A/N Come on people R&R! And thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter :)
"Haymitch?" groans Gale "Is that you?"
Looking up I'm surprised to see that Gale is right, it is Haymitch standing over us with an amused expression on his face and his ever-present bottle of white liquor in his hand.
Sitting up I look around me, we are in what appears to be the cargo hold of a high end hovercraft. It's a low-ceilinged rectangular room with very little in the way of lighting; dark brown carpeting covered the floor with a few darker splotches where Haymitch's liquor had splashed out.
"Come on," He says, his words slurring together in his inebriated state "Get up, you've got a lot of explaining to do" he says looking at Gale pointedly.
I try to get up, eager to have this unexplained turn of events cleared up, but the pain this causes threatens to overwhelm me. Pushing myself up I briefly glimpse the dark red sticky blood pooling around me before darkness engulfs me.
I am jolted awake from the same nightmare of fleeing, groggy from the anesthetic and hurting, thinking the rescue was all a dream, a figment of my optimistic, overactive imagination. I feel like crying but I know the capitol will have cameras trained on me every second of every day, despite my nearly lifeless state, so I force myself to look around, take my mind off the overwhelming need to cry, to see a new IV drip recently reinstalled into my forearm. Moving my head hurts and a sound escapes my lips as the pain in my side finally registers in my doped up brain. I gingerly move my hand to touch my side, finding it heavily bandaged and very tender.
A big, warm hand catches mine and lifts it away. "Be careful, you'll pull out the IV," a familiar voice says tenderly. It sounds like Gale. It can't be, of course. But i can't help but turn around to make sure, despite the pain I knew it would cause. And there he was, looking just as perfect as when I had seen him last.
"What's going on? Where am I?" I say, thoroughly confused this time and the feeling of déjà-vu wasn't helping.
"Haymitch'll explain everything," he says reassuringly, still holding my hand I notice happily.
Just then the object of our conversation walks in, considerably less drunk than the last time I saw him, I notice.
"You, my dear, are on a District Thirteen hovercraft, severely injured from the stunt lover boy over there attempted just to get you here." Haymitch says, straight to the point as usual, looking at Gale disapprovingly.
I can see Gale looking down sheepishly.
"Thirteen?" I say. "There's no Thirteen. It got blown off the map."
"Seventy-five years ago," says Gale softly.
"It's nothing but rubble," I say. "We've all seen the footage."
"Well that's just it," says Haymitch. "A couple of years ago some people from District Eight made a bit of a surprising discovery." He pauses for effect while I sit there feeling clueless.
"They've been using the same footage for as long as anyone can remember!" Gale bursts out, too excited to keep me in the dark.
"Really?" I try to think back, to call up the images of District Thirteen I've seen on television.
"You know how they always show the Justice Building?" Gale continues. I nod without thinking, wincing as my side throbs painfully. I've seen it a thousand times. "If you look very carefully, you'll see it. Up in the far right-hand corner."
"See what?" I ask.
"A Mockingjay." Haymitch says. "The symbol of the rebellion, the symbol for what you started with those berries"
"It's got to be a coincidence right? I mean mockingjay's aren't that rare, especially in the woods between District's Twelve and Thirteen." I say.
"True," Haymitch agrees. "But how many blind mockingjay's have you seen?" he asks, smiling a little.
"How'd you figure that out?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"We zoomed nearly 250% and sharpened the image. Our mockingjay has a very distinct crescent shaped scar through its eye, that eye scarred shut, the other is completely white." He explains
I think back, realizing that it would be very hard for anything to get close enough to a mockingjay to injure it that severely. The birds were known for keeping their distance, getting close enough to listen to what you were singing but far enough away that you couldn't capture it, or injure it. And they were speedy little things too, having genetically engineered parents made for spying ensures altered muscles for a quick getaway. Any mockingjay with that amount of scarring would be a rare bird indeed.
Gale interrupts my thoughts as he says "Besides it's there in all the videos ever shown of District Thirteen, even the one supposedly shot three months ago. If you look closely you can see that the reporter has been edited into the same old video, mockingjay and all."
Amazed and still very tired from the meds I nod distractedly, saying "Hey Haymitch, could you tell someone to get me something to eat, and some more pain medication?"
"Sure thing sweetheart," he says chuckling to himself as he heads for the door, winking at me before closing the door behind him.
I wince, realizing he had mistakenly thought that I just wanted to be alone with Gale. Although that wouldn't be such a bad thing I think, smiling a little.
"Hey Gale? Why did you come and get me?" I ask looking down at my hands through my lashes "From the way Haymitch was talking it seems like everyone advised you against it"
"Why do you think?" He asks, not giving me time to answer before capturing my mouth with his. The kiss was everything our first hadn't been. Passionate, hot and demanding. Soulful and yearning. Sweet and tender. Without volition, I found my lips parting. His tongue darted into my open mouth, tangling with mine. He was all I'd ever dreamed a man could be. He showed me why he had saved me, how much he loved me, how much he had missed me and I found myself leaning in for more, following him when he started to withdraw. I might have forgotten my injuries completely but he remembered, which was why, I figured, as his body hardened next to mine, he had the good sense to end the spontaneous embrace.
"I love you Catnip, I have for a long time now." He whispers onto my lips before completely extricating himself from our embrace, sitting back, looking at me cautiously, waiting for my reaction.
He had given me his heart, had everything on the line, waiting for me to either break his heart or give him mine in return. I knew what my answer was going to be with no hesitation. This was Gale, my best friend, my confidante, my love.
I leaned forward slowly grabbing his shoulders and roughly pulling myself back into his arms and catching his lower lip with my lips, i continued the kiss where it had left off, i don't know how long we sat there before he pulled back to breathe "I'm guessing that was an 'I Love You too,'" He whispers happily into my ear.
Looking into the grey eyes I'd known for years, smiling through the happy tears that where filling my eyes, i nodded, unable to speak, feeling like my heart was going to burst. As I leaned into him, his arms came around me, and I felt safer than I'd felt since my father died. I was finally home.
A/N Please R&R even if you hated it! Thank you again to those who reviewed the first chapter, i really appreciated it! To those who might have noticed, I used Katniss's original reactions to finding out about district thirteen, because i felt that i couldnt give her a better reaction than the original. I know its a bit weird for her to question the existence of district thirteen even when she's on their hovercraft but i wanted to stick to the story. :) hope you liked it.
P.S. Once again Anonymous reviews are allowed :)