Yay for updating! I was going to make this one extra extra long one-shot, but personally I enjoy writing two and three-shots. Your thoughts are very welcome! Loosely based off of "Cleanser" by Brand New, btw, just in case anyone's wondering.

Cleanser

Blood was trickling down the side of her face when she awoke. Madge struggled against the ropes behind her back and her ankles.

She was being held hostage.

She could only assume they were miners from the Seam. They were wearing the dark grey mining overalls and black masks over their faces. Despite the masks, Madge knew one of them had to be Gale Hawthorne. Other than Katniss, he was the only other person in the District who knew how to use a bow and arrow.

What was happening and why was it happening to her? She wasn't anyone important.

Not to mention, she had been separated from the rest of the group, in a dark corner so she couldn't make out any of the others who had been captured along with her. So she attempted to scoot herself forward to see what was going on. Her captors were talking to the rest of the kidnapped people, but she couldn't make out much of what they were saying.

From what she could gather the group had taken control of the Justice Building. For such a small group, that seemed like a huge feat to her.

"Nobody speak. Nobody get any smart ideas." She heard a male voice yell loudly from the other side of the room. It wasn't Gale who was talking.

"If we don't have any heroics we might just get out of here and home to our families by dinnertime." That was Gale's voice. She'd know it anywhere. Deep and raspy. If she didn't know better it wouldn't surprise her to find out that he spent most of his days with a corncob pipe smoking tobacco. It was the same voice that visited her doorstep every Sunday selling strawberries; the same voice that degraded her as well. It had shocked her that he continued to come every Sunday even after Katniss had left for the games.

A female voice stepped in. "We don't want any trouble."

Gale chimed back in. "We'll take what we came for and we'll leave quietly."

And then she couldn't hear anything. Their voices dropped and everything was muffled by the distance.

Footsteps walked toward her, steadily.

"Where are you going, Princess?" She looked up at the voice. Gale had removed his mask and his gaze was boring into her. Hastily, he picked her up, carrying her bridal style despite her restraints and brought her back to her original place. She had probably scooted forward ten feet. At least he hadn't dragged her back.

He was kneeling in front of her, making sure her restraints were tied tight enough, but not really. He seemed anxious to touch her, almost as if it was just an excuse to do so. Or maybe it was as if he was just trying to have something to do as to not seem so nervous in her presence. Like he was putting on a show of strength and confidence for her.

"What are you going to do with me?" Madge asked apprehensively. But then again if she was going to die, did she really want to know? Or maybe she could convince him not to kill her? I mean they were kind of friends, well more like acquaintances. But wasn't that enough?

His hand was burning a hole into her ankle. He looked up, his grey eyes meeting hers. "Don't you worry Princess, we'll keep you alive 'cause we need bargaining chips and you're the best bargaining chip there is. The sweet beautiful virginal mayor's daughter."

Her eyes shot up and widened as he said "virginal."

Looking at the look on her face, he muttered a sorry. But kept his eyes on hers. "But I'll keep you alive 'cause you're pretty…" His hands traced her jaw and gently traced her lips. A shiver ran through her. Under any other circumstance this would have been her dream, but seeing that all her extremities were tied, she didn't think this could be counted in his favor. "And God knows I'll need something pretty to look at while we…" He trailed off, looking away.

He wanted to kiss her. Badly. Especially with the innocent look she was giving him. She wasn't terrified at all, just a bit nervous, which under these circumstances was incredibly understandable.

His hand reached up to examine her head wound.

"Goddamnit, I told Bristel to be gentle with you. I knew I should've gotten you myself…" He trailed off, grumbling to himself. "I'm sorry," his hand was on her knee now and he was looking into her eyes. "I'll try and find something to clean it up with."

Madge nodded, but said nothing.

Gale could hear one of the other miners approaching them. He forced his hand higher on her leg, now on her thigh, reaching underneath the skirt of her dress, only a few inches away from the edge of her underwear. She swallowed. "It would be so easy, just to tear up what he loves." Madge's eyes widened. What the fuck was happening? Was he going to- She couldn't even finish the horrid thought.

The miner nodded at Gale and then promptly walked away.

"I'm sorry. I can't have them thinking that I'm favoring any of the hostages." He slowly removed his hand underneath her skirt. "You have to trust me, Madge." His fingers tipped her chin to face him and not his hands. "I could never hurt you."

She narrowed her eyes at him before replying, "You kidnapped me."

"I know that. Goddamnit. I know that. But do you know what they've done to us? They've left us with no choice but to revolt. There was this shaft that none of us recognized. I told them not to mess with it, but when I was on my break they went ahead and broke threw the barrier. Do you know what it was filled with?"

Madge shook her head no.

"It was filled with water, Madge. Filled with hundreds of gallons of water. There was only ten of us above the mines taking our breaks at the time. We did all we could to save them, but there wasn't much we could do in the first place. The elevators were cut off by the water. If no one steps in to help them then they're guaranteed a very watery grave.

It's sick. All they did was give the ten of us leave until they get the mines "situated," but they haven't been doing shit. All they're thinking of doing is building some more mines south of those so we can go and work again. They don't care about us. All they care about is exporting coal to the rest of the districts. It's such fucking bullshit, Madge."

"Okay, I understand why you're doing this, but why me? What does my kidnapping do to aid your revolt?"

"You're the mayor's daughter and you happen to be the textbook definition of a daddy's girl. He would do anything to get you out of here alive and tucked back into your bed."

"Stop acting like I'm a child. I'm not a child."

Gale's eyes ran down the length of her body. "I know you're not a child, Madge." His lips moved toward her ear. "Personally I think your innocence is one of your best qualities."

The merchant's cheeks tinged a deep pink.

"So you will willingly help us?"

Madge took a long look at Gale's face. The rigid slopes that made up his cheekbones. The tight line his lips were pulled into. He was anticipating her response. He wanted her to assist them, but not really them because he had just told her that he couldn't show them that he favored her over the others. Who were the others? Were they children of important District Twelve officials as well? Maybe some were the wives. All of these people would surely assist them if they knew the circumstances right? It took her a moment to answer her own question. She should know better. The merchants didn't care about Gale and his coworkers who were looking death in the face. Some barely nineteen she was sure and others with hungry families.

"I'll help you." It was the only response really.