Hi sorry for not updating sooner, last month was a doozy. I fell, needed surgery on my left arm,- I have use of my right arm, so typing is an adventure-my dad was in the hospital...but we were all together for Christmas. I do not own the Hunger Games. Thank you to my beta Norbertsmom, Dandeliononfire, Alliswell21, Everlarkingjoshifer, sohypothetically, savvylark, Buttercupbadass, notanislaner, stjohn27, amazinglovers747 and everyone else who checked up on me, and kept me motivated when things got dark.

Corky's world up ahead...

After the Hob, there were many restrictions put into place that segregated the two communities. Although the rules were temporary, no one dared to speak out against them for fear of the Peacekeepers. One of the new restrictions stated residents from the Seam could only purchase or conduct business on Fridays and Saturdays. All of the businesses were impacted because people from the Seam didn't venture out from their houses even on Fridays and Saturdays to shop. Combine that with the frigid temperatures and the record snowfall, all of the business were suffering.

Monday's were the only days for them to sign up for or collect tesserae. This year almost everyone signed up for it. In the bakery, things were also slow. The bakery was one of the few places that had access to the Seam, but everything had to be approved and documented through the Mayor's office. Rye was in charge of making the deliveries and when he couldn't, the task was left to Peeta.

It was early in the bakery. Eugene wasn't baking, he was sprawled out on the floor with a saw hacking away. He wanted to get up early enough to work on his project and have it set up before anyone else got up. With all of his pieces cut, all he would have to do is assemble. Picking up his hammer, he began to whistle.

"The great and mighty Warrior is on the prowl. No one can stop him," Eugene said out loud in the empty bakery. He hammered the final piece of scrap wood to turn the crate into a box. As he worked, a shadow cast over him.

"Whatcha doing dad?"

Eugenie Mellark glanced up to see his youngest Peeta staring down at him with a look of concern and alarm.

Everyone thought he was making it up, or losing his mind. Eugene could handle Rye's annoying ribbing, his son wasn't malicious. His middle child was a good-natured sort and poking fun was part of his nature. Though it was his wife's taunts about his nuts that drove Eugene bonkers.

Every night his wife walked right by his bed and snickered, "Make sure your nuts are intact. Don't wanna wake up and find you're missing one of them." Boudicca's comments drove him crazy.

Any time he made a baked good that contained pecans, walnuts, or any type of the 'N' word she snidely whispered, "my nuts...my nuts," into his ear. Eugene had enough of his wife's non-stop-teasing.

This morning, he awoke with a goal in mind. He was out to make a trap to prove that he was not insane. He knew by the weight of his containers that food was missing. On the surface, it wasn't a lot, but it was enough to convince him there had to be some sort of critter eating his supplies.

The family did not understand the implication of having a rodent in the bakery. Rodents were dangerous and carried diseases. He was dead set on protecting his family and the business he inherited. "I'm making a trap."

"Okay," Peeta said. One eyebrow shot up in the air. He pursed his lips.

"You think I'm crazy?"

Peeta's face crumbled into a pained looked. "Well…"

"Something is stealing my nuts, my dried fruit and who knows what else. If it's a rat, not only is our bakery in trouble, but the health and the well being of our entire town."

Peeta's eyes grew large. "What if it isn't a rat?"

Eugene frowned, not at what his son said, but at the intricate knot, he was creating. "I'm determined to catch whomever or whatever creature is doing this."

"Dad."

Eugene looked up, exasperated.

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

Sitting back, he took a good long look at the trap he was making. He had a rat trap with a small piece of bread on the trigger. This simple trap would have been good enough to catch a regular opponent, but the burglar Eugene was facing was smart and he had to be smarter than his entrepreneurial thief.

It dawned on him that he needed a trap within a trap, and this morning that's what he was making. If the rat trap was unsuccessful and the critter that was eating his stock goods wasn't captured, he had a backup. He had a box propped up by a stick with a string attached to the rat trap that would pull the box down the moment the bread was removed from the trap.

