Mockingjay: Broken Wings

by Jamie Sommers

A/U Katniss and Peeta are married, expecting a baby. Peeta's unsure of Katniss after the things he's seen while being held prisoner. Is she still trustworthy? With a traitor in the rebellion who can Katniss turn to? Haymitch, after all the secrets he's kept? Gale, who's loyalty lies with President Coin? Or will Peeta open up his heart to her again? Sequel to CF: Rekindling

5. Friend or Foe?

Mockingjay: Broken Wings

By: Jamie Sommers

Chapter Four: Friend or Foe?

Katniss has agreed to be the Mockingjay until Peeta gets rescued, but her terms came with a list of stipulations. Gale and Katniss have finally worked through some issues...or so they thought. Peeta's hijacking is causing major damage to him, but Snow's not thrilled with the results. And Effie's personal security guard has been making things very difficult for her to accomplish things for the rebellion.

Thank you one and all for reading and for reviewing. Your comments are quite uplifting. Thank you S and A for all your help. You're both amazing. Want to get a sneak peek into the next chapter? follow me on tumblr. jamiesommers23 dot tumblr dot com.

Let's see what's going on with our little gang during...

Mockingjay: Broken Wings

There were too many disturbing images plaguing Peeta's thoughts, all brought on by the Capitol. He was told about the death of his family. His parents and brother's horrific end, yet Peeta couldn't bring himself to believe the things Snow was telling him no matter what he said about Katniss in regards to her being the reason for the firebombs. Still he played along knowing that he had no choice or Effie would be found out. Their relationship, which Snow thought was a rouse on her part, would be brought to light and that was something Peeta couldn't risk. The woman had already put herself in enough danger and he wasn't going to further endanger her life, so he screamed when he felt it was appropriate, yelled out vicious names when they spoke of Katniss and then things were brought back to Gale. Peeta didn't have to fake anything when it came to Gale. He hated the man with every ounce of his being. If it were up to Peeta, he'd kill Gale not Katniss, like Snow wanted him to.

"You see, Peeta? See all that she's done?" Snow paced slowly around the room as the drip slowly made its way into his vein. "She killed your family...your friends and led you to believe you were the father of her child when it's his child she's carrying." Snow pointed to an image of Gale and Katniss laying side by side next to each other on a beach, but there was something off about it. Katniss was wearing next to nothing and her skin looked as though it had been damaged. She was covered in scabs and had some kind of paste on them. Gale on the other hand was fully dressed and his flesh looked healthy. His skin had an almost rosy hue to it, like he was cold which was odd considering they were on a hot beach, but the strangest thing was the glow. Gale was illuminated by a green and gold shimmering light. "Katniss deserves to die for all that she's put you through."

Peeta wasn't fully aware of who Katniss was at that moment. He had no clue what she meant to him, but he knew her name and that he was married to her and she was carrying a baby. Whose baby he still didn't know. The thing he did know was that he had very strong feelings for her. Love? Hate? A combination of both? The guy lying next to her on the beach, Peeta despised. He directed all of the hatred he felt for Gale towards Katniss hoping to appease President Snow. "If I had a knife I'd slit her throat." Saying the words out loud felt wrong, even if he was thinking about Gale. A tiny voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him, 'No! You don't want to do this! Gale is your friend! Fight this! Fight this!'

"President Snow?" The doctor in charge of administering the medication to Peeta spoke. "If we continue administering the drug today, we'll be in danger of damaging his permanent memory function."

Snow faced the doctor with hatred dripping from his voice, "You told me we would be able to turn him against her! Why is this taking so long?"

Peeta had to fight the smile...the laughter that was bubbling deep within him. 'Why?' He thought to himself, 'Because Effie Trinket loves me. That's why.'

"Sir, we've only hijacked a handful of prisoners in the past and never in the manor we are trying with this prisoner. Targeting specific memories and altering them takes careful precision. One mistake and he's useless. His entire past can be wiped out...brain damage...the results could be disastrous."

Snow walked slowly up to Peeta, leaned over him, placing his swollen lips close to his ear and spoke, "You're not making this very easy on me, Mr. Mellark. What do you say, I make things a little more difficult for you as well...hmm?" Snow stood upright and dabbed at the corners of his mouth. "Release him," he barked towards two of his elite guards. "Take him in for questioning."

Questioning, Peeta knew, was another way of saying, he was going to be beaten. His head lulled back and forth as the Peacekeepers dragged his body across the floor into a room Peeta had never seen before. Effie had "taken him in for questioning" before, but her questions were asked in a private suite and at the end Peeta would get a few punches, kicks...some form of abuse from a Peacekeeper, but this room was a far cry from the suite Effie had used and Peeta was sure that Snow's questions would be much more painful than Effie's ever were. The metal walls held all sorts of torturous devices on them. Rings hung down from the ceiling. Why? Peeta had no clue and wasn't too eager to find out. A wide assortment of weapons were displayed along several different walls. Whips, a bamboo cane, a pole with metal prongs sticking out of it and blades...the different types of blades would have made any tribute long to grab hold of one to fight for their life. Peeta eyed up the room, took in how many guards he was left with, their build...height...weight... One favored his right hand, the other his left. The third guard's walk reminded him of Marvel's. Cocky and self-righteous. Peeta began looking at the three men in the room with him as fellow tributes trying to put an end to his life. 'That's what they are,' he told himself. 'They're tributes. Put in this tiny arena to hurt me and Katniss and now you need to fight them, Peeta. You need to fight to stay alive, so you can make sure Katniss survives.' He couldn't explain the overwhelming desire he had to protect Katniss, but it was there and he knew he had to follow his gut. There was talking going on around him. Snow was giving the men orders as to what he wanted done with Peeta. 'They're going to tie you up to those rings hanging from the ceiling,' a mental plan was forming, 'and once they do, you'll be helpless.' One of his arms was released as the other was lifted towards the dangling metal ring and Peeta knew that was his only chance. With his free hand he quickly reached around the throat of the Peacekeeper that was about to secure him in place, taking the man off guard and putting him in a headlock. Peeta stepped backwards towards the wall of blades throwing a quick look over his shoulder as he reached for one. Now that both arms were free...Peeta was free, all hell broke loose. President Snow rushed to the door that they had entered through, yelling for the guards to regain control of Peeta. The two Peacekeepers that were heading towards some of the other weapons began to race in Peeta's direction as he grabbed a knife with a long blade off of the wall and slit the throat of the Peacekeeper in his grasp, freeing up his other hand. "Come on!" He yelled to them as he reached blindly behind him for another knife, now both hands were prepared for battle.

"SHOOT HIM!" Snow called out through the now open doorway.

But Peeta was too quick with his newly repaired fingers, thanks to the Capitol. He threw one of the knives, the metal blade a shiny blur as it whipped through the air, burying itself directly in the Peacekeeper's eye. The guard's gun never made it out of its holster. The other fumbled at something on the weapon as Peeta dove for the man's legs, taking him down to the ground then plunging the blade deep into his back. The gun, trapped beneath his lifeless body. Peeta's eyes honed in on his next target. The man that caused all of this. "SNOW!" The door to the torture chamber slammed closed as Peeta raced for it...pounded on it, calling out threats over and over again. "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" He knew there was only a matter of seconds before Peacekeepers would be entering and either killing him or beating him to a bloody pulp. He took a quick scan of his surroundings and grabbed the gun out of the Peacekeeper's holster, took hold of as many blades as he could so he could pick off the guards one by one as they entered the room and turned a table over, using it for cover. He waited, his heart was racing in anticipation, his blood pumping through his veins and then the door flew open, but there was only one Peacekeeper standing in the doorway. Peeta began to violently shake at the vision before him. "Okay," he said quietly before dropping his weapons to the ground, lifting his hands in the air and surrendering himself. "Okay...just put the knife down. Don't...don't hurt her." Effie Trinket stood at the white uniformed guard's mercy, a knife to her throat and terror filling her eyes.

The first fist that hit Peeta in the stomach took the breath from him. His eyes were stuck on Effie's trembling body, listening to her soft gasps. "May I...may I please be excused?"

The sound of President Snow's anger mixed with a conniving laugh was the last thing he heard before the fists began to pummel him. "Take her away."

"Come on, Peeta. Wake up," Johanna was pleading with him. He could sense there was something wrong with her. Johanna never sounded scared.

"Jo...Johanna?" Peeta opened his eyes and saw all the prisoner's stares focused on him. "You okay? Did they hurt you?"

"Christ! You scared the shit out of me!" She yelled at him.

"What did I do?" Peeta honestly didn't know what.

"I get back from my daily...bathing ritual to find you just lying there. You haven't moved since they brought you back." Johanna ran her hands back and forth over her tufts of brown hair. "Geez, I thought you were dead."

"Feels like death warmed over," Peeta gave her a pathetic grin, touched the tip of his tongue to a crack in his lip and tasted blood. "What..." he tried to remember what had happened. "Effie! Where's Effie?"

"Effie?!" Johanna began pacing back and forth in her cell. "I'm thinking you're on the brink of death and you wake up worried about Effie freaking Trinket? Priceless."

Peeta ran a swollen hand over a lump on his head. "They had her...a Peacekeeper had her by the throat."

Johanna stopped pacing briefly. "Yeah...well...she's one of them, so don't worry about her. I'm sure she's fine. Probably soaking in a tub or eating some fancy grub right about now." After a few deep breaths the woman took a seat on the floor close to his cell. "What happened in there today? Why'd they beat you so badly?"

"Guess I pissed them off." Peeta lifted the corner of his mouth in a little grin. "Snow wasn't too thrilled with me fighting back. Took down three of his precious Peacekeepers."

Johanna let out a burst of laughter. "You're kidding me? You?" She reached through the bars and gave him a small rap on the shoulder. "Prince Cinnamon Buns lives."

It was hard for him not to be happy about killing the Peacekeepers considering he didn't know what they did to Effie afterward, not to mention everything Snow told him beforehand. "They tried to convince me that Katniss was responsible for the bombing of my district."

"You remember her today?"

"Yeah, but...only who she is. I mean I know there's something between us...just not sure what it is." He poked at a spot on his leg and sucked in a breath between his teeth at the sharp stab of pain. "Snow said..." Peeta started to get images of his district in flames. The people...children... "She'd never kill those kids. Would she?"

"No, she wouldn't." Johanna spoke in a very quiet voice. "Tell me about them... about the kids in your district."

Peeta thought back to his school...his friends...dying in the fires and was overwhelmed with feelings of hostility. "Don't think I can."

"Sure you can. There's got to be some memory...something happy you can tap into. Think," Johanna encouraged him.

Sounds of children laughing rang through Peeta's ears. "I remember this one time," he turned his head towards Johanna, "it was right before the Quell. Prim and...Prim," Peeta remembered her vividly. He shook it off, not wanting to give Snow's men any ideas about erasing her from his life too. "I went to the bakery...was going to buy a few treats since I didn't wake up early enough to bake and I saw these kids...their faces were plastered up to the window. They were just looking at a cake my dad had on display..."

