapters so this is a long one so buckle your seats in we are just starting. I think this is my longest fic to date. Special thanks to my friend Norbertsmom for her wonderful beta skills. PS I do not own the hunger games

Brief Synopsis: The last time we saw our D12 districts Peeta was slowly gaining grounds with Katniss. Gale is clueless about the whole little sneaking into Peeta's window thing, Darius...well as someone said in a comment...they still have reservations. Yes, Darius, we're judging you. Delly, sigh...poor girl...and Katniss and Gale were just coming out of the woods when they heard Peacekeepers

At the crackle of the radio, Katniss knew what it was. She heard that noise enough times as she snuck her away across the district to recognize it easily. "Peacekeepers," she whispered to herself.

"You know it's not fair, Catnip!" Gale continued talking, oblivious to the danger they were in.

She heard the radio again. The Peacekeepers were close by, but they hadn't been spotted. With all of the kills they had between them, she was sure they would get in serious trouble.

"Gale," Katniss called his name, but he kept on complaining.

Gale kept on yapping. The sound was right on top of them. Katniss thought she might have to punch him when Gale stopped talking.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Peacekeepers."Katniss grabbed Gale's arm forcefully.

"What?" Gale looked confused.

Katniss took her game bag and pushed it into Gale's arms before she shoved Gale into the wooded area behind a rather large tree.

Gale growled, "Hey."

She put her fingers to her lips and hushed him. Katniss acted quickly gathering a few leaves and pinecones before falling on the ground and rolling closer to where the Peacekeepers were to distract them from the six-foot giant that was Gale. Picking herself off the ground she dusted herself and began collecting more pine cones and leaves.

The static message came over the Peacekeeper's communication device as they walked toward her. Katniss took a deep breath as a group of 4 men surrounded her.

The leader asked with a gruff voice, "What the hell are you doing in this Sector?"

It was a struggle not to allow her body to show signs of fear. To them, she was a possible rule breaker, not an innocent district resident. "I'm sorry, sir. I fell."

"You fell?"

There was a trail of pinecones and leaves. Yes," Katniss pointed to a slope and the Peacekeeper looked to where she pointed.

"State your name."

"Katniss Everdeen."

"Why are you collecting leaves and pine cones?"

Katniss didn't know what to reply. She could say her mother asked for them; she was a known healer, or she could say she was helping her sister on a project for school. Her eyes took in each one of the men. She could see the shoulders of the men stiffen as they stood in front of her. Her mouth went dry, but she straightened her shoulders wishing Peeta was with her. He always knew what to say. Her fear was that Gale would do something stupid.

"Answer me," the Peacekeeper demanded.

It was then she saw Darius walking toward them. He looked anxious and agitated. The moment he saw them he made a beeline for them.

"There you are." Darius walked through the squad.

Katniss smiled nervously at Darius. She wasn't good at this whole pretending thing.

"Darius," the Peacekeeper greeted.

"L," Darius greeted back.

Peacekeeper L asked curiously, "Is she working with you?"

Darius kept on speaking, but, didn't address the Peacekeeper. "Katniss, I am glad you've collected the samples for the Mayor's office."

The Peacekeeper named L turned his head. It was disturbing for Katniss to see her image reflected in the dark visor. He was no doubt staring at her, before he turned his attention to Darius. "She's collecting samples?"

"Yes, we are doing a climatological study for the Capitol." Darius launched into an explanation. "The pinecones and leaves indicate how much moisture this district received this year. The wetter the season, for example, the less open the pinecones are. The drier the season, the more open they are. As you all are well aware, the Capitol is concerned about the weather."

Katniss didn't know what Darius was speaking about, but he sounded knowledgeable. The only reason she picked up leaves and pinecones was because she had her gamebag and they would have seen that she had something with her and she needed to show she was carrying something.

L nodded. "Understood."

Katniss didn't understand what unspoken words were expressed between both men, but she was glad when 'L,' relaxed his pose. Just then the radio went off.

"Patrol A, report in."

Peacekeeper L answered back, "Patrol A, reporting."

"Patrol A, there is a disturbance in Sector E."

It sounded as if the Peacekeeper groaned, and muttered: "Copy that, will continue to Sector E."

"We have to head to the Victor's Village," L ordered.

Katniss swore she heard one of the Peacekeepers mutter, "Aww man, that guy stinks."

She was glad to see them go. Turning her attention to Darius, she shook her head.

"That, Katniss, was a close call," Darius said.

"What are you doing out here?"

"It's a great day for a walk!" Darius said amicably as if they were friends. "I was hoping to bounce into you and Gale. I assume Hawthorne is hiding in the woods."

"Yup he is," Katniss said. She whistled, giving the sign that the coast was clear.

"What in the hell happened?" Gale asked.

"Peacekeepers," Katniss said retrieving her game bag.

"At this time of the morning?"

"Yes, they are out at all times," Katniss muttered. "Where have you've been?"

Gale didn't answer, instead, he turned to Darius who was observing them interact.

"I am glad you showed up when you did." Katniss frowned. "Why are you out here?"

Instead of answering, Darius said, "Please follow me."

