So I decided to start this new story, actually been meaning to write it for a while now. I feel like I rushed in some of my other stories, and I really want to take my time with this one, and make it really good. This story is set on the canon backstory after MJ happened. Since it never said if Gale and Madge actually had a fling during the first HG, I guess I could count that as following the canon someway plus I still think gadge is canon. This is what I think actually happened after, because Gale is beautiful and deserves his happy ending, and Madge just cannot have died like that.
Anyways enjoy and R&R
"Welcome to your new home commander Hawthorne," the guard greets Gale Hawthorne as he makes his way through the double wooden doors to his new apartment building. He makes his way up the elevators and towards his room on the top most floor, paying little to no attention to the extravengant decorating and furniture. The one bedroom apartment has a kitchen, living room, private bathroom, running water, electricity, you name it; all of this for just Gale himself is already bigger and fancier than the house he had grown up in, the small hut that was once home to six people.
None of this surprises Gale though, this was once the glorious district 2, the wealthiest district in Panem after the capitol. He supposes that when he was little this was all he had wanted in life, a fancy home, a good job with a good pay, a constant supply of food, the usual material stuff. Heck, if this had been even just a months ago, he still would have probably been satisfied; but everything's different now. He would give anything, anything, to have his life back; to be running in the forest hunting with his Catnip, eating dinner with his family, playing with Posy, even arguing with Rory, he wants all of it back; but those things will forever only live in his memories, and nothing more.
Gale somehow makes it to the washroom that was bigger than his old bedroom. He turns the shiny handle of the faucet, letting the steady stream of water run until its icy old on his fingers before splashing it onto his face, attempting to wash away the pain and distraught. Several handfuls of water later, he tilts his face up and looks into the mirror, studying the reflection inside. It's almost funny to him because he still looks like Gale Hawthorne, maybe a couple extra scars and a few more pounds, but he still looked the same, and people who were not extremely close to him might never even notice any changes. But of course, his whole life has changed.
The war was supposed to make his life better, not worse than the nightmare it already was. He killed Prim, god, he killed Primrose Everdeen. Everyone had tried to convince him that it's not his fault, and he knows fully well that it might not have been his bomb that killed her. But there will always be that doubt, that voice in his head that will constantly remind him that he might of killed his best friend's sister.
It was more than that too, it wasn't just the incident with Prim that made Gale unable to ever return to district 12, Prim being killed was a wake up call to him that he had killed in this war. Many innocent lives were gone in a battle he had fought in with such pure intentions at the very beginning. When he sees the ruins of his home district, not only will it haunt him with memories of those who didn't make it, but it will be a reminder of how similar things have happened to others because of him and the shots he fired
A lot of people thought that it was Katniss that he's scared to face. It's true, no matter how much Katniss claims to not blame him, he can see in her eyes that she still connects the incident with Gale one way or another. He did love Katniss and they did somewhat have a romantic relationship during the first few weeks in district 13, but he's long since came to a conclusion that her heart belonged to Peeta and only Peeta. Surprisingly though he's not upset, during the mission in the capitol, Gale grown to somewhat admire the baker for his courage and strength, and is happy for him and Katniss, not that he would ever willingly admit that; the two of them had even formed what could be called a friendship, at least before the bombs blew up the younger Everdeen sister. However it still stings a little that Katniss didn't choose him, and he still might wonder every once in a while what could have been and should have been, especially if Prim was never killed.
It's not only the relationship with Katniss that's been ruined, more importantly, its his family that will look at him the same way again.
Rory, only 14 but was still hopelessly in love with Primrose. Since her death, he glares at Gale with dark fiery eyes, refusing to even say a word to his older brother that he use to look up to more than anyone else in the world. Posy and Vick, they're still so young and innocent, they might not know exactly what Gale has supposedly down or what the implications of the war had been, but Gale doesn't fail to catch the fear in their eyes when he approaches, and how they cringe whenever his voice raises or when he punches a wall when he looses his temper. He is a monster, a cruel, cold blooded monster, and even his younger siblings have decided on that whether consciously or not.