"Hey dad," Peeta looked around the bakery and noticed it was pretty well stocked up for late afternoon. "Slow day?"

"That's okay," his dad was always ready with a smile. "Tomorrow's another one."

Peeta glanced out the window and saw the hungry faces of the Seam kids staring at the treats lined up in the window of the bakery. "Good thing you're fully stocked today, pops. I'm needing a few things." He glanced over at Prim, "Don't we, Prim?"

"I guess. Mom just wanted some of those potato rolls for dinner." Peeta gestured out the window with his chin and Prim finally caught onto what he was suggesting. "But we're not here for mom are we?" His sister in law was a mind reader.

They bought every single sweet the bakery had to offer with the exception of the cake in the window which had been an order from the mayor. "You two think you can help us out?" Peeta called to the filthy boys that had been looking through the window. "We're on our way to the Seam, but can't carry all of this on our own."

The boys gave each other curious looks then simultaneously said, "Okay."

Peeta led them to an area by the meadow in the Seam. "This looks perfect. What do you think, Prim?"

"Perfect," she smiled. "I hope we have enough," she said quietly to Peeta before opening the first box and handing each boy a cookie. "Thank you for your help."

"What are your names?" Peeta asked them as he reached into his pocket for some coins.

"Jeremy," one of them said.

"Vista," the other said with wide eyes as he accepted the money from Peeta. "My sister is going to be jealous that I actually got to meet you. She's got a crush on you."

Prim smiled and said, "Most girls around here do, but you'll have to tell your sister he's taken by my sister." Her voice was filled with a lighthearted spirit. "How old is she?"

"Ten. Her name's Clarice."

Peeta opened up a box filled with cupcakes and said, "Why don't you tell your sister to come on by?"

The group of children that began to gather around them multiplied in no time. "Maybe I should have bought the entire store out?" Peeta asked Prim who was breaking a large muffin in two pieces so there was more to hand out.

"Peeta," Prim looked a little worried. "These kids are going to take us over." The crowd of children continued to get larger.

"Hmm..." Peeta tried to think of a way to get the children under control. "Prim, how are we going to keep them from overrunning us?"

Prim's eyes lit up. "We can tell them one of those stories Effie Trinket sent to you...in that book. Remember?"

"You mean the fairy tales?"

"Yeah, but...let's make up our own," Peeta hadn't seen Prim look so childlike and innocent since before Katniss went into the arena. Since before her father died.

"Sounds good to me." Peeta closed the boxes and heard the disgruntled moans from the kids. "All of you that haven't gotten anything yet need to sit on this side," Peeta motioned to the right. "Those of you that have had a treat already sit on Prim's side, and remember..." he gave them a playful stare, "...Prim knows who you are."

"How's she know?!" A kid from the crowd called out with chocolate on his chin.

"Because," Prim said loudly, "I'm a fairy godmother and have a...a..." she looked around and grabbed a long stick off of the ground, "...a magic stick."

"Wand," Peeta whispered to her.

"A magic wand!" Prim walked up to the boy that asked the question and waved the stick above his head, "You had something with chocolate."

"How," he looked like he was in shock, "how'd you do that?"

Prim ran her hand over the stick. "Not me...my wand, but it only works if you're a fairy godmother...which I am."

"So..." Peeta gave the crowd of kids a good long look, "Who's going to follow the rules?" The group of children scattered to their designated places like the wind. "This is what we're going to do. Prim and I are going to tell you all a story. Each person can come up and get their treat, then they have to take a seat on the side with the kids that already got something. Okay?"

A loud "Okay" chorused through the children.

For a brief second Peeta worried about gathering all the kids together like this, a crowd was never a good thing in the districts regardless of how old the group of people gathering were, but only a few Peacekeepers seemed to be paying attention to them now that he and Prim got the kids under control.

"This is going to be fun," Prim giggled. "Can I start?"

"Go ahead fairy godmother," Peeta motioned for the kids to make a line.

"This is the tale of the fair maiden Katniss and her knight in shining armor, Peeta."

Peeta laughed as Prim wove a tale of intrigue and mystery for the children of the Seam. Joined her when she looked to him for help filling in the blanks, and when all of the treats were handed out, Peeta pulled a ten year old little girl up with himself and Prim so she could play the role of the fair maiden Katniss. Until her mother called her home that is. Peeta's voice was calling out, "Fair maiden, don't forget your shoe!"

Kids of all ages were calling out, giggling, laughing...

"Oh noooo!"

"She forgot her shoe!"

"What are you going to do Peeta the knight?"

"Give her back her shoe," he laughed and handed the little girl her shoe. "Thanks for being my fair maiden."

"You're welcome," the girl blushed and ran home.

"Woe is me," Peeta threw his arm across his forehead in a melodramatic move. "Will I ever see the fair maiden who haunts my dreams and makes the birds fall silent with her singing again?"

You need a fairy godmother," Prim said in a high pitched voice. She practically danced towards Peeta on tiptoes with a stick in her hand waving it about, "Peeta the knight," she laughed while she said it. "Allow me to be of service." She swirled the stick above his head. "If you think of your fair maiden Katniss, she will appear. She will place true love's kiss upon your lips and together you shall go to the ball, dance till the dawn breaks and live happily ever after. But there is a catch," Prim said. "You must love her till the end of time."

"I will fairy godmother," Peeta said eagerly. "I will." He closed his eyes tightly and said, "I'm thinking of her."

Peeta had no clue that Katniss had been in the background watching him and Prim until she walked through the crowd of children. Tiny faces took on a mixture of shock, surprise, joy and disbelief. The sound of Prim's giggle had Peeta opening up one eye just as Katniss' lips touched his. "You were thinking of me, so I thought it was time I appeared and gave you true love's kiss."

"She has appeared," Peeta wrapped an arm around Katniss' waist and made a grand gesture with his other towards the kids. "The fairy's magic worked!"

Prim started to laugh at the top of her lungs as the kids from the Seam clapped and surrounded them, talking over one another. "Now you've got to go to the ball and dance!" Prim called out over the kid's voices.

"Oh...oh yeah," Peeta stepped away from Katniss and held a hand out to her, "Fair maiden, may I have the honor of accompanying you to the ball?"

Katniss leaned over and whispered, "What's a ball?"

"A dance," Peeta mumbled. "Just say yes. We dance and then live happily ever after."

"Why yes," She choked on her laughter, "Peeta the knight, I would love to go to the ball."

"But first I must use my magic stick...wand," Prim corrected herself, "and give you a proper gown."

"Great, I have to get dressed up," Katniss complained.

"It's make believe, Katniss. Go with it," Peeta poked her in the ribs.

"Fine, but I'm not dancing."

Prim stood next to Katniss and waved her stick, "Okay everybody on the count of three say, ball gown. One. Two. Three."

The group of kids screamed out "BALL GOWN!"

"Poof!" Prim jumped back and clapped her hands to her cheeks. "Oh my goodness! She's beautiful!"

"Yay!"

Peeta couldn't hold back his smile when the kids began to cheer and clap.

Katniss leaned close to Peeta and spoke quietly,"Okay, one dance." With the exception of the very first Parcel Day, Peeta had never seen the children from the Seam look so happy. "What do I do next?" Katniss asked.

"Follow my lead," Peeta gathered a bunch of kids together, "In a circle...good. Now every boy stand in front of a girl and boys...if your true love is here, I'd suggest you stand in front of her. This is a magical ball you're at so you'll want to take advantage of that guys." Katniss smiled when the little girls started giggling and the boys started groaning. "Come on guys, you can't be a knight if you don't act like one. Stand up straight...have some manners. Great job!"

In the center of the circle stood Katniss with a know it all look upon her face. "Are you really getting all Effie Trinket on these kids?"

Peeta rolled his eyes up at her as he got down on one knee. "My fair maiden," he extended his hand to her, "Will you honor me with a dance?"

"Yeah. Sure. Why not?" Katniss shirked her shoulder.

"Katniss," Prim gave her sister a lecturing stare. "Do it the right way."

Peeta looked up at her expectantly and asked again, "Will you honor me with a dance?"

She let out a huge breath, shook her head from side to side and said, "The honor would be mine Peeta the knight."

"Okay, now watch our feet," Peeta called out to the kids, "and do what we do. Make it simple," he whispered in Katniss' ear as he guided her in a dance. When it was through he stepped away from her, turned to the kids and said, "And they lived happily ever after!"

"That was a great day," Peeta could taste the blood from a cut in his lip that had reopened from his smiling. "Pretty good night too."

"Do I really want to hear about that?" Johanna rolled her head towards Peeta. "Disgusting. No wonder you're having a baby. You two were probably like rabbits."

"Who's having a baby?" Peeta asked Johanna and heard her sigh.

Johanna let out a burst of air. "Here we go again."

...

...

...

...

...

"This is wonderful news! Wonderful!" Plutarch exclaimed as the room of rebels began congratulating one another on their triumphant morning. Both the Mockingjay as well as the Jabberjay had taken their place in the war. "We'll need to act quickly...create some form of propos for the people of the country putting questions in their mind as to why Peeta would say such treasonous things."

"Propos?" Katniss asked.

"Yes. Yes," Plutarch answered her. "We were planning on launching a series of airtime assaults against the Capitol...use their greatest weapon against them. Television." Plutarch got lost in a conversation with his assistant. Then turned his attention to Coin. "We should let the rebels in the districts know of Peeta's unwavering allegiance so they don't lose faith..."

"NO! You can't put that on television." Katniss yelled out. "What do you think will happen to him if President Snow finds out he sent me a message?"

"Girl's got a point," Haymitch moved closer to her. "The boy has his own weapon right now and Snow doesn't know about it. I say we keep it that way."

"But if he's with us, we need to let people know..." someone from the rebellion began and the debate as to whether or not Peeta's secret should come to light began.

Fighting amongst the rebels, Katniss quickly realized, was the norm until President Coin finally opened her mouth in that overly controlled tone of hers, silencing the whole room. "Can we all agree that it's for the best that the rebels fighting in the districts should be aware that their Jabberjay hasn't turned against them?"

Even Katniss had to agree with that. She was the one that wanted to make sure people knew Peeta hadn't betrayed them. "Yes," she said cautiously.

"However, Haymitch's point about Peeta's weapon can't be overlooked." Coin paused, giving some thought to the situation for a few moments then suggested, "What if we questioned the broadcast? We determined it was prerecorded. Why? Why hold onto the recording instead of playing it right away?"

"And why'd he look so good?" Gale asked. "I mean...if he's a prisoner of war, why would they..." he turned to Katniss, "What did you call that thing again? You said he looked like he got a body shine?"

"Polish," she began to worry. Why did he look so good?

"Yeah." Gale continued, "Why'd they give him one of those?"

Haymitch pointed a finger at Gale, "To make us think he's being treated well, but we know he's not. Effie's message told us that."

