Character(s): Gale Hawthorne

Pairing: Gadge

Rating: K

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Romance

Notes: For Gadge Month on tumblr (Prompt: roadtrip and/or roommate)

)o(

Gale pulled his jacket on and jumped down the stairs two at a time, in a hurry to reach his friend's car and thus make him stop honking before he woke up the whole neighbourhood.

Tron only grinned as Gale pulled open the car door and plopped down in the passenger seat, scowling at the man from Three he had befriended for some reason he could not quite remember as he was forced into driving across the country at this ungodly hour."I was barely two minutes late."

"Late's late,"Tron shot back and with that, they were on the road.

The main reason Gale had agreed to going along with his friend was to have a good reason why he wasn't using his time off to visit his family. Even if they hadn't recently moved back to Twelve, which was the last place he wanted to set foot in again, Gale knew he couldn't handle seeing them.

Not when his mother's eyes were filled with pity and worry and Rory could hardly bear looking at him since he'd found out about his involvement in designing those bombs. Not that Gale could blame him. Most days, he could barely face his own reflection.

He shook off that thought, instead telling Tron to switch to a different station, preferably the one that played the pre-cataclysm songs that had been somehow dug up again; he was rather fond of some of them.

They drove on and on, Tron singing loudly and off-key, Gale humming along and tapping his fingers in time with the music, occasionally stopping to switch drivers or just to stretch their legs.

"I really appreciate you coming,"Tron said at one of their stops, yawning and swinging his arms about."I couldn't have gone by myself."

Tron hadn't been able to get time off of work any earlier and he needed to be at his girlfriend's college the next day – well, in a few hours, actually – to propose on their anniversary as he wanted to. And it was a long drive, seeing as Tron refused to set a foot on a train since he'd been trapped in a tunnel cave-in during the rebellion. Another thought that Gale pushed away as he smiled."No problem. About time I met Tasha anyway, she's all you'll talk about."

"You'll know why once you've met her,"his friend replied with a dreamy sigh."Still. I know you don't like cars that much, so thanks. I'll set you up with Tasha's roommate. She's your type, I swear."

Gale scoffed."How would you know my type?"

"Well, I can see who you check out wherever we go,"Tron shot back."Medium height, slim, long blonde hair and you can't stop staring."

"Let's get back on the road,"Gale snapped, not in the mood to talk about this. Yes, he stared at every petite blonde that crossed his way. But he wasn't ogling, he was searching. No matter what Thom had told him, he refused to believe that Madge was dead. Those bodies in the mayor's house, they could have been anyone. She hadn't died because he didn't manage to get her out, she couldn't have. Not Madge, too.

Yet, after three years, he had to admit that it didn't look good. He had gone over any and every record he could find, to no avail. He remembered the lists of those displaced and brought to Thirteen in the war. He remembered finding a Margaret Donner on that list and having the ridiculous hope that she might have gone by her mother's maiden name. But the girl was from Five, and two years too old to boot. Again, he forced himself to stop thinking.

"Okay, some of Tasha's friends are instructed to keep her away until seven,"Tron said as he let himself and Gale into his girlfriend's apartment."Maggie, that's her roommate, she's out picking up the cake and champagne. You're in charge of electronics and I'm on decorations. Clear?"

"Clear,"Gale echoed, making a huge show of rolling his eyes.

He was in the kitchen for a quick break and a glass of water when the door opened and a female voice called out."Tron, there's more champagne and the cake still in the car, and I'm not climbing all those stairs again!"

Gale froze. That voice – he knew that voice. But it couldn't be, it just couldn't be. He turned around just in time to see champagne bottles fall from her grasp as she drew in a sharp breath."Gale?"

"Madge,"he croaked out, hardly believing his eyes."You're alive. Oh my god, you're alive."

She nodded, seemingly unable to say anything, just staring up at him. He took a step closer, slowly, half convinced she'd disappear if he touched her. This couldn't be real."How? I looked for you. They pronounced you dead. I looked for you."

"I got out,"she whispered."When the bombs came. I got out. I barely made it to Thirteen and was in hospital for most of the war. I didn't trust them, they seemed off somehow. I didn't want them to know I was the mayor's kid because I thought they'd say he was pro-Capitol. I used my mum's maiden name, changed my age and district."

"Margaret Donner from District Five,"he breathed and she nodded."So that was you."

Without another moment of hesitation, he pulled her into his arms. He was laughing and crying at the same time, giddy with relief and happiness, Madge clutching onto him as if her life depended on it, her lips finding his in an almost desperate kiss.

They broke apart when a soft laugh reached their ears. There stood Tron, cake in hand and a grin on his face."Told you she was your type."