One last chapter after this and possibly an epilogue.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just working with the idea.
"What happened?"
"Elliot Marvel. The man I sent out the alert on. He was a hit man and he tried to kill me!"
"Believe me, Peeta. Had we found something on him we would have told you." Haymitch sits in front of Peeta. "How'd you get her out?"
"Uncle Paul."
"My brother?" Peeta only nods his head at him. "You and involving civilians."
"It worked. By the way he says you owe him fifty bucks."
"That son of a bitch! I didn't lose that bet!"
"Are we done?" Peeta says while he stands.
"No. Sit!" Peeta does as he's told with a sigh. "You're not getting along with Thresh."
Peeta stands again and goes to the window. He runs his hand through his hair in frustration. "Something's not right about him, Haymitch."
"Yea? What?"
"Why the hell did you assign him to this case?!" Peeta angrily turns to Haymitch.
"Take a walk with me." Haymitch goes to the door and holds it open for him.
"Answer me Haymitch!"
"Walk with me, Peeta." Peeta walks out with him.
"Where are we going?" Peeta watches as Haymitch holds the door open to the stairwell.
"Roof."
"Why?"
"Stop questioning me, boy!" They climb to the top and look down at the street.
"Are you going to answer me now? You can't tell me that he doesn't irk you?" Peeta asks Haymitch.
"I didn't assign him."
"I don't understand."
"You remember when I sent you off with a sealed envelope to your location?" Peeta nods. "There was a reason. I suspected a mole."
"Tell me it's Thresh, Haymitch and I'll kill you for having me here right now!" Peeta yells.
"Alma Coin."
"Your subordinate?"
"She rose to power while you were away. Falsified documents on me that incriminated me as the mole. Obviously, that fell through and we found out that she was the mole."
"She was working for Snow, then." Haymitch nods.
"She assigned Thresh to our team." Peeta looks at him in anger.
"What the hell?! Why am I here? Katniss is with him! I have to go back there now!" Haymitch grabs his arm, but Peeta rips his arm away.
"We don't have any evidence he's involved. He's clean, Peeta. That's why he's still assigned."
"Bull shit! My gut isn't wrong here! It wasn't with Marvel and it isn't with this!" Peeta races back to the roof door and starts running down the stairs. Haymitch is right behind him the entire time. He finally makes it to first floor, but the exit guard has the door locked. Peeta searches for his ID in his pocket.
"What are you going to do, kid? Barge in there and accuse him? He's been through it already! If he's involved, he's done a great job at keeping it hidden!"
"Call Gale!" Peeta yells. "Send Johanna and Cato! Where the fuck is my badge?!" Peeta can't find his badge. He turns towards the one-way glass where the guard is behind. He bangs on it and points to Haymitch. "He's the fucking director! Open the damn door!" Peeta kicks the wall in frustration.
"Gale's not picking up." Haymitch states. Peeta looks at Haymitch's reflection when a flash goes off in his mind. He quirks his head curiously at the reflections in the mirror. He runs his hand down his own reflection and squints.
Flashback
A barbell comes crashing against his temple and Peeta crashes to the floor in a heap.
"When did you have me figured out? Huh?" Peeta crawls away, attempting to regain his vision which was fuzzed up from the blow to his head.
"Not when you saw me at the party." Peeta lays on his back and watches as Marvel approaches him with another barbell. He's suddenly pulled up by his collar to a standing position. The world is still spinning so it's hard for him to focus.
"And they said you were the best." The barbell crashes into his ribs, causing Peeta to bend over in pain. Marvel's knee comes up and connects with Peeta's jaw. Peeta's on his front again, trying to crawl away.
"You know what they're going to do to her?" Marvel laughs. "I hope you didn't grow attached."
Marvel's tone and words infuriate Peeta. Peeta turns and lays on his back. He stares at Marvel with a smirk. "Funny thing was, she pointed you out. If wasn't for her, I wouldn't have even known you existed."
"Is that so? I'll make sure to let her know how her discovery went." Marvel pulls out his gun and aims it at Peeta.
Peeta laughs, "You're garbage! What kind of hit man gets found out by a civilian?" Peeta holds his stomach painfully in his laughter. Marvel is by his side, gun at Peeta's head.