Katniss could feel the bile rising to her throat. She knew they were torturing Peeta, that he was on the brink of death, but all of these accusations being thrown around made her imagination run wild. "They're beating him," she said under her breath. "They want us to think he's fine and all the while they're beating him...starving him...doing God knows...knows..." her voice began to quiver.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you all!" Finnick yelled out. "And none of you have been paying any attention to me! None of you! We need to get them out now! Not tomorrow. Not next week. Now! Today!"

"We have to work out a plan first," Plutarch said. "However, if there is a traitor within the rebellion...would it even matter what the plan was?"

"First thing's first," Coin took control of the conversation before it got out of hand. "Plutarch, create a propos of Peeta's interview with Caesar, asking the very same questions we've asked in this room today and provide plausible explanations. We cannot let the Capitol know of his message to Katniss." Finally the woman did something that Katniss agreed with, but she still hated her. "We finish it up with a shot of our very own Mockingjay asking President Snow why the interview wasn't live. This might prompt another interview from the Capitol, a live one, and give Peeta an opportunity to speak to Katniss again." Katniss found herself liking this plan. "Are we all in agreement?" The room was unanimous. Coin spoke to her directly, "Katniss?"

"Sounds good to me," Katniss agreed.

"Then let's get to work," Coin finished and Katniss had to wonder about the woman. On one hand she was willing to order an abortion without blinking an eye, on the other she wanted to help to protect Peeta's secret and keep him safe now that she knew he was loyal. Katniss watched as the president spoke to a few uniformed soldiers then turned her attention to a communication device on her wrist.

"Come here sweetheart," Haymitch's voice broke Katniss from her spell.

She moved towards the small group of people huddled round Plutarch who was complaining about something. "...coffee. I ask you, would it be so unthinkable to have something to wash down the gruel and turnips?"

Fulvia, her face to Katniss as she massaged Plutarch's shoulders. "We didn't think it would be so rigid here. At least not for the higher ranks."

"Or at least a little side action," Plutarch rolled his neck a bit. "Even Twelve had a black market, right?"

"Yeah," Gale answered. "The Hob. That's where Katniss and I did our trades."

"There!" Plutarch gestured to the pair. "You see? And look at how moral they are." He let out a loud sigh. "Thank goodness wars don't last forever."

Katniss lifted her eyes to Gale who was staring at the man as though he had two heads and bit back her exasperated sigh. "So...um...what's next?"

Without missing a beat Plutarch held out his hand and Fulvia placed a sketchbook inside of it. "I was told to give this to you, but not until you agreed to become the Mockingjay. We are all aware that you have mixed feelings about your role, but we're hoping this will help." Plutarch handed her the book.

The sight of a sketchbook had her thinking of only one person. Peeta. Had he drawn something for her in hopes that she'd take up the position the rebels so desperately needed her to? "Cinna," Katniss breathed out as she opened the book and saw the artfully sketched design on the first page. She flipped through each of the pages looking at the well crafted uniform her late friend planned out for her. Spots for knives, layers of body armor, hidden weapons throughout, a special reinforcement over her heart...and on the second to the last page an additional sketch added in, providing an impenetrable shield over her womb. Katniss' trailed her fingertips over the drawing and swallowed the thickening feeling in her throat, as she read Cinna's words, 'I'm still betting on you...on both of you.' On the last page a sketch, not Cinna's though... "Peeta," Katniss finally let the tears fall.

"Cinna told us that he drew that the night you two were married," Plutarch informed her. "Peeta's sketch of your pin and his locket was the source of inspiration for much of this rebellion, Katniss. Your training uniforms...our battle cry...your interview costumes... Your husband had no idea how powerful the symbol of your love would be for this nation."

Katniss gripped the locket that hung around her neck and said, "Peeta knew his whole life. He was just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up."

"Want to see his book sweetheart?" Haymitch asked. "Portia created one for him."

"Can I?"

"Of course," Plutarch's hand shot out to which Fulvia instantly responded. "This is Peeta's. Portia was hoping to be here with us to create the garments for both of you. Unfortunately..." Plutarch waved his hand in the air, "Well, that's neither here nor there. The important thing is that you both wear their designs with pride and look your best while doing so."

Peeta's designs were much like Katniss' only more masculine. On the last page of his book there was a sketch that Katniss had never seen before, but she knew her husband's works of art. "Oh, Peeta. It's our oak tree." Beneath it Portia wrote, 'Are you ready, Peeta?' Katniss smiled to herself. Peeta had told her how Portia always asked him that before important moments of his life. "He will be, Portia. He will be." Katniss gently closed the cover of the book and handed it back to Plutarch.

"Katniss," Fulvia began, "This is our plan. We're going..." an obnoxiously loud yawn came from behind the woman.

"Sorry," Haymitch yawned again. "Ain't been sleeping much."

"You look like shit, Haymitch," Katniss eyed him up. "Go take a nap. I'll be fine."

"Nah, I'm good sweetheahhhhh..." He yawned again. "Yeah. Okay." Haymitch got up and stretched. "If you need me...leave me the hell alone. I'm sleeping."

Katniss glanced up at Gale. "That's my mentor."

"You must be so proud," Gale teased her.

"As I was saying," Fulvia continued, "our plan is to build you up from the outside...in. Let's find the most stunning Mockingjay look possible for the propos."

She would've asked earlier, but didn't want to look like an idiot. "What is a propos...exactly?" Katniss asked now that everyone was gone.

"A propaganda spot...propos," Plutarch explained. "Years ago, Beetee redesigned the underground network that transmits all of the television broadcasts, which will give us the ability to launch the airtime assaults, like the one we'll create of Peeta's interview, for all of Panem to see."

"Oh," Katniss wasn't sure about it, but if Beetee was involved, she knew it had to be complicated. "So now you want to make me look like a mockingjay?"

"Not a mockingjay," Fulvia said. "The Mockingjay. Hair. Makeup. The works."

"Well, you've already got the costume," Gale gave his shoulder a little shrug.

Plutarch and Fulvia began discussing amongst themselves. "Do we do bloody and disgusting?"

"Glamorous? Like the interviews?"

"We should go for something more...worn, but just how grimy can we make her?" Plutarch eyed Katniss up and down. "Good thing we have another surprise for you."

Both Fulvia and Plutarch head towards the door only to have Fulvia turn and summon Gale and Katniss with the wave of a hand, "Come. Come."

Gale leaned down and whispered, "So well intended and yet so insulting."

"Welcome to the Capitol," Katniss gave him a quirk of her lips.

Plutarch checked over his notes, "Compartment three-nine-oh-eight." He led them into an elevator and pressed the button marked 39, but nothing happened.

"Try your key," Fulvia suggested.

"Oh. Oh. Yes," Plutarch said as though he had lost his head.

Katniss waited in the quiet elevator, wondering where they were heading and from the expressions on Fulvia and Plutarch's faces, they didn't know either, but Gale's face read something entirely different. She glanced up at him, gave his arm a little tug and asked, "Been down here before?" She watched as Gale swallowed hard and avoided her stare. "Gale?" There was no time to wait for an answer as the doors opened and they all stepped out. The dark and desolate area seemed out of place as did the heavily armed guard that rounded the corner and accosted them.

"You have the wrong floor," the guard barked before Plutarch could even speak.

"We were just looking for..."

"I said you have the wrong floor. Leave! Now!"

Gale met Katniss' worried frown. She could sense trouble even before the guard showed up, but from what she hadn't a clue. She could see the room they were supposed to go to, hear a noise coming from within, but there was no way she'd get past District Thirteen's version of a Peacekeeper. The sound...a whimpering noise, escaped the room again and Katniss dropped Cinna's sketchbook to the ground.

"Here, I'll get that for you," Gale bent down, blocking the guard's way and Katniss took off running towards the noise like a bat out of hell.

The stench of urine hit her before she even reached the room. Sweat...blood...antiseptic...but none of those caused the bile to rise to her throat. It wasn't until she actually saw her prep team's frail, beaten bodies...Flavius and Octavia cowering against a wall, Venia laying on the cold cement ground, that Katniss feared she'd lose her breakfast. "Who..." she ran to Venia, puddled on the floor and took her hand, "What happened? Who did this to you? Why...why are you here?"

Plutarch's voice bellowed out behind her, "What on earth is going on in here?!"

"Why are you here?" Katniss continued to ask Venia.

"Flavius told us we were needed the night you broke out..." Katniss' eyes flashed up at the man then back down to Venia, "...we were put onto a hovercraft and brought here."

"Flavius?" Katniss looked up at him, "Why would you bring them here with you?"

"Cinna requested it," Plutarch answered.

Katniss stood up, rage coursing through her veins. "You think Cinna requested this?!" She pointed at their abused bodies. "Why are they being punished?" Katniss' eyes were burning, but she already knew the answer. There was a traitor code named orange blossom and Flavius had orange hair, but the rebels had just found out about that earlier in the morning...or had they? "Never mind."

"They stole food," the guard said with evil in his eyes.

"She was hungry," Venia lifted her head off the ground in an attempt to sit up. "It was only one slice of bread she took."

Octavia began to blubber against the wall, her skin which was once a taut bright green, now hung limp and dull. "Shh," Katniss crawled across the floor towards her and felt an enormous amount of guilt when the girl flinched at her touch. "It'll be alright, Octavia. I'll get you out of here."

"All of this because she took a slice of bread?" Katniss asked. "Seems a bit extreme to me."

"This wasn't the first time," the guard said glaring at Octavia. "She was warned and chose to ignore them."

"Unchain them," Katniss spoke in a low, demanding voice, but the guard didn't move. "NOW!"

"On whose authority?" The guard questioned her.

'Well,' Katniss thought to herself, 'here it goes.' "On the Mockingjay's authority, that's who." After a few words from Plutarch and a phone call, 'probably placed to Coin, herself,' thought Katniss, the trio was released into Plutarch's custody. The message couldn't have been clearer to Katniss. 'You're a figurehead. Not an actual leader.'

"Where are we going?" Octavia asked in the most timid voice Katniss had ever heard come out of the woman.

"To the hospital. My doctor is there and she's working with my mother and sister now, so the three of you will be taken care of." Katniss held onto the girl's hand. "I won't let anything happen to you three." This she promised herself. They had no idea what they had gotten themselves into when they stepped onto that hovercraft. Even Flavius, a member of the rebellion, looked as though he was completely lost in this new world known as District Thirteen.

The sight of the medical bay where Katniss had spent her first days in the new district stirred up many uncomfortable memories. The worst being Coin's voice ordering Dr. Valero to put an end to her pregnancy for the sake of the rebellion. Putting it out of her mind wasn't getting any easier, though Regina had told her she had to try and find a way to do so. In truth it was more of a warning than friendly or medical advice. Seeing her sister and mother working alongside of Lavinia and the doctor was a welcome sight though. "Mom?"

"Katniss," her mother quickly look past her to the patients in need of attention. "Come in."

