Madge stops playing the piano when she hears her father rush out of his office, slamming the door behind him.

"What's going on?" She asks, standing up from the bench as her father walks by towards the front door.

"It's the new head peacekeeper. Stay here, it's dangerous in town right now," he replies while grabbing his coat and hurrying out the front door into the cold snow.

Madge wasn't stupid, she knew that something big was happening. She had been keeping an eye on the progress of the riots in the other districts through her dad's office and access to outside knowledge.

She knew that Katniss and Peeta's actions in the games were sparking a rebellion, the new addition of Thread was evidence of the President trying to silence any rebellious behavior. Whatever was going on the district right now, must be important.

She grabs her grey coat from the coatrack by the door and slips on a pair of shoes before running outside, completely ignoring her father's warning.

She hears screams and wails of pain as she gets closer to the town center. People are running every direction, trying to dodge the oncoming troops of peacekeepers that chase after them. Madge worries for the other parts of the district, this was just the town, and it was in an uproar.

As Madge worries for the district, she sees troops of peacekeepers running down the path into the Seam and to the Hob. She can see fire from a distance and her heart stops in panic. Gale's family is there. Are they safe?

Gale and Madge aren't that close, but when Peeta and Katniss went into the games they formed their own sort of alliance.

Madge didn't have anyone to talk to since two of her only friends were both thrust into the Hunger Games. Gale was lonely as well, and somewhere between Madge visiting Prim and Gale delivering game, they came to respect each other, and would often talk whenever they were lonely.

Madge is about to run down to the Seam right away and check on Gale and his family, but her thoughts are interrupted by a loud crack sound coming from the center of town.

In her worry Madge turns quickly and runs to the town square, her footfalls a quiet contrast to the cries of the citizens.

She approaches a large group of people surrounding something and as she stands on her toes to see farther, she knows something is wrong. She can't quite see over the heads of the people, but she hears the cries of a man followed by another smack. Her chest fills with worry and her heartbeat quickens. Perhaps it's Peeta? Has the capitol decided to punish him and Katniss?

She tries to make her way forward through the crowd.

"You don't want to be going there," a voice calls to her.

Madge turns to see Rooba the butcher approaching her from the side. She delivers the news that causes Madge's heart to skip a beat.

"It's the hunter boy, he was caught with a turkey." Rooba's eyes were remorseful and filled with sadness.

Madge doesn't wait around to hear Rooba continue to speak. She pushes past the crowd and fights against the backs of the onlookers seeing Gale's punishment.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that she sees.

Gale is tied to the whipping post, passed out with his exposed back ripped open from the brutal lashes. From the number of marks Madge guesses that it was somewhere between 15 and 20 lashes.

In that moment Madge only has time to feel. Seeing him tied up and broken makes her feel something for him that is strong. It comes as a sudden realization.

Maybe it was born during those days of comfortable silence when they just sat together. Or when he took her out to the woods and they talked about their shared hatred for the Capitol and also about a possible rebellion. Or maybe it was when they discussed her dream of democracy and Gale looked at her like she wasn't that snobby rich girl he always thought her to be.

Madge doesn't think about she'll do next. Instead, she steps out in front of the boy who has already struggled through so much pain, the boy who has the biggest and most loving heart in the district, and blocks the whip from hurting Gale even more time.

"Stop it! You'll kill him!" She cries out. But the whip instead comes slashing down on her and rips open her cheek. It burns, but she continues to hold her ground against Thread.

She thinks she hears a panicked cry from the crowd, he father maybe. But her mind is hazy with fear and her body is shaking.

The entire crowd is silent in that moment, a painful silence that leaves Madge's ears ringing.

"Step back girl," Thread warns as he winds his arm back again, ready to strike her down to get to Gale. "This boy needs to be punished."

Madge is terrified, but she feels that maybe this is what she is supposed to do. She is tired of sitting around, watching as the capitol tears down all who struggle to survive.

She may not be The Girl on Fire, and she may never get to tell Gale how she feels about him, but courage runs in her family. Maybe she'll go down with bravery, just like her aunt did. Madge crouches down to protect Gale. She closes her eyes to accept the pain.

But the whip never cracks.

"Hold it!"

When she opens her eyes, she watches as Haymitch runs through the crowd and comes to pull her up to her feet.

"You okay sweetheart?" He asks, his eyes full of worry.

Madge's eyes are watering and she gestures to Gale who is still shaking in and out of consciousness on the post.

"I'll take care of this, stay here by him."

Madge kneels by Gale and brushes his hair a little bit. He stirs underneath her hands and Madge can feel her heat start to beat again and she relaxes.

Maybe he'll be okay.

"Undersee?" He mumbles out.

"Hey, yeah, it's me. You're going to be okay. You're going to be just fine." Her voice cracks as she whispers.

Gale seems to fall back into unconsciousness yet again and Madge looks up when she hears feet approaching.

Katniss reaches Madge first, behind her is Peeta. Katniss looks towards Madge with a confused expression.

"What was that about? Why did you save him?" She asks.

Madge is too shaky and anxious to explain. "He's my friend too." Is all she says before reluctantly standing up and letting Katniss reach for Gale.

She shares a brief glance with Peeta, and Peeta looks at her like he understands.

Meanwhile, she can hear Haymitch arguing with Thread.

"Don't you know who that is? That's the mayor's daughter, and I don't think he'll be too happy that you've messed up his daughter's pretty face."

Thread rests his hands on his hips. "She interfered with the punishment of a criminal."

"I don't care what she did. I saw her father run off a minute ago and I'm sure he is already making a call to the capitol about this."

Thread looks cornered, unsure of how to proceed. From that point on it's kind of a blur for Madge. A woman steps forward into the crowd, stating that Gale has clearly met his punishment, and then he's loaded onto a wooden plank and guided by Katniss and Peeta to the Victor's village.

"You might want to put some ice on that cheek, sweetheart."

Madge turns around to find Haymitch who has snuck up behind her.

"How can I help him Haymitch?" She asks desperately.

"Does your mom have some extra morphling?"

Madge nods quickly.

"The boy's going to need it."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this. Leave any suggestions because it prevents me from having writer's block!