Disclaimer: The Hunger Games Trilogy is property of Suzanne Collins. This is a parody fanwork by fans for fans. No money was made off of the creation of this fanwork.
Note: This is Gale's side story which takes place in the same universe and runs concurrently to my story "Spectator." You will likely want to read that fic first since I will be making reference to the events that take place in it. This chapter takes place after the some of the events in Chapter Seventeen. This story will be updated biweekly on Tuesdays. There may be times when I won't totally adhere to this schedule, it will depend on where the main fic is in its storyline. But even if I miss a week, my update day will still remain a Tuesday.
Forgotten
By Fanfic Allergy
oOo
Chapter One
There's a knock at my door and I wonder who it is, no one ever really comes to visit around this time. All of my mother's clients stop by in the morning before work to keep their clean clothes clean for long as possible here in the Seam. No point picking up clean clothes after a day in the mines, they'd just be as bad off as they were before my mother laundered them.
So it's not one of my mother's clients and I'm pretty sure it's not a Peacekeeper, I haven't gotten caught poaching or scavenging. That limits who it could be. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I didn't hope it was Catnip.
Katniss. She's Katniss now.
My little brother, Rory, gets the door and calls for me. My heart leaps and I walk to the door hoping that I'll see that familiar black braid and slender form.
I don't.
It's Madge Undersee, the Mayor's daughter. She's shifting nervously from foot to foot and glancing over her shoulder every so often. I wonder what's up and invite her inside and close the door behind her.
She eyes Rory nervously and I shoo him from the room. Not that we're going to get much in the way of privacy. It's a small house and the walls are paper thin. Such is life in the Seam and there isn't much I can do about it.
"What are you doing here, Undersee?" I ask, my tone isn't all that inviting. Her family is a good customer but she's Katniss's friend, not mine. I'll tolerate the merchant girl for Katniss's sake, not because I like her company.
"Peacekeepers came and took Katniss," she says in a low tone, almost a whisper.
"What!" I roar. "When?"
She makes little shushing motions with her hands. "Not so loud!" she hisses. "Somebody will hear!"
"Tell me everything," I grind out.
"Peacekeepers came and took Katniss and her mom to go to the Capitol for the family interviews." She pauses. "They took the Mellarks too."
I'm confused. That isn't what happens in the Games. The few times someone from District Twelve has made it into the final eight, they've sent a wide-eyed reporter with more makeup and tattoos than Effie Trinket. The reporter interviews as few people as possible and then goes back to the Capitol. The last time a District Twelve tribute made the top eight, four years ago, the Capitol reporters were here for less than an hour. So I cannot fathom why they'd change the way things are done now and I say so. "They've never done that before!" I splutter. "There's got to be some other reason for this."
Madge just looks at me, willing me to make the connections she obviously already has.
I think it through again. What about this year is different? First there's the competing love stories and now the rule change. Then it comes to me. Hostages. Katniss, Mrs. Everdeen, the Mellarks are all being taken to the Capitol as hostages and bargaining chips for their tributes' good behavior.
It makes me sick.
"What am I supposed to do?" I ask myself. I wish I could fly off to her rescue like the heroes my father used to tell me about when I was little.
Madge apparently thinks the question is directed at her. "Katniss asked me to take care of Prim's goat and cat."
"You?" I scoff. "You don't know a thing about taking care of animals. Why would she ask you and not me?"
The Mayor's daughter rolls her eyes and reaches up to smack me on the back of the head. "Use your head, Gale! She didn't want to get your family involved in case something goes wrong. I'm as safe as anyone can be in District Twelve because of who my father is. She was looking out for you, you dumb oaf!"
"Hey! I'm not dumb!" I'm actually more surprised that she's standing up to me. I'm twice her size. "So Katniss wants me to look out for her place and Prim's animals? Fine. I'll have Rory and Vick help me. Is that all?" I'm not comfortable having her in my house.
"No," she answers.
"Then what?" I ask, running a hand through my hair.
"I want your help." She gives me a determined look. "Katniss is gone, right?"
I cross my arms. "So you've just told me."
"Don't be snide," she snaps. "That means she's not going to be able to stock up for the winter like she planned. And with her mother gone too, they don't have an income coming in. Not to mention what will happen if Prim dies."
She doesn't have to mention what will happen. I remember when I first met Katniss after our fathers died in that mine explosion. She was little more than skin and bones topped by a messy braid. She's filled out a lot more since those lean days, but she's not more than a few steps from starvation. None of us in the Seam are very far from that hell.