Dr. Valero gave Flavius, Octavia and Venia a quick once over then left them in Evelyn's capable hands. "Katniss, I'm glad you're here. It saved me from having to call you in for an exam," Regina turned to the room. "If you'll excuse us. I need to examine my patient."

"Want me to come with you, Catnip?" Gale asked.

Katniss took in a breath through her nose and released it. They had made up...they were friends again, but Gale didn't seem to understand the concept of boundaries. There were some things in her life that needed to remain private. Regardless of whether or not she was pregnant, Katniss would have never agreed to let him into an exam room with her. That was a personal thing. Not meant for platonic eyes. "Gale, this is one of those things that a husband goes to, not a friend."

"Right," there was a slight tint of red in Gale's cheeks. "We'll just wait here then."

"Shall we?" Dr. Valero led her into a private exam room and locked the door behind her. "Have a seat on the table."

"Oh...um...okay." Katniss didn't think she was actually going to get an exam. She was expecting some type of lecture about letting Prim in on the secret or maybe some advice about the whole anemia thing Prim came up with, but an actual exam? "Is everything alright?"

Regina gave her a concerned look, "You tell me. Still talking to Peeta?"

Katniss could feel her cheeks burn as she quietly answered, "Yes."

"Do you think that's wise given your new position?"

"What am I supposed to do?" Katniss could hear herself whining and wanted more than anything to stop, but how could she? Keeping her emotions under control hadn't exactly been up to her lately. "I know everyone thinks I'm crazy, but...Regina, it's the only thing keeping me sane."

"Have you tried what I suggested? Repeating things you're certain of. Your name...age..."

"Yes and it doesn't do a damn thing, but make me remember how horrible my life is here." 'And now you've got the pout to go with the whine,' Katniss knew she was acting like a spoiled child and tried to figure out how she was going to be someone else's mother when she still acted like a baby herself at times. "Talking to Peeta helps me. I've been trying not to do it in public, though I think I did it this morning, but other than that... Please don't ask me to stop. It's the only way I can hold onto him."

Regina sat on the exam table next to her and took her hand. "As long as you're trying to control it. That's all I ask. I don't want you to lose your mind, Katniss. I kind of like you." She gave her shoulder a little bump. "There aren't too many of us pregos around here. We've got to stick together."

Katniss smiled a little. "How have you been doing?"

"Good. Miss having Justus around." Regina sighed. "I find myself signing when he's not even near."

"And you think I'm losing my mind?"

Regina let out a soft laugh and said, "I have an idea, but I'm not sure if you'll like it."

"Your ideas have worked out pretty well for me so far," Katniss trusted this woman.

"How do you feel about writing?"

"I suck at it. Words aren't my thing. They're Peeta's."

Regina stood up and walked to a drawer, pulled out a book and handed it to Katniss. "This is a medical journal doctors give to patients so they can document their feelings...whatever's on your mind. Might I suggest you try it?" Katniss gave the book a skeptical look. "Just try it. There's no right or wrong when you write things in it. You don't have to share it with anyone, but yourself."

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I've never been able to express myself in words," Katniss usually felt like an idiot when she tried to speak the way Peeta did so effortlessly.

"I happen to know for a fact that's not true." Regina leaned against the exam table. "You express yourself to Peeta every time you talk to him. My suggestion is, write some of those things down. Things you wish you could say to him...that you want to tell him when he gets back." Katniss rolled her eyes and Regina threw her hands up in the air. "Write a poem...a list of ingredients for making succotash...a song...I don't care." She closed her hand over Katniss' and said, "All I know is you have a lot inside that you need to get out, and talking to Peeta will only go so far. There are some things you'll want to go back to, and writing them down might be the answer to that."

"Okay." Katniss held onto the book. "I'll try."

"Good. Now...let's talk about Prim."

"Uh oh," Katniss bit her lip. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Actually, I was going to thank you. Your sister and mother are...they're truly gifted. I've put in a request to have your sister train as a physician's assistant with me, and just found out it was approved. Now I'll be able to get her into medical training classes," There was a smile plastered across Regina's face.

"Medical training classes?"

"Yes. Your sister wants to be a doctor and I'd like to help get her started." Regina nodded brightly. "She's got the gift of a physician."

Katniss' got a soft look in her eyes and said, "Peeta always said she'd be a doctor. 'Mark my words Katniss, your sister is going to be the first person to make it out of the Seam and into medical school.'" She gripped the book in her hands even tighter thinking she might write something about that in it, she just didn't know what to say. Katniss chewed at her bottom lip, stepped down to the ground and turned to Regina. "I can't make any promises with this book thing, but I'll try. Thanks for thinking of me."

"I think of you all the time," Regina smiled and reached for Katniss' hand. "Come here," she placed it on her stomach. "Feel that?" There was a pounding against the flat of Katniss' palm. "That's Adam."

"Adam?" Katniss was enthralled with the steady thumping against her hand. "The name Justus and I decided on. Adam."

"I like it," the pounding stopped. "When does that start?" Katniss couldn't' wait to feel her own child move. "The moving?"

"Any time during your second trimester," Regina spoke quietly. "Have you been keeping tabs on things?" Katniss nodded. "Good. I told Prim about the device I gave to you. I'd like you to give it to her tomorrow so she can bring it in with her. I'm going to teach her how to work it. There are a few more complex things it can do I didn't think you really needed to know."

"Dr. Everdeen," Katniss said softly as she walked towards the door leading to the room where the rest of the group waited for her. "All of Prim's dreams are coming true, Peeta," Katniss' lips moved. "Now come home to me and make mine come true too. I want to be a family and it won't work without you."

...

...

...

...

...

Effie slammed the door to her quarters shut in her security officer's face and stormed into her private residency. Her mother would have had a fit if she were alive to see such a thing, but Effie was furious. She heard the door open and yelled in a very unladylike voice, "Get out! Get out of here this instant!"

"I'm sorry ma'am. I can't do that," Steven Tanner secured the door closed and walked through Effie's home checking to make sure it was free of danger.

"You must be kidding me." Effie went to the bar and poured a glass of whiskey, lifted it in the air, silently toasting Haymitch wherever he was, then drank it down. "You have some nerve securing my quarters immediately after threatening my life!" She tossed the glass at his head, which he expertly ducked.

"Miss. Trinket, I was only doing what the president ordered," her security guard said as though holding a knife to her throat was justifiable behavior.

"He ordered you to protect me, yet you didn't think twice about volunteering to hold me at knife point!" Effie poured another drink in a fresh glass.

"I wouldn't have killed you ma'am," The guard stood several yards away from her with his hands behind his back and his legs spread apart. "The oath I took was to protect you. That is why I volunteered to take you into that room with Peeta, ma'am."

Effie's drink stopped midway to her lips. "Pardon me?"

"In order to protect you, it was necessary for me to threaten your life." He let his eyes flash to Effie's than continually scanned the windows and doorways. "If any other Peacekeeper had been in my position and President Snow ordered them to kill you, they would have without hesitation. I on the other hand would not have been able to, due to the oath I am sworn to uphold."

Effie shook her head in an attempt to make sense of his logic. "In order to keep me safe you had to threaten my safety." She threw a hand in the air and said with a flourish, "Why that makes perrrfect sense. Why I should be kissing the very ground you walk on."

"No need to thank me ma'am," he said sincerely. "Just doing my job."

"Thank you?" She could have killed the man where he stood. "Thank you!"

"If you insist...you're welcome ma'am." This time the glass that flew at the Peacekeeper's head was full of whiskey and wet his uniform.

"You are a complete and total baboon!" Effie stormed up to him and pointed a finger under his chin, "And now you smell like rot gut! Go change!"

"I shouldn't leave you..."

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Effie's whole body was shaking. She ripped her jacket off and threw it on a chair, another thing her mother would take her to task for, then headed back to the bar. "At this rate, I'm going to run out of glasses," she said under her breath as she poured another drink. She threw an evil look in the direction of Steven Tanner, Peacekeeper of all Peacekeepers and said, "If you do not leave me alone to collect my thoughts I shall throw each and every breakable item in this room at your head. You might be able to dodge the majority of them, Mr. Tanner, but the odds are usually in the favor of those of us from the Capitol, not those of you from the districts. Please change your clothing so I do not have to continue to smell the stench of whiskey on your uniform."

"There are Peacekeepers posted at the back entrance. I'll summon one of them to come in here while I..." he ducked as glass after glass was thrown at him until finally one hit him in the head leaving a freely bleeding cut across his forehead and into his hairline.

"Hah! Shall I move onto the bottles or will you leave me alone?!" For a brief second Effie missed fighting with Haymitch. He would have never let her throw multiple glasses at his head, but they would've had a rousing argument which left her even angrier at how lonely she was without him.

Steven Tanner lifted his hand to the gash in his head, then spoke into a band on his wrist. "Unit three, this is unit one. Come in." he waited for a response. "Unit one to unit three, come in."

Effie arched a brow and said, "Perhaps unit two has a knife to unit three's throat." She could see the frustration in his eyes...the question as to whether or not he should check it out. "I can see it now, unit three is probably lying in a pool of his own blood. Rebels could be in the rose garden at this very minute."

"Unit two, this is unit one. Come in," Mr. Tanner spoke with authority in his voice. "This is unit one, are there any available units surrounding the Trinket Residency?"

"No answer?" Effie slipped a few ice cubes into another glass and hoped that the rebels really were on their way in. "Shall I prepare for an invasion? Perhaps that vile pest Haymitch has returned to seek his revenge on me. Well, I suppose I should pour the man a drink!" She poured one and drank it taking comfort in the warmth of the alcohol as it soothed her from the inside out.

"Follow me," Steven took her by the arm and led her through the furnished guest house until he got to the master suite. He pushed a portrait of President Snow to the side and pressed a button against the wall to reveal a passageway. "Through here."

The corner of Effie's lip lifted in delight. Steven Tanner had shown her a way out of her prison in an attempt to keep her safe, but there was nothing to keep her safe from. Effie stopped in the ladies room to check her throat in the mirror after the event with Peeta. Since the collar on her jacket got in the way of her view, she took it of and realized the brooch President Snow made her wear was bunched up inside of it and now one could see her. Se quickly began to fumble with some buttons on the computer that Plutarch had given her, and wound up inadvertently turning off the communication bands of anyone within fifty feet of the computer's generated signal. She had been trying to open up a line of communication with District Thirteen, but she couldn't complain with the results of her tinkering. How long the communication devices would be out of order she hadn't a clue, but Effie was willing to play her current situation up for all it was worth. "Did you hear that?" She spoke softly as she walked quickly down the corridor behind her guard. "It sounded like gunfire."

"Keep going ma'am. There's an exit up ahead." He put his hand on his weapon and held a finger up to silence her. "Stay here ma'am. I need to make certain we're secure."

"Won't more guards be joining us? Surely the Capitol can see that we may be in danger," Effie's worries came out in a whisper.

"There are no cameras in here ma'am. Shh," he froze in place and listened carefully. "Stay put."

