THE INTERVIEW: The Aired Version

Gale Hawthorne, cousin of District 12 tribute Katniss Everdeen

Interviewed by Caesar Flickerman

Gale walked through the daily hustle and bustle of The Hob, searching for his usual customers, when he heard his name announced through the static on a TV. The main screen was in the town's square, but The Hob had a few of its own mini, ancient TV's sitting around for entertainment.

"Hey, Gale! Look, you're on TV!" someone called out his name. He saw his neighbor, Old Man Hardy, and peered over the old man's hunched shoulder just in time to see Caesar's annoying smile flash across the screen.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! This is Caesar Flickerman, and I am here in District Twelve to interview the family and friends of tribute Kaniss Everdeen. For those just tuning in, I have just sat down to interview the cousin of Katniss, District 12 tribute, Gale Hawthorne."

"Never thought I'd see you on TV, Gale!" Old Man Hardy chuckled.

"Shut up and listen," the man next to him growled.

The camera cut to a wide shot of Gale, the large image of Katniss over his shoulder brandishing her weapons. At the bottom of the screen flashed his name, Gale Hawthorne, cousin of District 12 tribute Katniss Everdeen.

"Cousin?" a familiar voice scoffed, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the TV screen to see who it was.

"You and your cousin must be very close," Caesar smiled affectionately on the TV. The camera cut to an image of Gale before flashing back to the interviewer. "What was it like growing up with Katniss? What kind of girl is she?"

The camera zoomed dramatically in on Gale's face. "She's a survivor. Always was."

"A survivor, eh? So are you betting on Katniss to win?"

"Of course," his voice boomed with certainty from the TV.

"Are his hair and eyebrows really blue like that?" Old Man Hardy asked him.

Gale grinned. "Oh, it's even worse in person."

"Capitol dwellers," the man next to him spat.

On the TV, the camera cut to Caesar pursing his blue lips as he thought before continuing the questioning. "How do you know Katniss will win?"

"Because she knows she has to come home. For Prim. For her family."

"For her family?"

"Yeah. I mean, who else will take care of them?"

"Take care of them? Won't her father take care of them?" Caesar's voice sounded innocent from the TV.

"Damn Capitol dwellers. Don't they have any sense of how the rest of us suffer?" Old Man Hardy growled.

"Hush, old man!" someone next to him rasped.

"Her father died in a coal mine explosion with my father," Gale said, his answer sounding stiff, even coming from the TV screen.

"Oh! How tragic!" Caesar exclaimed, his gloved hands touching his face in shock. The camera cut awkwardly to Gale before panning back the interviewer. "So, then, you and Katniss must have grown very close because of your fathers' deaths happening at the same time."

"Yes, something like that," Gale replied, looking slightly disturbed on the screen.

"Something like that? Could you elaborate?" Caesar pressed.

"We wandered District Twelve together, trying to get jobs and buy food for our families."

The men around Gale cackled.

"Guess you couldn't tell him about the poaching!" Old Man Hardly wheezed, laughing hard. A man behind him slapped Gale good-naturedly on the back.

On the TV screen, Caesar looked sympathetic. "So you and Katniss are the heads of your family? How tragic, a young girl forced to take care of her family after the death of her father! She even went so far as to volunteer herself as tribute for the games in her sister's place. How do you feel about Katniss volunteering herself?"

The TV showed Gale shrugging. "What else could she have done?" The camera cut to an image of Caesar looking serious and contemplative before cutting back to Gale. "I would have done the same thing in her place."

"You've talked about this before?" Caesar clearly looked interested on the screen.

"We made a pact." Gale twitched as he heard his voice coming from the TV. It all felt so strange, so foreign, so ominous. They really had never been in control of their own lives.

"A pact?"

"Yeah. If either of us were reaped and didn't come home, the other would look after the other's family." He watched as his on screen counterpart whipped away a drop of sweat from his forehead.

"If Katniss doesn't come home, you will have to take care of her family?"

Gale turned away from the TV, not wanting to watch the rest. Still, he listened, even if he didn't want to watch.

"Katniss will come home."

"But if she doesn't?"

"She'll come home."

"But if she doesn't, will you take care of her family?"

"I won't have to. She will come back." He remembered the anger he had felt when he said those words.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he thought, Katniss, come home. Whatever you do, just get yourself home alive.

"Well, I certainly hope so," Caesar's voice sounded soft and sincere from the television. "Well, to wrap up, if you could see Katniss again, what advice would you give her?"

Gale turned back to watch himself give his final lines, the camera close up on his face, Katniss's face on the poster peering ominously over his shoulder. "Follow your instincts. They won't lead you wrong. You are a hunter, after all. And Katniss, do whatever it takes to make sure you come home alive."

"Very nice words for our lovely District 12 tribute," Caesar praised, chiming in as the camera cut back to him. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, next we will be interviewing the mother of District 12's male tribute, Mrs. Mellark."

Caesar paused and smiled charmingly until the camera cut to an image of Mrs. Mellark scowling the way she had every day of her life.

That sure was a hell of a lot of editing, Gale thought wryly as he fled The Hob, running towards his comforting woods and his memories of Katniss there.