"I know I'm not a hunter like Katniss or Gale, but I can catch whatever is stealing from us. We have to be careful with our supplies." Eugene noticed Peeta was trying to avoid eye contact. Whenever Peeta did this, it meant he was uncomfortable. Eugene took this as Peeta thought he was going about this wrong.

"Do you really think...?"

"Peeta, let me stop you. Of all of my children, you're the only one with the ability to see beyond what others see. You're a sweet boy and quite ingenious when you have to be, so I want you to take a look around you and see what I'm facing. This is shaping up to be the worst winter in District 12 history. I've never seen a winter like this before, and we need to make sure we have enough supplies to last us well beyond the spring."

His son blinked. His eyes looked about the workspace before settling on the window of the back door. It was currently snowing outside. Eugene could see the dawning of enlightenment in his son's eyes."

Like nails on a chalkboard, Boudica's voice filtered down the stairs. "Eugene, are the ovens on? Is Peeta baking? The morning crowds will be here soon!"

Peeta walked away. Eugene quickly finished setting up the trap and continue to do his work.

From the rafters, Corky sat watching the humans. His tail switched back and forth as he watched his human Peeta light up the ovens. His human was kind and gentle. Corky was glad he picked Peeta as his pet. There was much to worry about and he had to storage of food. Nature indicated to all of the animals this winter was just starting and it wouldn't be ending anytime soon.

Corky scampered down to the floor. He carefully examined the trap set up by his human's parental unit. It looked interesting, but he wasn't naive enough to fall into that simple contraption. It would take more to get him.

He twitched his nose. Humans were quite entertaining. Running away, he headed toward the hole and made his way to the exterior of the house. He stood on the ledge. From his vantage point, he saw the cat patrolling the exterior of the fence.

He didn't appreciate the cat being in his territory. It was hungry and was looking for its next tasty morsel of food. Typically Corky wouldn't have paid attention, but this winter was pretty bad and things were getting harder for humans and animals alike.

Corky was glad the cat was blocked by the fence. It allowed him to focus on his task at hand. He had to gather twigs and other material that could only be found outdoors. He had to make a nest for Shirley. It was tedious work, but little by little he gathered the materials that he needed.

One week later, the contraption Eugene made was still standing in the corner. No one said anything to him because he swore it was going to work. Outside, the weather worsened at night and the snow piled on quickly across the district. It was early afternoon and Eugene was cleaning up as business was slow.

The back door of the bakery opened and Rye came in dusting snowflakes off his head. "The deliveries are done...ugh it's cold outside," Rye said, hanging up his coat.

Boudicca snickered and entered the backspace. She grimaced when she saw the box in the corner. Her eyes narrowed. "Oh look, I think there is something inside of the trap...oh no there's only dust in there."

Eugene fummed.

"Mother, you got to stop. Dad is only trying to protect his nuts," Rye said winking at his dad. "They did produce extraordinary Mellark goods." Rye wiggled his eyebrows and ruffled his father's hair.

Everyone laughed.

The front doorbell chimed and Rye walked to the front of the shop to attend to a customer, leaving his mother to continue her taunting.

"My nuts, my nuts, it's all you ever cry and it's not like they're that spectacular," Boudicca snickered.

"You mention my nuts enough to know you're not disgusted by them."

Rolling her eyes. "Yeah right, they're are as great as your pee-KHAN pie."

"I will have you know I am known for my PEE-can pie."

Boudicca made a gagging face.

He took off his reading glasses and narrowed his eyes. "Boudicca how many times do I have to tell you, it's not pee-KHAN it's PEE-can."

"pee-KHAN," she mocked.

Peeta watched as his parents began sparring. His father stood up to his mother, something Peeta had never seen before.

"When are you gonna get it through your thick head there is nothing here stealing any of your stupid nuts!" Boudicca argued.

Peta stopped his piping to glance at his mother. He saw when her lips pursed, her eyes flashed and turned a darker shade of blue.