Effie had to admire the man that moved swiftly down the hall on the tips of his boots without a sound and disappeared into the darkness. She looked up and down the hallway curious as to where it let out and took a few steps in the direction they were originally heading. The sound of something large being plunged into water and a woman's cries echoed through a tiny vent in the ceiling above her. 'Johanna,' she was certain that's who she was listening to.

"Miss. Trinket?" Her guard's walk was much more casual. "It seems that communications were down for a few minutes, but they're back up again. It's safe to return to your quarters."

"Well, that's a relief," Effie walked hurriedly back down the passageway towards him so he couldn't hear Johanna's cries for help. "Fortunately you had the good sense to get me out of there in a timely manner. Why...what if the rebels had returned to the Capitol?" She took in a sharp breath. "Oh my, Mr. Tanner. It seems I've injured you. Can you forgive my behavior. I was simply distraught over having my life threatened."

"As I said, Miss. Trinket, technically I never threatened your life. I was trying to save it, but there are no worries," he lifted his fingers to his head which still had blood dripping from it, "I've had worse while training to become a Peacekeeper."

"Regardless, I shall tend to you immediately upon our return." She lifted her chin. "I shall go with you to the medical bay and make certain they care for you." 'Besides,' she thought to herself, 'I need to stock up on a few supplies.' "Come. Come now. Let's not dilly dally." Effie put a fresh change of clothing on, leaving the jacket with the hidden camera in the brooch on the chair. If the president asked her why she wasn't wearing it, she'd simply tell him it slipped her mind after the event with Peeta and her security detail. She walked with Steven to the medical bay and left him in the doctor's care, "I shall wait for you." Her guard was about to protest until the door closed in his face and a team of medical professionals went to work on his laceration. 'You've got about ten minutes, Effie,' she told herself and felt her heart beating at a rapid pace. The area that held Peeta's tracker jacker venom was only two rooms away. She had been there before she had a private guard to switch the potent drugs with the diluted version they used in the arena. If she could only get there unnoticed one more time, but the hallways were lined with staff. "Pardon me," Effie lifted her finger and spoke to a physician's assistant standing closest to the doorway she needed to get into. "My security officer is being worked on and I was wondering if you could wait for an update while I excuse myself to..." she lowered her voice down, "...the ladies."

The assistant handed over a tiny computerized clipboard to another member of the medical staff and said, "Which room?"

Effie pointed it out and continued down the hall as though she were heading for the ladies room then quickly headed back to her original destination. The locked door didn't stand in her way. Effie punched in the one of the Capitol official's security codes, compliments of Plutarch's computer system that overrode their system effortlessly, and entered the room with no one the wiser. A quick scan of the canisters that lined the shelves...a few switched labels and she was done. The drugs to lower his body temperature at a rapid rate were another story. Since Peeta had been dosed in the arena, Effie had been privy to some very interesting things regarding the tracker jacker venom.

"Miss. Trinket?" The physician in charge of Peeta's hijacking was preparing the equipment for his first dosage the following day. "You had some concerns in regards to being left alone with the prisoner after his treatments?"

"Yes." 'Not really,' Effie fought not to say it out loud. "How am I to know he won't become volatile and hostile towards me?" 'And how do I reverse whatever you're doing to him?' She needed to find out.

"I suppose none of us know for certain," he answered as he fiddled with some tubes.

"Doctor, am I to understand that you claim to be the expert in this field and you have no clue how the patient will respond to this?" Effie bristled. "Well, I shall inform President Snow immediately of..."

"No. No..." the doctor stopped what he was doing. "We will be triggering particular memories of Peeta's and watching his brainwave functions here," he pointed to a computer monitor. "This will enable us to get a read of the area to target. While his mind is concentrating on one particular area, in this instance Katniss, we will be able to alter those memories by administering the tracker jacker venom. Peeta should only feel his hostilities towards the areas we target."

"And there is no way of outwitting you?" Effie said through pursed lips as though she didn't believe the doctor.

"Absolutely not," he said through an air of superiority.

"Then explain to me how he was able to practically snap right out of his hallucinations while he was in the arena. It seems to me, if he could do that, he could do it here. Again...I'm sure the president would be..."

"Miss. Trinket, the drugs used in the arena were more of a...designer drug. Created as a form of..." the doctor looked away, "...they hold entertainment value. They are a weaker...more diluted compound of tracker jacker venom. If used socially and in small doses through the bloodstream, it can provide a very pleasurable break from reality. If it were to be used continually on a regular basis then one may become addicted or suffer the same effects regular tracker jacker venom can cause. Not quite as severe, but still quite dangerous. Which is why we did some studies and found that a person's body temperature had much to do with how well the venom worked on a person."

"Their temperature?"

"Yes. Which is why this arena in particular was perfect for the venom. The hotter a person is, the stronger the hallucinations. This is also why the drug has been laced with an additive to increase a person's body temperature. You'd be amazed at how much of a difference two degrees up or down can make when dealing with jacker juice."

"Jacker juice?" Effie had heard the name before. Someone had entered the black market while she was leaving looking for some.

"Pardon me. That is the name it goes by," the doctor said quietly, "on the streets of the Capitol."

Effie nodded her head. "I see. Is there any chance of someone overdosing on this?"

"Of course, however that can be taken care of with a simple shot. As a matter of fact, it's what we used to bring Peeta out of his fantasy world while in the arena only in a gaseous form," the doctor said proudly. "So as you can see. Peeta did not simply snap out of it. We helped him along in the process."

"Forgive me for thinking you had no experience in this area doctor," Effie flashed him a flirtatious grin, "obviously I was mistaken."

"If you ask anyone who the leading expert is on tracker jacker venom, they will most likely point you in my direction," his chest puffed out.

"Then you must know about this...jacker juice as well."

"Know about it. I created it," he said proudly.

"Oh my," Effie fanned herself a little. "Smart and handsome. Two very attractive qualities in a man."

The homely physician's face grew red. "Miss. Trinket, would you...would you be interested in having a drink with me sometime?"

Effie fluttered her lashes and walked slowly up to him. "I'd love to, only...it would be wise to keep it to ourselves. With my new position as the president's assistant, rumors tend to fly, and we wouldn't want anyone to think you received your position because we were seeing one another socially."

"No. That would lesson my work."

"Exactly." Effie patted his hand, "Tonight? We could meet somewhere."

"I'm staying in the doctor's residencies in the medical bay. We could have a drink there."

"That sounds lovely. Shall we say, ten o'clock?" Effie was going to pick the man's brain clean and quite possibly the medical bay.

"Yes. Ten o'clock it is."

"Till then. Toodle ooh." As Effie walked out of the office she reminded herself to do a little research about the man she had just made a date with. Most importantly she needed to find out the doctor's name. When she met up with him that night, she accepted several glasses of wine and truly hoped his plant enjoyed the Merlot, because Effie couldn't stomach it. She found out his name was Dr. Louis Avalon and his grandfather had been the head scientist in the original development of tracker jackers.

"One of the reasons I became a doctor was because of his notes on the genetically engineered species. They were so sure at the time that nothing could counteract large doses of the venom," The doctor poured himself another glass of wine, his fourth by Effie's calculations, and continued talking, "positive that they had created the perfect weapon, but even as a child, my brilliant mind found flaws in their way of thinking."

"Yes, I'm sure it did," Effie sat back in her chair and hung onto his every word. Trying to learn as much about the poison that was going to be pumped into her darling boy's system. "So smart...I'm sure you saw the weaknesses in the tracker jacker's venom."

"Why yes I did." He sat too close to Effie for her comfort. "For example, I warned them that the gas used in the arena would only be temporary and that no one would know if or how it would work on Katniss considering she...her situation..."

"You mean her pregnancy?"

"Yes," the doctor sipped at his glass. "Beetee was spot on when he spoke of the proteins. It wouldn't have made much of a difference if she had gotten stung by an actual tracker jacker, but jacker juice...that compound is completely different. Even the slightest change in a chemical compound can...uh...change the chemical compound."

"Yes," Effie held her smile back noticing the man's intoxication. Knowing this was the perfect time to pounce on him. "I bet they look completely different too, don't they?"

"Nope." He drained his wine glass. "Look the same."

"Oh, I don't believe you. I bet one is bright yellow and the other is dark blue or something like that." Effie waved her hand at him. "You're only saying they look alike."

"No. The only difference in appearance is the smell." The doctor started to chuckle. "Guess that's not really appearance. It's pretty green."

"It's pretty or it's green?" Effie asked.

"Both," the doctor slurred slightly. "Hey," he whispered. "Want to see it?"

Effie's fingers flew to her chest, "Could I? I'd love to see the differences between the real venom you'll be giving to that..." she made a disgusted face, "...that vile boy from District Twelve, and the jacker juice you created."

"Come on," he held his arm out to her as he fumbled to his feet. "I'll give you a little tour of the place."

Switching the labels while the inebriated physician went on a diatribe about his efforts to prove how wrong his grandfather was, was easy enough. The doctor didn't shut up and kept looking over the antidotes he was working on to reverse the effects of tracker jacker venom. The substance used to counteract the jacker juice was another story. It was behind lock and key. A glass case with tubes, vials and prepared injections were lined up. Effie knew she had to get her hands on one of them...more of them if possible. "Oh Dr. Avalon," she beckoned the man who was looking at the tubes running up the wall and through the ceiling. "How does one use these?"

"Simple enough really," he spoke into the lock and it was released. "This is the gas form," he held up a large canister. "That's what we used in the arena and thiiiiiis," he put the canister down and picked up a tray full of tubes. "These are the condensed versions of the injections. Can't use those unless they're mixed with the solution which is..." his finger and eyes started scanning the room, "Where is it?" He stepped away from the case and Effie slipped a tube as well as a handful of filled needles into her purse. "Oh, there it is! It's a seventy-thirty mix." He turned back to the case, "Then we've got the shots. One of those in the base of the neck and it can change a person's temperature back to its normal state. It drops it first," he chuckled again, "then it goes back to regular. Got to kill the active...um...uh..." the doctor tried to get his mind back on track. "Uh...Perhaps we should call it a night."

"Why of course. You have a very busy day ahead of you tomorrow," Effie really wished the man hadn't drank the last glass of wine. "Perhaps we could do this again sometime?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Effie walked him back to his quarters where the man tried to kiss her goodnight and fell face first into the cushions on his sofa.

The sound of her private security detail yelling snapped Effie out of her stupor. She walked quickly down the hallway towards his room and noticed the man was standing outside of it with his weapon in hand, ready to take on anyone that stood in his way. "Mr. Tanner! What on earth are you doing?"

"No one knew where you had gone to," his eyes narrowed in on her. "You are not to leave my side Miss. Trinket." he pushed past the medical personal and took hold of Effie's arm.

"Am I not allowed to use the restroom any longer?" Effie pulled her arm out of his firm grasp. "Will you please stop it!" She stood in the hall trying her best to ignore the stares from the doctors and their attendants. "I am a lady Mr. Tanner and you will treat me as such."