And lastly Hazelle, his mother. She still looks at him the same way as she did all 20 years of his life, and out of everyone, she is probably the only one who understands the trauma he's gone through, and still sees him as Gale Hawthorne, not a killer, not a soldier, but just Gale. But she's tired, and gone through a lot. Gale thought that it'd be good if he left and gave her more space to breathe and take care of the children. It was for the best, he had decided, and Gale had bought her train passes so she could visit him whenever she needs.
As Gale thinks about these people that he loved, and how the future in district 2 will no longer involve them the way life in 12 did, he loses it. Gale Hawthorne cries for the first time since the death of his father back when he was 14. He lets the tears flow out of his eyes, grabbing the soft feathering couch cushion and burying his face into it so he could scream without people hearing.
Madge Undersee was not supposed to be here in district 2, in fact, she wasn't even supposed to be alive. One minute she had stormed out of her house after a heated arguement with her father and running to her favourite place in the meadows, and the next minute there was fire everywhere. When she reached her house it was already in flames and before she knew she was being pulled back by a pair of arms towards the forest and everything went black. She later woke up on a grey bed in a grey chair, as she slowly sat up she finds Haymitch Abernathy, her godfather, seated beside her on a metal chair. He greeted her with a usual "hello sweetheart," except his usual smirk is no where in sight, and as far as she was able to tell, he was compeletely sober, something she's never seen in the years she's known him. He quickly told her how her housekeeper Rosa had brought her to him in district 13, and how the previously non-exsistent district might not be safe for much longer. If things were different she would have been shocked to learn about the underground district, but all her mind registered was that her house has burned down leaving no survivors.
She stayed with the old victor in district 13 for a couple weeks, usually alone as he's always out on missions and whatnot. She locked myself in her small room for days refusing to get out of it and face the real world, refusing to accept reality. Those days are still a blur to the young girl who was no longer the precious mayor's daughter. Her family was gone, gone, gone and never coming back, gone without a proper goodbye, gone with so many memories left unable to be made. What's worse was that her last words to her father were words of anger, god, there's no way Madge will be able to ever forgive herself for that. Despite passing those weeks as no more than an empty shell of who she use to be, she never cried. She's heard somewhere that when a person is overly depressed, they in turn don't have the ability to cry anymore; it's just numbness and internal pain.
After two whole weaks without speaking a single word, and moving just enough to get food into her mouth, Haymitch pulled the trigger. He was worried about her, and knew that her silent lifestyle could not continue. So after the rebels took control of district 2 and became in need of volunteers to help them settle and develop in the new area, Haymitch sprung to the opportunity and signed Madge Undersee right up. He knew that with recent events there will be more chaos than usual, and that the girl didn't need more trauma in her life for the time being.
"This will be good for you Madge," he told her before she entred the hovercraft, one of the only times he called her by her real name, "I know it's been a tough few weeks for you but you'll get through this, you're a strong girl, life will go on sweetheart."
And just like that, a spell seemed to have been broken, and she finds her voice for the first time in a long time. "Thanks Haymitch, for everything, really," and with a hoarse voice and weak smile, she waves her hands and board the hovercraft.
Now that she's arrived, Madge feels that maybe this is really an opportunity to start fresh, like Haymitch said, life goes on. There's a battle going on inside her head, one voice is telling her to keep fighting because she is Madge Undersee and she doesn't just give up, but another one is telling her that there's no point because the most important people in her life are gone.
Haymitch, of course had been right, because just two days after Madge's arrival in 2, the war ended and Coin was assasinated by none other than her so called best friend Katniss Everdeen. With new leadership ruling the country, help was more urgent than ever, and Madge was more than glad to keep herself busy, and her mind off of her problems.
In the days that pass she contributes as much as she can, but keeps to herself as much as possible. She's willing to work and be useful, but she wasn't ready to socialize, wasn't ready to attach herself to people who might disappear as the snap of a finger. Nevertheless she finds herself slowly getting use to the once glamorous district, warming up to the studio apartment she was given to live.
She's still scared as ever, but maybe it'll all work out in the end. Maybe.
So that's the prologue, I really wanted to explore they're lives outside of their relationship more in this story, and build a stronger backstory. Please tell me what you think and any suggestions and thoughts. I will update this and in "in the midst of the grey" as often as I can.
review:)