If Prim dies, everything Katniss has fought and struggled for will be lost and she'd likely join her mother in a depressive spiral. She won't have the energy or will to hunt and without her hunting and gathering, she and my baby she's carrying will die.
"So what do you have in mind?" I ask. It's clear that the merchant girl has a plan or she wouldn't be pussyfooting around the subject.
"I want to help Katniss stock up," she says.
"What's that got to do with me?" I ask. "You weren't there, but she doesn't want my help. She's made that crystal clear."
She snorts. "That was before the Capitol knocked on her door. Get with the times, Gale. I don't think that she planned on being gone for the rest of the Games. I'm not asking you to do everything, just help me out a little. Show me what plants are okay to eat. Maybe even teach me how to set snares. That way, it's not you who's actually helping her out."
"She'll know I was involved. No offense, Undersee, but you don't know jack about surviving in the woods."
"I can learn," she says with a shrug. "Besides, I'll tell her it was my idea. That will get you off the hook."
I consider it. It's not a bad plan as far as plans go. Technically, I'd be helping Madge. What she does with what she manages to find or catch isn't up to me. "Fine, but you follow every order I give you to the letter. Got it, Undersee?"
"I've got it. Now, are you going to show me how to take care of Prim's goat or not? The cat, I think I can handle. We used to have a cat when I was little," she explains before I can ask.
"We've got it," I tell her. We don't need the help of a merchant kid. She'd just be in the way.
"Are you normally this thick, Gale, or has the stress of becoming a father addled your brains," she says, rolling her eyes again. "I told you the Peacekeepers took her. One was with her when she came to see me. The woman probably knows why Katniss visited me and that Peacekeeper is still here. Even if she doesn't report that to her superiors, which is doubtful, she still knows that Katniss asked me to take care of her goat. What do you think would happen if she goes to check up on the Everdeen house and finds you or your brothers there?"
I follow her train of thought to its logical and frightening conclusion. The Peacekeepers would think we were thieves. The punishment for theft is death. Even if we could convince the Peacekeepers we weren't stealing anything we'd still face flogging or worse just for 'breaking and entering.' Madge is right. She has to be there when we take care of the animals otherwise Rory, Vick, or me could end up dangling from the hangman's noose. "Fine, you've made your point. I suppose you'll want the milk too," I say snidely.
"Only if you don't have any plans for it," she answers, not batting an eyelash at my tone. "I was going to have my maid teach me how to make cheese from it so that I could either sell it for her or store it for later."
I'm immediately chastened and I remember all of the effort she went through to try to raise money for Prim's sponsor gift. I'm angry that she's having to lead me to conclusions I should have thought through. She's right, I'm not acting like I should be and haven't ever since the night Katniss and I made love. It's only gotten worse since I found out Katniss was pregnant. It's like a switch just got flicked in my head that I need to protect and provide for my family and Katniss and our unborn baby are a part of my family.
I'm angry that the Mayor's daughter is able to read and understand my best friend better than me. I should have realized from the moment that Madge told me that the Peacekeepers had come for Katniss that the rules had changed.
I'm not giving this slim, blond girl enough credit. She's not like the other merchant girls I know.
She's better.
oOo
AN:
Written: 7/15/13
Revised: 11/26/13
Beta Read by RoseFyre
Hi! If you are new to this story and really confused I suggest you go hit up my profile and check out my fic "Spectator." If you don't want to do that, here's a brief summary to date.
Katniss is pregnant with Gale's child and because of that the whole Hunger Games universe is changing. For instance, Prim took out tesserae to help feed her family, so her name was in the Reaping bowl four times. That change meant that it was Katniss who was Reaped initially and Prim who volunteered to take her pregnant sister's place. Also because of Katniss's pregnancy she's become closer to Madge and more distant to Gale. Basically they've fought and have irreconcilable differences of opinions about how things should go. You'll get more about that later. As in the Original Timeline, the rules changed to allow two tributes to come home from the same district. Not because of Katniss/Peeta although Peeta is still playing that angle to get Prim home, but because of Cato and Clove. Immediately after the announcement, Katniss and her mother, along with the Mellarks, were escorted to the Capitol. Ostensibly to give their interviews someplace nice. The reality is a lot more sinister.
There, you should be up to date.
Madge is also going to be portrayed a little differently here than in my main fic. Remember who the POV character is. And not everyone acts the same around each person. We all adapt to the person we are communicating with.
I hope you enjoy!