"You are my responsibility Miss. Trinket," he countered, "and you will start acting like the responsible lady I know you are, and quit roaming around without me."

"You would do kindly to remember your place, Mr. Tanner." Effie pursed her lips together and stormed away from him towards her quarters. "I am a grown woman."

"I know that ma'am," Steven said as he easily caught up to her side.

"I can make my own decisions," Effie wanted to punch her guard in the nose. "Did they fix your head?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you for asking."

"Oh for criminy's sake!" Effie found herself being pushed against a wall while her guard checked a dark corridor. "Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! You have no problems leaving me in some rat filled tunnel, but I can't walk in a sterile hallway of the medical bay? One must really question your logic Mr. Tanner."

"The tunnels are safe." he turned to face Effie, "These are unpredictable at best." One more quick look around, "Let's go."

Effie was curious as to all of these hidden passageways she had come across since joining the rebellion. It was a long shot asking her Peacekeeper about them, they were trained to stay in the background, and not converse with the people they protected, but Mr. Tanner wasn't like most Peacekeepers, Effie noticed. He took his training, his position seriously, a little too seriously for Effie's tastes. He played by the rules, as far as she could see. Where many Peacekeepers were known to accept bribes to look the other way, she highly doubted Steven Tanner would even consider such a thing. Still, Effie took a shot in the dark and asked, "How do you know those tunnels are safe...and where did they come from?"

"They've been here for hundreds of years. There was a network of them that ran throughout the nation called the underground railroad." Effie's was shocked at how free Mr. Tanner was with this information, and absolutely stunned by what he said next. "Since being discovered, the Capitol has repaired them...secured them...the one that leads from your room also leads into the President's main home, the official's offices...it's a way for the men in charge to stay in charge during times such as these. An escape route that leads out to the bottom of the Tribute Center."

'Or a way for rebel forces to get the upper hand,' Effie had to fight to hide her smile. 'Now I know how the rebels are going to break us out of here. All I have to do is tell them.'

…..

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It was a welcome feeling having Catnip back in his life. Having her stand next to him during the morning meeting brought a feeling of nostalgia to Gale, like the old days when they'd go hunting and they had each other's backs. They shared something special back then, not just a friendship, it was more than that. When they were in the woods tracking game, they didn't need words, 'Never needed to move our lips either,' the thought brought a small smile to Gale's face. They were able to communicate with one another, send each other signals as to what their next move would be. Do they follow the tracks? Do they each take a side? Gale missed that form of camaraderie with Katniss and being with her that morning in the meeting, having her voice publicly that he was important to her, meant a lot to him. He wasn't too proud of that fact that it stirred up emotional feelings that had nothing to do with friendship, but he was willing to give himself a break. Telling himself that it would take time to put feelings of love behind him. Gale may never have experienced what Katniss and Peeta had together, but that didn't mean what he felt for her wasn't real. He stood by listening to the people from the Capitol, Plutarch and his assistant Fulvia talk with Katniss about some sort of surprise they had in store for her. He watched as Katniss looked through a sketchbook, put his hand on her shoulder when he saw the tears slipping down her cheeks only to have her shrug it off, once again letting him know he was crossing the line into Peeta's territory. Gale could comfort her verbally, but physically was another story. That was another man's job whether or not that man was there with them. Gale wondered if these Capitol people were listening to themselves as they spoke to him and Katniss, how rude some of their comments came off and he hated them that much more. Not for their brainless commentary on Katniss' Mockingjay costume, but for being from the place that forced her into wearing it. The Capitol. As far as he was concerned, none of those people deserved sanctuary in Thirteen's safe haven. If they wanted to appease their guilty conscience by joining the rebellion, they could stay at the Capitol and work from there. The only person he didn't mind was Justus. The man had been turned into an Avox, something Gale learned about from Katniss after her first Games, and seeing him up close...learning what he had done in the Capitol to get the rebellion's efforts started, Gale was impressed. The guy looked into the face of Snow, withstood the torture he was dealt and still survived. Even now, he had no ability to speak, yet he communicated freely with his hands around his wife and was teaching the others how to speak using their hands too. Gale had gone into a few of the sign language classes but could never pick it up. He tried to learn the alphabet so he could spell words, yet no matter how hard he tried, it didn't click. 'Oh well,' he thought to himself, 'it's not like Snow's going to cut my tongue out or anything.'

The morning turned out to be a complete waste of time in Gale's book. The surprise Plutarch talked about turned out to be Katniss' prep team who were located in an area of Thirteen Gale had been to several times. He didn't want to tell Katniss, but he was one of the soldiers that had brought her prep team deep into the underground facility for discipline. He had no idea they were still being held, he thought they'd get some form of punishment then be released, so seeing the trio of people cowering in the corner of the dank, cold room...their wounds, almost made Gale feel guilty. Almost. He reminded himself that these people were part of the reason his Catnip went into the arena to begin with. It took Gale by complete surprise when Katniss freaked out over their being held prisoner and shocked him even more when she refused to let them be seen by anyone other than her mother, Prim and Dr. Valero, another Capitol piece of work. She may have been Justus' wife, but Gale couldn't stand the woman. Since talking with Katniss in the closet Gale came to realize that it wasn't his fault she miscarried, it was this doctor's fault...the Capitol's fault. The Capitol for putting Katniss in this position to begin with and the doctor for not being honest with Katniss and telling her about the destruction of Twelve. If the woman had done that then Gale wouldn't have had to, and he did have to. That he was certain of. He waited while the prep team got worked on. Offered to go with Katniss when her doctor wanted to do a quick examination of her only to be shot down once again. This time, quite rudely in his book, but that was just Katniss being Katniss. While he stood around watching precious medical resources go to waste on the people from the Capitol, Gale spoke with Plutarch about getting the items needed to go hunting. It was obvious there would be no dressing up Katniss for the cameras today, so he might as well go hunting and take advantage of one of the conditions of her becoming their figurehead. A few calls were made and everything was set in place. The second Katniss came out of the room with that doctor, Gale was ready to get her away from all of these people...these people that didn't give a damn about her and shoved her in the arena, and he'd take her to the woods where she could be herself for a little while. He hadn't expected to wait around after her doctor's visit for the status of her prep team, and it bugged the hell out of him at how much of her time...herself she was dedicating to them. They didn't deserve it.

"Guess we've all been put on notice," the sound of Katniss' voice behind him had Gale turning towards her.

"Pardon me?" Plutarch asked.

Katniss made a gesture with her chin towards her prep team, "Don't tell me you didn't get the message, Plutarch?" Everyone held Katniss' stare. "Punishing my prep team was a warning. Not just to me, but to you too," she spoke to Fulvia and Plutarch. "Coin is making it known she's in charge and Capitol resident or not...she's the one with the power."

Fulvia lifted her chin, "I think Plutarch and I are much more valuable than those three."

"Sure you are, but I was valuable too, wasn't I Plutarch?" Katniss asked. "Tributes are always valuable...until they're not."

Gale let out a little sniff and a smirk. He was sort of pleased that Coin was telling the people of the Capitol they didn't deserve any special privileges here. "You ready to go?" he asked Katniss.

"I want to find out how they are first," she leaned against one of the exam tables to wait it out.

"Who cares?" From the look on Katniss' face apparently she did. "I mean...we can find out later," Gale quickly covered.

"We'll find out now," Katniss gave him a curious stare then turned her attention to her mother and Prim who were heading their way.

"They'll be fine. They've been..." Evelyn pursed her lips, "...they've been beaten and starved, but we should be able to have them back on their feet in no time."

"When can they get back to work?" Plutarch asked and Katniss rolled her eyes towards Gale who thought, 'Wow, really care about their well being, huh?'

"Tomorrow would be the soonest," Evelyn answered.

Katniss handed Prim a book and said, "Hey, can you put this in my room for me?"

"Sure," Prim looked excited. "Are you going to use it?"

"I don't know. Maybe." She gave Prim's braid a little tug. "Congratulations by the way. Dr. Valero told me the good news."

"Isn't it great, Katniss?" Prim smiled and Gale wondered what the good news was. "When Peeta gets here, he's going to be so excited."

"He always knew you'd be a doctor," Katniss gave Prim a kiss on the cheek. "I'm really happy for you Prim."

"Don't tell Bing. I want to tell him myself." Katniss pretended to lock her lips together at Prim's request. "See you later, Katniss." Prim lifted a hand to Gale. "Bye."

"Now, I'm ready to go," Katniss headed off with Gale.

"Did I hear you right?" Gale looked back over his shoulder at Prim who was talking to the green girl from Katniss' prep team. "Prim's going to be a doctor?"

"Uh huh. Dr. Valero is putting in the request for her to start medical training." Katniss grinned. "Effie really came through when she chose Dr. Valero for me."

"Effie?" Gale really had to find out about her. "What's this strange obsession you have with Effie Trinket?"

"There's no fixation. I love her."

Gale couldn't have been more shocked. "Look, I know she helped out with the rebellion and all, but...you love her?" He gave Katniss a strange look. "Seriously?"

Katniss stopped walking and said, "Yeah. Seriously. I love her and Peeta adores her so you better watch yourself when you talk about her."

Gale held up his hands, "Sorry. I didn't realize you two had such a bond with the woman who reaped you."

Katniss' nostrils flared. "She did not reap us. That was the Capitol."

"Yeah and she's one of them." Gale started walking again, heading for the area he knew held their bows so they could go hunting. "We going or what?"

"No. I don't think I want to go anywhere with you," Katniss shook her head.

"Fine. Then I'll go hunting by myself."

"Hunting?" Katniss followed him. "Now?"

"Yeah, now. What else are we supposed to do? It's not like you can be...beautified or anything," Gale said it with a mocking tone in his voice. "Or maybe you want to go to your room and start having silent conversations with Effie?"

"You don't have to be such a jerk you know." Katniss' crossed her arms over her chest as she stormed down the hall behind him.

"Yeah. I'm being the jerk," Gale said under his breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katniss asked as though she had no clue.

"Nothing, Catnip. It doesn't mean a thing." Gale really didn't feel like getting into an argument with her in the middle of the hall. "Let's get our stuff and go hunting. I think we're both feeling a bit claustrophobic in here."

She didn't say a word to him, just stared him down until they were in the woods searching for game. "You knew my prep team was down there, didn't you?" Katniss asked him out of the blue.

Gale figured he'd have to explain sooner or later after the questioning look she gave to him in the elevator on the way down to where they were being held. He just hadn't worked up a decent excuse yet. "I...I didn't know they were still down there."

"Still?" Katniss stopped close to a tree. "How long did you know they were down there?"

Gale let out a breath and faced her, "I was ordered along with a couple of other guards to bring them there about five days ago."

"Five days!" Katniss' eyes grew huge with anger. "You brought my prep team there, and you didn't bother to tell me?"

