Title: Ruthless
Summary: Her eyes were unchanging but always reading; she had to find a way to prevent his fall.
Notes: Uh, so this is Gale and Madge… and this is weird… and I just might consider doing a group of oneshots on this pairing.
Pairing: Gale x Madge
She sat in a pale blue dress with legs crossed and eyes unreadable.
It was Tuesday, the morning after the final interview before the Games officially began.
"What's it like?" she asked finally, her eyes blazing, directing the question to him. Most people didn't see her as she was; most times she was just the quiet, slightly more than average daughter of the mayor. But people didn't see the way she calculated every movement, every glance, the way she pieced critical pieces of information together.
She was good at reading people.
Across from her was her newest endeavor, all dark hair and miserable eyes.
"It feels surreal," he replied finally. "I can't accept the fact that this is probably all I'm going to see of her ever again – on a screen, in clothes she would never wear, with a painted face."
There was a breeze that fluttered her dress, her eyes unchanging but always reading.
"They will change her," she agreed. They sat in silence for a little longer.
"If she comes back," he started to revealed, and she waited to see if she had been correct in her searching, "that's what I'm afraid of the most… them changing her… more than her not coming back at all."
Satisfied, she nodded.
"The Capitol would be pleased to hear you say that with such fear in your voice."
His eyes hardened, and she felt ruthless, but it was the truth.
She couldn't watch him give up hope too, even if it meant keeping him hanging on to the girl that stood in her way.