We protect each other~ A modern day HG fanfic

Chapter 12

Quick note before you read this... I don't know ANYTHING about Police work and all that. I did my best to research as much as possible but you can only go so far. [insert NCIS joke here]

Nevertheless, enjoy and review!

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Chapter 11

~2 days later~

Katniss sits at the corner of the room, her hair is in a mess and her dark circles have grown. Since her capture, she hasn't had any sleep or much to eat. Katniss never had torture so intense when she was growing up.

She pulls her knees to her chest and sway from side to side. "We protect each other… he promised… he promised," she repeats. "Face it," another part of her thinks, "After that fight, he's not going to promise anything."

"No… he'll be here."

"Ha! Why would he want to help you? You're just a mistake that nobody wants." Katniss continues to rock herself until she hears the steel door click. Sierra walks in with her whip.

Crack! "You're worthless," she says. Slap! "A waste." Sierra continues to whip her; every crack and slap is followed by a humiliating comment. "See? You are worthless; Peeta will never save you. You don't deserve it!"

Words echo in her head. "Worthless, waste, mistake. Worthless, waste, mistake."

"We have intel," Gale says. He taps a few keys on his keyboard and spins his laptop to the Mellarks. "Thanks to Peeta, we were able to locate Edward and Sierra's hide-out. It is just west from here."

"So what does that mean? Are we going after them?" Prim asks.

"Yes, but the problem is we don't have any proof. Unless we have solid evidence, we can't arrest them."

"Well we can't just sit here!" Joshua raises his voice.

"Calm down sir, what I can do is search around their home. However I need a good reason to suspect the Everdeens have kidnapped your child to get a search warrant. Could you give me any information on Katniss's background?"

"We adopted Katniss when she was 4. Peeta found her in the woods one day, her parents were abusive and just left her in the middle of nowhere."

"That's good. What else?"

Joshua and Mary exchanged looks. Although they know about the abuse, they never really had gotten any full detail. Every time they asked, Katniss would freeze on the spot and her eyes would turn glassy. Eventually they gave up and never brought up the subject. Mary's eyes widen, the video!

She pulls out her phone and shows the detective the recording. Gale watches Edward slap Peeta across the face, Prim appears on the screen. She sneaks to the side and throws Buttercup into the air. Gale chuckles to himself silently as Buttercup lands on Edward's face.

He watches Edward growl into the camera and pull Sierra away from the scene. The video ends and he hands the cellphone back to Mary. "As entertaining as that was," he says, "It isn't proof."

"They left a note too," Prim says. She rummages through her pocket and pulls out the slip of paper. Gale takes a look at it then hands it back to Prim. "That's a good start," Gale says. "But we still need more."

He looks over at Peeta, "From what I can tell, you were closest to her. Is there anything she told you? Anything at all?"

Peeta nods slowly, "Sometimes, she would tell me about what she went through."

"Go on," Gale instructs.

"Umm… once Katniss told me that her parents would lock her in a room with barely anything to eat. They just leave her there for days. Occasionally they would beat her too."

Gale clicks his pen and jots down some notes, "Anything else?"

"No," Peeta says, "That's all she'd share."

"Thanks for the information. I have enough to request for a search warrant."

Gale stands with his partner, Cato Garcia as Peeta and his family are waiting outside by the police car. Gale bangs on the door, "FBI, please let us in!"

The door swings open revealing a man with greasy hair and a glare on his face. "What do you want?"

"Sir," Cato says, "We're Detective Garcia and Hawthorne. We have a permission from the court to search your home." Gale pulls out the warrant from his jacket and unfolds it. He holds it out for Edward to see, "Please let us in."

"Why should I?"

"Sir, you are suspected to be holding Katniss Mellark in your house. If you don't cooperate with us, we have the right to arrest you as well."

"Let them in Eddie." Sierra says with a sly look on her face, "They won't find her here."

Gale and Cato push pass Edward and begin their search. With their gloves on, they search each room, careful not to miss anything. Without any success, Gale hits his knuckles against the walls, looking for a hollow spot. No luck. He tries the floorboards and taps it lightly with his foot.

Cato continues to search through drawers and cupboards; maybe they have something that would lead them to Katniss. Instead, he finds a small trap door at the bottom of a carpet. "Gale, I found something!"

He pulls out a flashlight and lifts the door. There's a flight of stairs that spiral downwards; drops of water drip down the walls and ceiling. Edward suddenly appears out of nowhere and blocks Cato's path, "You can't go in there!"

"Sir, let me through."

"There's nothing down there! Just the basement."

"Then you shouldn't have anything to worry about," Gale says. He follows Cato down the steps; it leads them to a steel door. Right before he could turn the lock, Edward attacks them from behind. He kicks Gale down and hits him with a metal pipe.

Cato tries to pull his Taser from his pocket but Sierra grabs her whip and whacks him from behind. Gale pulls out his walkie-talkie and presses the dial. "Backup! We need-" Edward kicks it out of his hands and crushes it with his foot.

"Backup! We need-" The transmission comes to an abrupt stop and Peeta's eyes widen. "Mom, call the police! I need to help them!"

"Peeta wait! It's too dangerous."

"Mary it's okay," Joshua says, "I'm going with him. Just get the authorities."

They run into the house and follow the sounds of whips into the basement. Joshua throws a punch to Edward's face and he recoils. He lets out a menacing growl and lunges at Joshua. Meanwhile Peeta tries to grab the whip out of Sierra's grasp. She hisses and swings her arm. The whip lands on Peeta's shoulder.

With Sierra distracted, Cato musters up enough energy to pull out his Taser. He flips the switch and hurls it at her. It misses and she scampers away. Peeta tries to help his father but Cato stops him. "I'll help them, just get your sister!" He points to the door.

Peeta picks himself up and opens the door. He sees Katniss, lying unconscious in the middle of the room. Before he could say anything, he hears a gun click and turns around. "Don't move."