He honestly didn't see the big deal. "What good would it have done? I mean...sure...they went a bit overboard with the punishment, but...Christ Catnip..." his eyes narrowed in accusation. "Why the hell do you care so much about these Capitol people?"

"Why don't you?" Katniss dropped her bow to her side. "They're people, Gale. Just like the rest of us. So the question is, why don't you care about them?"

"They're not people like the rest of us. They're..." Gale kicked at the dirt under his feet. "This is bull. You're actually defending those people? They dressed you up...paraded you around so you could go into the arena, and you're actually defending them?"

Katniss shook her head in disbelief. "They didn't know any better. My prep team did everything in their power to help me get out of that arena alive, Gale."

"Oh please," He rolled his head in disgust. "They put makeup on you and did your hair. Big whoop!"

"That is a big whoop out there," Katniss lowered her voice down. "Gale, you don't understand the way things work in the Capitol. The people out there are superficial so things like hair and makeup mean a lot. My prep team knew that, and they worked their fingers to the bone for me. They knew what I looked like had a lot to do with getting sponsors."

"You could've gotten them on your own," Gale was certain of it. "You didn't need to get all fancied up by a group of...freaks. Sponsors would've noticed you on their own."

"Because of the things Peeta said," Katniss gripped his wrist. "Because of what those people did for me, I was turned into the Girl on Fire...one half of the Star Crossed Lovers and no...I couldn't have achieved that on my own." She dropped his wrist and took a few deep breaths. "They're decent people, Gale."

He had decided to drop the subject all together until she said that. "Decent people!" He grabbed her by the upper arms and gave her a little shake. "Do you even know what you're saying? Who you're talking about? These people don't deserve a thing from you yet you stood down there in that cell and yelled...and...and screamed like they were holding...ME prisoner!"

Her voice was low, "You're hurting me, Gale." She just stood there unmoving until he finally let her go then she stopped speaking all together leaned up against a tree and said, "Let me try and wrap my mind around this for a second. You don't think my prep team deserves a thing from me...from anyone really, because they're from the Capitol. Right?"

"Yeah," Gale stormed in front of her, determined to make his point. "Those people don't deserve a damn thing from you or me."

She gave her shoulder a little shrug. "What makes you so much better than them?"

"Because I know better than to do the things they've done," Gale said with defiance in his voice. "I know what's right and those people..."

"You know what's right," Katniss interrupted him. "And you know because...your parents taught you?"

"I guess. Yeah." He didn't know where she was going.

"Their parents taught them that the Games were right. That we were the enemy."

"They were wrong!" Gale yelled out loud enough to frighten a flock of birds out of some trees away in the distance.

"But they didn't think they were wrong. They were raised that way." Gale couldn't understand why she wasn't screaming at him...fighting with him like she always did before. If she felt that strongly than she would have fought with him about it, wouldn't she? "My God, Gale. Have you always been this way? Thought like this?" Katniss pushed away from the tree and turned towards him. "Have I?"

He gave her a devilish half grin, "Yeah. We're two of a kind, Catnip."

"No," she shook her head. "We're not. And if that's who I was...I'm ashamed of myself." She pointed towards the underground facility. "Those people...my prep team...they're human beings and just because they're from the Capitol doesn't make them any less deserving than you or I."

"You might want to go back to that doctor and get checked out, Katniss. I think your priorities got knocked out of whack along with the rest of you during your escape." Gale didn't mean to be such an ass, but he was pretty pissed off with her at the moment.

"You know...you think you're so much better than they are because you're from Twelve and you've been through sooooo much, but what makes you so different from the Gamemakers, or Snow for that matter? You're standing here judging people based on where they were born." Katniss threw her bow over her shoulder. "I think I'm done hunting for the day."

He could barely catch his breath at her accusations. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" He called to her.

"Told you. I'm done hunting."

"Maybe I'm not done hunting yet. I'm definitely not done with this conversation." Gale could feel his anger almost overflowing and still she didn't fight back.

"Say what you want to say so I can go home," She stood back with a disapproving look on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did these people suck all the life out of you or do you save that for meetings like this morning when Peeta and your precious Effie Trinket are in trouble?" He knew he was being cruel, but damn, he couldn't seem to get a rise out of her. "The girl I knew would never have stood up for a bunch of people that put her in the arena, and she sure as hell wouldn't have based her decision on becoming the leader of the rebellion based on the rescue of some woman from the Capitol! I mean...GEEZ! EFFIE TRINKET!?"

"Watch what you say about that woman," Katniss' voice was low and threatening. "She was good enough for you when she sent medication for your back...she risked her life to get supplies for our district...she's done nothing but put herself in danger since Peeta and I entered the arena, so you better tread very...very carefully when you talk about her, Gale. That woman is like a mother to Peeta and I won't let you badmouth her or make light of the things she's done."

"Fine! She's risked more than most from the Capitol, but honestly Catnip...who gives a shit?" Gale lowered his voice down. "You used to put me first...your family first."

Katniss took slow and precise steps towards Gale, looked him square in the eyes and said, "Effie Trinket is my family. She's Peeta's family. You want to throw insults around about my prep team...Plutarch...go right ahead...I can ignore those, but I cannot ignore any disparaging remarks about Effie." She started for home once again then turned and left Gale with one last thing to mull over. "Don't make me regret my choice to have you by my side while Peeta's gone, and do not make me choose between you and Effie Trinket."

Gale slammed the door to his quarters the moment he walked into them thinking, 'Who the hell does she think she is comparing me to President Snow? And what the hell kind of threat was that...making her choose between me and Effie?' Gale let out a loud grunt. 'There is something wrong with her. There has to be. It's like she's messed up in the head. Walking around talking to Peeta like he can hear her or something and sticking up for these...losers from the Capitol like they actually give a shit about her.' He opened up his closet and dug through the pockets of the clothes he was wearing when they were rescued from District Twelve and found what he was looking for. He felt the silky material in his hands and remembered Prim saying something about Katniss being spoiled. 'If she's wearing underwear like this, she probably is spoiled,' Gale thought as he looked at the delicate orange garments in his hand. He knew he should have given them back to her, but what was he going to do hand them over and say, "here I was holding your underwear for you?" He looked at his watch, shoved the garments back in his old clothes pocket and got ready for dinner. 'I don't know who you are anymore Catnip, but I'm going to do everything I can to help you remember where you came from and that I'm right about these people from the Capitol,' he silently vowed as he headed to the dining hall for the special meeting Coin was holding during Reflection.

...

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...

...

...

Suspicions began going through her mind weeks ago when Gale joined the rebellion. She put them to rest after talking things through with him, but then questions began to arise within Katniss again. His reaction to her prep team's location didn't seem to come as a surprise nor did he seem concerned about their well-being. If anything Gale seemed to be happy her prep team had been beaten, and this was cause for concern for Katniss. She tried to ignore his rude comments about them, told herself he had the right to feel that way considering his district was firebombed, but it was her district too, and she went through the Games, not Gale. As they made their way stealthily through the woods of Thirteen Katniss couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling that had been plaguing her since they came upon her pets. "You knew my prep team was down there, didn't you?" Katniss had to find out the truth.

"I...I didn't know they were still down there."

"Still?" Now she was certain he knew more than he was letting on. "How long did you know they were down there?"

"I was ordered along with a couple of other guards to bring them there about five days ago." The look on Gale's face almost read like pride to Katniss.

"Five days!" Katniss was furious. "You brought my prep team there and you didn't bother to tell me?"

Gale just blew it off like it was no big deal, but to Katniss it was. "What good would it have done? I mean...sure...they went a bit overboard with the punishment, but...Christ Catnip..." his eyes narrowed in accusation. "Why the hell do you care so much about these Capitol people?"

"Why don't you?" She thought for sure that Gale would take pity on those less fortunate, and considering their predicament, her prep team was almost like an endangered species. "They're people, Gale. Just like the rest of us. So the question is, why don't you care about them?"

"They're not people like the rest of us. They're... This is bull. You're actually defending those people? They dressed you up...paraded you around so you could go into the arena, and you're actually defending them?"

Katniss shook her head in disbelief. "They didn't know any better. My prep team did everything in their power to help me get out of that arena alive, Gale."

"Oh please," his voice was dripping with disgust. "They put makeup on you and did your hair. Big whoop!"

"That is a big whoop out there." As much as she wanted to scream and yell, she had to keep her temper under control. She took one deep cleansing breath and attempted to explain things to him, "Gale, you don't understand the way things work in the Capitol. The people out there are superficial so things like hair and makeup mean a lot. My prep team knew that and they worked their fingers to the bone for me. They knew what I looked like had a lot to do with getting sponsors."

"You could've gotten them on your own. You didn't need to get all fancied up by a group of...freaks. Sponsors would've noticed you on their own."

"Because of the things Peeta said," Katniss held onto his wrist. She had to make him understand. "Because of what those people did for me, I was turned into the Girl on Fire...one half of the Star Crossed Lovers and no...I couldn't have achieved that on my own." She told herself to calm down. 'This isn't good for the baby so keep it together.' A few more deep breaths. "They're decent people, Gale."

"Decent people!" The force of Gale's hands gripping her upper arms took her by complete surprise. They both had tempers, she had seen his many times over the years and was shocked that they hadn't come to blows during the course of their friendship, but he had never actually hurt her...until now. "Do you even know what you're saying? Who you're talking about? These people don't deserve a thing from you yet you stood down there in that cell and yelled...and...and screamed like they were holding...ME prisoner!"

"You're hurting me, Gale." No matter how many times she and Peeta had fought, and their fights were pretty vocal, he had never laid a hand on her. Not in the manor Gale had just done. She tried to put it out of her mind by telling herself that he was upset, but his comments about her prep team...the people from the Capitol in general, left her feeling uneasy. "Let me try and wrap my mind around this for a second. You don't think my prep team deserves a thing from me...from anyone really, because they're from the Capitol. Right?"

"Yeah," Gale stood his ground in front of her, and Katniss knew it was an act of intimidation. "Those people don't deserve a damn thing from you or me."

It was a horrible conclusion she was coming to as she asked him, "What makes you so much better than them?"

"Because I know better than to do the things they've done. I know what's right and those people..."

"You know what's right," Katniss stopped him from speaking in order to get her point across. "And you know because...your parents taught you?"

"I guess. Yeah."

Whether Gale knew it or not, he was helping her to see things much clearer. "Their parents taught them that the Games were right. That we were the enemy."

"They were wrong!" Gale screamed at her and startled a flock of birds, but not Katniss.

"But they didn't think they were wrong. They were raised that way." Peeta had once told her that people shouldn't be judged because of where they were born, and Katniss realized that's exactly what Gale was doing...what she had done her entire life. "My God, Gale. Have you always been this way? Thought like this?" Katniss pushed away from the tree she was leaning on and faced Gale. "Have I?"

"Yeah. We're two of a kind, Catnip." The smile on Gale's face made her stomach turn.