"Not so bad if I'm the one who kills Marvelous Mellark." Peeta can't help but remember that the nickname was given to him in the bureau. How the hell did Marvel know that?
The hammer clicks signifying an imminent bullet. That snaps Peeta out of it as he pushes the gun out of his face just as the bullet flies past his head. He throws Marvel over his body, his gun flies somewhere in the room. As soon as Marvel is on his feet, Peeta tackles him to the ground. He finds the barbell from earlier and begins to relentlessly pummel him with it.
By the time Peeta realizes it, there's blood all over the place. Blood under Marvel's deformed head, on the barbell, his hand, and splattered all over Peeta's face. He stands, finally releasing the weight. He walks over to Marvel's gun and picks it up. As he stands back up, he catches a glimpse of a tall, male figure in the mirror by the back exit. By the time Peeta turns back around, the back door swings closed. Peeta tries catching him, but once he's outside, the man's gone.
"It was Thresh." Peeta says to himself in realization, with one hand still on his reflection.
"What?" Haymitch says.
"You want proof! Thresh was there when Marvel was going to kill me! Why wouldn't he help me if he was on my side?!" Peeta yells in anger. Haymitch goes over to the two-way glass.
"Open the fucking door!"
Peeta, Haymitch, Johanna, and Cato make it to the safe house at the same time. They all run up the stairs, guns drawn, and kick the door open. Peeta goes in first. The rest of the group is close behind as they search the rooms. Peeta makes a right into the living room and finds Gale, who points his gun right at Peeta. He drops it once he realizes who it is.
"Peeta…" Gale chokes out. Peeta is instantly by his side.
"Living room!" Peeta yells out. Everyone comes rushing in. Haymitch gets on the phone and calls for help. Peeta tries putting pressure on Gale's stomach wound. "You're going to be fine."
"I know that!" Gale growls in pain.
Peeta chuckles. "Forever the hard ass."
"Don't you forget it, Mellark!" Gale hisses in pain.
"Ambulance is on the way. How you feeling?" Haymitch asks.
"Like I got shot! What the hell kind of question is that?!" Gale yells.
"She's gone." Johanna let's everyone know. Peeta drops his head.
"It was Thresh. He tried knocking me out. When that didn't work, he shot me!" The paramedics enter the room moments later. The try and wheel Gale out, but he refuses.
"Do it here!" He commands them. The paramedics go ahead with their treatment right in front of the group.
Peeta paces the floor. He had failed her. Katniss was in danger now for sure. At least before, when he had returned to the house, the getaway car was gone which hopefully meant that Katniss was alright. She had been fine, perfectly safe when he had found her a couple days later. Now, she was headed for who knows where. It couldn't get worse.
"Fuck!" Everyone turns to Haymitch. "The transfer truck with Snow it was just found with two dead cops inside."
And it was worse. Snow was on the run again and Katniss was missing. Peeta pinched the bridge of his nose. He went over to the desk and slammed his fists down. He raised his head to look at the computer. He only had one more hope. Peeta pulled the chair out and sat down in front of the computer. He pulled his phone out and connected it to the laptop. A map lit up the screen with a red blinking dot on it.
"She's moving!" Peeta yelled to the group. Haymitch looked over his shoulder.
"What is it?"
"The ring you gave me for her. I put a tracker in it." He points to the screen. "She's there and she's moving. We can still save her!" Peeta stands and heads for the door. Haymitch stops him.
"You're not going alone!" He motions for the rest of the group. "You have your team and a plan."
"I'm killing that motherfucker!" Gale stands up, one hand on his wound, the other on his gun. "That punk shot me!" Gale says referring to Thresh. "I get him!"
"If Katniss is hurt, no promises." Peeta lets him know. Gale smirks at him.
"You're not going anywhere." Cato lets Gale know. He opens his mouth to protest but Cato stops him. "You can barely stand!"
"Flesh wound." Gale tells him.
"The hell it is! You're not going anywhere but the hospital. Cato, you good for active duty?" Haymitch asks. Cato nods. "The three of you start following this signal!"
"I don't want to sound like a pessimist, but what the hell are the three of us supposed to do against all of Snow's thugs?" Johanna asks.
Haymitch smirks. "Don't worry. I have a few people that owe me some favors. Reinforcements will be right behind you. Give them hell people!"