Peeta glanced away not wanting to attract attention. He'd already gotten reamed this morning. Rye burned a tray of cookies He was flirting with a girl in the front instead of watching the ovens. Peeta was in the supply closet doing inventory when he noticed the smell of burnt sugar. Of course, Peeta got the blame instead of Rye.

Peeta's eyes settled on the rafters. He saw Corky running around. He frowned when he saw Corky had a twig and a feather in his mouth. He wondered what his squirrel was up to. He hadn't seen Corky or Shirley the past couple days. It was as if they were hiding.

"PEE-can, PEE-can, PEE-can!" His father shouted.

"I have a family of idiots," Boudicca announced as she stormed to the front.

"I'm going to take the garbage outside!" Eugene announced, picking up the trash. He was on his second trip when Peeta heard a familiar feline growl.

The back door was left open. From his vantage point, Peeta could see his father walk out toward the trash bins. His dad couldn't see very well. The feline screech got louder.

Peeta watched with horror as Corky zigzagged between his father's legs. Though it wasn't Corky his father focused on, it was the big orange ball barreling his way.

Buttercup barreled through his father's legs in pursuit of Corky. His father's arms flailed in the air as he teetered. His dad fell backwards in a pile of snow, the garbage scattered everywhere.

A feline screech caused Peeta to turn his head to see Corky run inside with Buttercup close behind. Corky ran straight for the trap. He jumped over the mousetrap, stopped and waited for Buttercup to approach, then grabbed the bread, triggering the box. With agility innate to squirrels, Corky sprung upwards on top of the box as it fell on top of Buttercup. From there, Corky jumped to the table then to a shelf until he was up in the rafters again.

It all happened before Peeta could blink. Poor Buttercup was trapped underneath the box and moved it around the floor. He wailed pitifully.

"What is all that racket!" Boudicca demanded.

"I caught it!" Eugene came inside of the bakery smelling of garbage.

Peeta lifted the box. As soon as Buttercup saw him he immediately wailed and lifted his paw acting as if he was injured, but of course, nothing was wrong with him.

Boudicca laughed. "The great and mighty warrior has caught a mangy flea-bitten alley-cat!"

Peeta cuddled Buttercup against his chest as he brought him outside. The gate was left open by Rye.

"You okay, buddy?"

"Meroooow."

Peeta quietly petted Buttercup. He couldn't bring the cat to the Everdeens because of the restrictions. He gingerly put Buttercup down. "Sorry about the box." Peeta bent down to rub Prim's beloved pet.

"Peeta come in here and help your father with this mess, and keep on working on Cran's Toasting cake. Rye go outside and pick up that garbage."

"I have to go in, buddy, but you should go home and stay away from Corky."

Buttercup grumbled a "meow," and walked away, his tail slowly swishing. Peeta desperately wanted to send Katniss a message, but couldn't. He hadn't seen Katniss since the morning of the attack on the Hob. He missed her terribly. His nights were lonelier. Peeta was worried about her, worried if she had enough food, he wondered if they were warm enough. He worried because he knew Peacekeepers were keeping an eye on her, she and her family had been inspected more than once.

"Peeta," his mother bellowed.

There wasn't any time and he couldn't cross over into the Seam unless he was delivering an order.

That night, Peeta looked behind the bed and saw that Corky was building a nest. Shirley looked off, then her little paws fell over her middle in a protective way. Corky stood by her looking like an anxious father. Peeta kneeled down and grinned. Shirley being in the family way explained why Corky was acting extra strange. "Congratulations are in order, but you have to stay away from the kitchen."

Corky nodded.

"I'll bring you all of the food you need, and here," Peeta grabbed some feathers from his supplies and helped line the nest.

Shirley squealed when she saw the feathers on the nest. She immediately settled inside of the nest It almost appeared as if she sighed.

Peeta smiled, then he realized that he was going to have more little Corkys running around.