"No," she shook her head. "We're not. And if that's who I was...I'm ashamed of myself. Those people...my prep team...they're human beings and just because they're from the Capitol doesn't make them any less deserving than you or I."

"You might want to go back to that doctor and get checked out, Katniss. I think your priorities got knocked out of whack along with the rest of you during your escape."

She wondered where the boy was she had grown up with. He looked identical to the young man she had spent her life hunting with, but the man standing in the woods with her now was so filled with hatred he couldn't see past it. All he could do was group together the people from the Capitol in with Snow, but Katniss knew better. She knew what they had risked for her and Peeta. Gale knew too, but still he chose to overlook it. "You know...you think you're so much better than they are because you're from Twelve and you've been through sooooo much, but what makes you so different from the Gamemakers, or Snow for that matter? You're standing here judging people based on where they were born." Katniss threw her bow over her shoulder. "I think I'm done hunting for the day."

Gale's voice called to her. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

She had to get away from him and do some thinking. Serious thinking about the man she thought she could trust. Regina had warned her not to tell him about the baby still being alive. Katniss thought it was to protect him, but now she wasn't sure. Did Regina see something in Gale that Katniss was blind to? "Told you. I'm done hunting."

For some reason Gale continued to pester her, almost like he wanted to fight with her. "Maybe I'm not done hunting yet. I'm definitely not done with this conversation."

"Say what you want to say so I can go home." Katniss couldn't rise to his bait no matter how much she wanted to. One of them had to act like a grown up and it was obviously not going to be Gale.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did these people suck all the life out of you or do you save that for meetings like this morning when Peeta and your precious Effie Trinket are in trouble?" Gale stood right in front of her. "The girl I knew would never have stood up for a bunch of people that put her in the arena, and she sure as hell wouldn't have based her decision on becoming the leader of the rebellion based on the rescue of some woman from the Capitol! I mean...GEEZ! EFFIE TRINKET!?"

"Watch what you say about that woman," Katniss' voice was low and threatening. Now, he was crossing a line. "She was good enough for you when she sent medication for your back...she risked her life to get supplies for our district...she's done nothing but put herself in danger since Peeta and I entered the arena, so you better tread very...very carefully when you talk about her, Gale." If there was anyone from the Capitol that Gale should be grateful for it was Effie. "That woman is like a mother to Peeta and I won't let you badmouth her or make light of the things she's done."

"Fine! She's risked more than most from the Capitol, but honestly Catnip...who gives a shit?" Gale lowered his voice down. "You used to put me first...your family first."

She couldn't argue with him on that one. "Effie Trinket is my family. She's Peeta's family. You want to throw insults around about my prep team...Plutarch...go right ahead...I can ignore those, but I cannot ignore any disparaging remarks about Effie." She had been more of a mother to Peeta in one year than his own mother had been his entire life. For that reason alone, Effie Trinket had become blood. "Don't make me regret my choice to have you by my side while Peeta's gone, and do not make me choose between you and Effie Trinket." In the back of Katniss' mind she was thinking, 'As much as it pains me, I'd choose Effie, Gale. I'd choose Peeta's mother.' She could hear him screaming at her as she headed for the underground facility of Thirteen. Knew he was behind her, he had no choice but to follow her, he wasn't allowed to stay outside without her, but she kept her distance and surprisingly her cool.

"I need your bow," Gale snapped at her.

Katniss handed it to him without saying a word and went to her quarters to find her father in law packing up her things for her. "Pops? What are you doing?"

"They said they were moving us to the upper level and I didn't want them coming in here and finding some of your..." he gave her a little grin, "...contraband."

"Oh," Katniss always felt a sense of peace when she was around her father in law. "Thanks. Let me give you a hand with that stuff." She walked to the spot in the floor where she hid the pencils for Peeta.

"Got 'em," Bing told her. "Got all of that stuff. Everything left is pretty much the basics they provided you with when you moved in here."

"Thanks." Katniss followed her father in law up the stairs to their new quarters. "I appreciate you not taking the elevator. They make me feel trapped."

"Not a problem," Bing opened the door to her new quarters up for her to enter. "Looks like you're going to have to find a new way of getting into your mom's place at night." He set the box of Katniss' things down on a counter. "The ducts are in the floor on this level."

Katniss gave him a strange look, "You know about that?"

"Yup. Your mom told me."

"She knows?"

"Knows more than you give her credit for," Bing started looking around for loose tiles to hide the pencils. "Found one." He shoved the pencils inside and placed the tile back in place. "How was hunting with Gale?"

"How do you know I went hunting with Gale?" Katniss had been sitting on a chair staring off into space thinking about that very thing when he asked.

"Kitchen staff was told you'd be bringing in some meat." Bing pulled out a few drawers until he found one that was large enough to hold the stash of paper Katniss had pilfered. "Since you look like you've got the whole world weighing down on your shoulders right now and no game, I'm guessing things didn't' go the way you wanted."

"You're just as bad as your son, you know that?" Katniss bit her bottom lip. "Can't hide a damn thing from you."

"Nope," he walked over to her and took her hand. "You can try to keep a secret, but...you're not too good when it comes to lying to the ones you love, and like it or not, you love me."

It was the first time in hours Katniss genuinely smiled. "Like I said, you're just like your son...arrogant." 'How long will I be able to keep the ultimate secret from this man,' she wondered? 'As long as you have to in order to save the life of the people you love.'

"Not arrogant. A little cocky maybe," he took a seat next to her. "Feel like talking before the mandatory meeting in the dining hall?"

She needed to figure some things out, but pulling her father in law into the mess he was determined to stay out of was the last thing she wanted to do. "It's rebellion stuff."

"So it's got nothing to do with Gale?"

"No, it has plenty to do with Gale," Katniss answered. "Gale and the rebellion." She chewed away at her lip then started to work on one of her fingernails. "Pops? How do you feel about the rebels from the Capitol?"

"Don't really know them so I can't say I have many feelings towards them one way or another." He gave it a little thought, "Suppose I'm happy to have them on our side. It's good to know that not everyone out there thinks the way Snow does."

"There," Katniss stood up, "That's my point. They're not all alike."

"Of course not. That would be like them saying because we're from District Twelve we should all be punished for the things our ancestors did."

There was one person she was curious about. "How do you feel about Effie?"

"Now that woman I've got lots of opinions about," Bing leaned back in his chair. "Never really got to know her, but I know my son loves her and she loves my son the way he deserved to be loved by his mother his whole life. Risked a lot for the people of our district too. In my opinion, they don't make 'em much better than Effie Trinket."

If Peeta's father could feel that way, than why couldn't Gale? "Pops, Peeta isn't a traitor you know."

"Never thought he was."

"No," Katniss took his hand in hers. "You'd never think that way." She told him about the message Peeta had sent to her and saw his eyes fill with tears. "Pretty smart, huh?"

"Either that or crazy." He got up and held his arm out to her. "Walk you down to the dining hall?"

"That would be great." Katniss entered and saw Gale waiting just inside the door for her. She still wasn't sure how to help him understand about the people from the Capitol that risked so much for her, wasn't sure he'd ever open his mind enough to see her way of thinking, but his hatred had been deeply rooted toward the Capitol since birth and she had to help him see. "Waiting for me?" She asked Gale.

"Yeah." Gale lifted a chin in greeting for Bing. "Nice to see you again. Mrs. Everdeen and Prim are over there," Gale pointed them out.

"See you two later."

"We still fighting?" Gale asked her.

"Why don't we just say that we agree to disagree when it comes to the topic of the people from the Capitol?" Katniss suggested. She needed to get through the night...through this meeting that would prove Peeta's innocence to the people she was currently living amongst.

"Katniss?" Finnick grabbed her hand. "Why are we meeting here?"

Her heart broke for Finnick Odair. The man she had thought was such a ladies man, turned out to be so in love with Annie Cresta, he was on the verge of lunacy. "Remember the meeting this morning, Finnick? I agreed to be the Mockingjay and Coin saw that Peeta wasn't a traitor. She was supposed to promise immunity for all the tributes that were captured by the Capitol, but now that she knows Peeta wasn't spewing a bunch of treasonous lies..." Katniss gave his hand a little pat. "I'm sure she's going to fill everyone in on their innocence."

"Oh, good. I'm worried though...with Annie...what if she says something that might be construed as traitorous?"

"Don't worry, Finnick. I made her promise to pardon anyone while being held prisoner of the Capitol. Annie will be fine." Katniss wondered though, would Coin still hold up her part of the bargain to pardon everyone if needed?

Coin stood atop a small stage in front of a tiny microphone and began. "Attention." It only took her one time to get the crowd under control. "I'm pleased to announce that Katniss Ev...Mellark has agreed to be our Mockingjay with..." the crowd began to cheer and Katniss shrunk between Finnick and Gale in an attempt to hide herself. "However," Coin said loudly to regain control of the meeting, "Mrs. Mellark will only be our Mockingjay provided the other victors be granted full pardons." Coin began listing them off by name from a list and finished with, "Peeta Mellark and Effie Trinket."

The vast majority of the crowd began to hiss their disapproval. "She should be showing them the recording of Peeta during the interview...letting them know he's not a traitor," Katniss whispered to Gale who just shrugged a shoulder at her.

Coin sought out Katniss and held her stare, "In return for those unprecedented requests, Soldier Mellark has promised to devote herself to our cause. It follows that any deviance from her mission, in either motive or deed, will be viewed as a break in this agreement. The immunity would be terminated and the fate of the victors determined by the laws of District Thirteen. As would her own." There was a small semblance of a smile on the woman's face before she said, "Thank you," and walked off the stage.

"Wait a minute," Katniss tried to make her way through the crowd towards Coin who was ushered out of the dining hall by armed guards. "What the hell was that?" Katniss turned to face Gale.

"I...I don't know," even he had a look of shock on his face. "Thought for sure she'd tell people about Peeta being the Jabberjay. Maybe she's afraid the traitor will pass on the news or something."

Katniss knew that wasn't the case at all. She looked around the room until she found Haymitch looking back at her. His eyes filled with sorrow. Justus and Regina stared at her with pity and the rest of the room, a mixture of hope and disappointment. Yes, Katniss knew exactly what Coin had in mind when she was making her speech to the people in this district. The woman put in the order to kill her baby and now she was telling Katniss she had no problem doing the same to Peeta, Effie, the rest of the victors as well as Katniss herself. She pushed through the crowd, ignoring the stares and pats of congratulations from the people of District Twelve, towards her mentor and Plutarch. "Take it you understood our fearless leader's message to me?" Katniss practically growled. They had been having a power struggle since Katniss agreed to her position as the Mockingjay. "Why didn't she tell them about Peeta's innocence? Why didn't she..."

The sound of water splashing began to come from somewhere near followed up by a familiar voice with a Capitol accent. "Can you hear me? Oh, I certainly hope you can."

Katniss tried to figure out where the sound of water was coming from. Plutarch held the computer he was holding in the center of their group. She had no clue what was happening until Haymitch said one word, "Trinkie."