Gale and Katniss grew still. Their faces became hard to read. This was not typical Darius behavior. He had never come out this way, not since that one time the Goat man got into a drunken fight with old man Nibs.

Gale fell in sync with Darius, and Katniss fell behind.

Darius turned to Gale and asked, "I heard you were asking about Delly?"

"So what of it," Gale replied.

"Nothing," Darius shrugged, but he continued. "She's just a good girl, that's all. Not the type of girl you take to the Slag Heap."

Gale didn't reply. He knew all too well Delly was virtuous. He hadn't met one person who spoke poorly about her.

Darius walked in the opposite direction away from the meadow toward the Seam. When they were in the fork that led to the Seam Darius stopped walking.

Gale did not wait; he immediately began to ask questions. "What are you doing out here? Why did you bring us back to the Seam? Why are you acting weird, Darius?"

"Listen to me. Do not go to the hob to sell your game."

"Why?" Gale questioned, his voice flat, dangerously quiet.

Katniss could see Gale's ire was rising. "What are you not telling us, Darius?"

"The new Peacekeepers are watching it, seeing who goes in and out. They're watching what they buy or trade. I'm warning you, and I've told the same to Jeb, Ripper and Greasy Sae. All of them except for Jeb have shut up shop there."

"Why, what's going on?" Gale asked. "Peacekeepers never cared about the Hob."

"Don't ask questions, just avoid the Hob. If you want to trade, trade with the merchants that you know will not betray you, like the Mellark's and the Cartwright's. You can also trade with the Mayor and myself. There are few others that I'll let you know about once I know they're okay."

"Why can't we just trade with the merchants as usual? Have they complained about seeing us in town?" Gale glared at Darius, "We have the right…"

"They're inspecting the Merchants' houses for illegal goods." Katniss's quiet words made Gale stop talking.

"How do you know this?" Gale gazed at her incredulously.

Katniss did not want Gale to know Peeta was the source of information. How did she tell her best friend she was sneaking into a Merchant's bed at every opportunity? Katniss didn't want to lie to Gale; he knew she was a horrible liar. She was spared from having to lie, because Darius spoke up.

"No doubt, Madge told her, they've been going to the businesses that are known to shop at the Hob." Darius gazed at them, his eyes serious. "They haven't found anything yet."

"Darius, why are you helping us?" Gale asked, his attention was diverted away from Katniss on to the ex-Peacekeeper.

"Because this is my home now. I've got no one where I come from. Becoming a Peacekeeper was the only thing available to me other than volunteer for the Games." His voice lowered. He gazed directly at Gale. "When the changes started coming down Cray offered a bunch of us a way out. I took it, so trust me, and know I wouldn't betray you."

Katniss put two and two together quickly. Darius was always around Sae's. "Greasy Sae's granddaughter is your kid?"

"I always knew you were smart," Darius said quietly, acknowledging her declaration.

Gale looked at the man differently, but, did not speak.

Katniss understood Darius was one of them now. "That's why you stayed behind to take care of Greasy and your family."

"I wasn't going to abandon my kid, my wife. When I found out that Holly was mine, I wanted to stay here and help Fern and Sae raise her despite Holly's problems. She got better with the Capitol drugs Madge was able to get me," Darius explained as he ran his hand through his red hair. "Cray had me resign so that there would be no question of my loyalty to the Capitol. Thankfully, my 20-year contract was up. I signed up when I was a kid, because my parents owed a lot of money."

Katniss understood his motivations, though she looked to Gale who still did not seem convinced. "What do you suggest we do with what we have now?"

Darius stood straighter, bracing his hands on his hips. His voice took on a sterner tone. "If you have game with you sell or trade it with the people you trust. I'll work on seeing who else wants to buy from you."

"What if we can't sell our stuff to the Merchants? What if the Merchants stop buying altogether from us?" Gale demanded.

"Honestly, people can't afford the new meat prices, only the Peacekeepers can. They'll want your game. But if you can't sell it, make it into jerky or eat it for yourselves."

"What are we supposed to do in the meantime? How are we supposed to live?" Gale was clearly upset.

"Lay low. I'll get you a permit to have a garden in your home, Katniss. That way you'll be able to have the dry herbs you mother uses. I'll also get you both permits for rabbit and a few chickens. You can buy the live animals from chicken man. That way any dry jerky you make you can claim its rabbit or chicken."

"They are going to close the Hob down, aren't they?" Katniss said.

"Not now, but eventually. Purina and I are working on it. We're trying to get as many permits as we can."

Katniss had a lot of questions. Information was power, Peeta once said and he was right. She organized her thoughts before asking, "Why is Cray doing this?"

"Cray's not doing this," Darius said. "I didn't like the man, but he had our backs. He likes Twelve. Purina and I, we're worried about him, about what's coming. These new guys, they're like hornets before an attack."

"What are they waiting for?" Gale asked.

"I honestly don't know. When Cray was in charge, we knew everything. He'd give us a warning. But the new troops coming in, they don't report directly to Cray. "

"Then who is in charge?" Katniss was concerned for their safety.

Darius gravely answered, "The Capitol."