"Gale." His name rolled off my tongue and into the air. The last time I had said his name directly to him, he was being yanked into a hovercraft and beaten down by Seneca Crane. Now, here he was. Right in front of me. With a gun pointed at my chest.

His eyes narrowed and he waived the gun. "Don't say my name, traitor." He spat.

I swallowed hard. "We're both traitors, Gale. You have to know that deep somewhere inside and-"

"SHUT UP!" He screamed and jabbed the gun into my chest. My breath caught in my throat and I took a small step backwards. His eyes were dark and filled with... hate. Gale hated me. "Just, shut the hell up! I am nota traitor!" He said with viciousness.

"Gale," I began as calmly as my weak voice could muster. "Even before we were in the games, you didn't side with the Capitol."

He shook his head slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. "I was never in the games. What the hell are you talking about?"

"What?" I gasped. "Gale, you were in the games with me and Katniss and Peeta."

His anger was fading to confusion. He lowered his gun for a moment and I had time to gather my thoughts. Gale didn't think he was in the games. What did that mean? Had they wiped away his entire memory? Or maybe, they had just wiped away his memory of the games. I had to find out.

"What do you know about me?" I asked him, gripping the edges of my shirt.

His eyes glanced up and met mine. "I know you're a dirty, fifthly traitor."

I swallowed. "What else?"

He closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, he whispered his words. "You helped me once." Then I watched as he lifted the gun back up. "But if I had known you were going to morph into a rebel back then, I would've never let you near me!" He yelled, his voice picking back up and the anger returning to his face.

"I helped you after you were caught outside of the district hunting!" I practically cried.

He laughed a cruel laugh. It was sharp and made my skin feel cold. "Don't try to trick me, you brat. I fell out of a tree inside of the district and you carried me to the hospital."

I wanted to scream. Nothing was making sense. He remembered me but the memory had been changed. Everything had been changed. "Gale," I pleaded softly. "Please, just...remember. The Capitol aren't the good guys here. The rebels are."

He narrowed his eyes. "You can't confuse me. Every word out of your tiny mouth is a lie!" He hurled his words at me and gripped the gun tighter, his finger near the trigger.

I was already exhausted. Peeta had been right. I hadn't known the extent of the damage done to Gale. And with my father gone, and this horrible version of Gale before me, I didn't see the point anymore. I didn't see the point of living. My father would always be dead. Gale would never return to normal and chances were, we would get captured and killed by the Capitol. They clearly knew where we were hiding. I felt myself let go of the last strand of hope I had been holding within myself. Because really, there was no hope.

"I will shoot you if you don't-" Gale began.

"THEN SHOOT ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "I don't care! Don't you get it? I don't care if I die or not so just shoot me, dammit!"

Gale didn't lower his gun. But he didn't shoot me either. Instead, he stared at me with a lost expression written all over his face. Just then, someone came up behind me and shoved me into the wall of the staircase. I shrieked and turned around just in time to watch Finnick shoot some kind of arrow into Gale's leg. Gale passed out to the ground immediately.

"Before you freak out, don't worry. It just puts him out for an hour. That's all we need." Finnick said before I could even open my mouth. Then his hand was on my shoulder. "Are you alright? I heard Gale's voice and so I grabbed this on my way over." He pointed to the gun-like object in his hand.

I was shaking uncontrollably and breathing hard but I managed to nod my head. I wasn't alright, though. I hadn't been alright in days. I would never be alright again. A few others joined us on the staircase. Haymitch and Peeta.

Peeta pulled me into a hug as Haymitch and Finnick picked up Gale's body and lifted him down the stairs. "What just happened, Madge?" He whispered into my ear before pulling away.

I shook my head. "I... I don't know. There was a knock on the door and it was Gale and..." I couldn't get my words out. My legs felt like Jello and my heart was racing uncontrollably.

Peeta nodded and ran his hand up and down my arm. "It's okay. It's okay, Madge."

But it wasn't okay. And when Haymitch ran back over to us, I could tell he knew it wasn't okay as well. He looked at us and then said quickly, "We need to get the hell out of here."

I knew this much. If the Capitol had sent Gale, they knew where we were. "Why did they send Gale alone? If they knew where we were, they could've easily came and captured us."

Haymitch sighed. "Well, the Capitol plays on people's weakness. They knew it would hurt us more if they sent Gale to come capture us. They know we won't kill him. They also know he won't be able to drag us to the Capitol. They plan to get us eventually. But they want to rattle us with Gale first. Maybe as a warning that they are watching. Plus, they wanted Gale to believe that he wasn't in trouble but he is. He's a rebel too and they haven't forgotten that, even if he has."

I ran a finger through my hair but was disappointed when I remembered it was short. "Haymitch, he doesn't think he was in the games. And the only memory we've shared before the games, when we were younger. he remembers it in a way that's far from the truth."

Haymitch nodded. "My guess is that they wiped his short-term memory. He definitely doesn't remember the last few weeks in any way, shape, or form. And his memory from when you were kids, he's subconsciously changed the memory to make it fit what he's been told by the Capitol. He refuses to believe it in the way that it actually happened so therefore, he alters the content of the memory."

"He doesn't want to remember it the way it happened, so he doesn't." I stated, finally understanding.

Haymitch nodded. "Exactly. They've dropped off Gale in this form on purpose. They want to destroy us emotionally before physically."

Peeta leaned into the wall. "So, where do we go from here? We can't stay here, obviously."

"No, we can't." Haymitch replied vaguely.

I rolled my eyes. "Just spit it out, Haymitch. Where are we going?"

He rolled his eyes back at me and then after a long pause, he finally responded. "A little place we like to call... District Thirteen."

I found myself snorting. "District Thirteen doesn't exists. It was destroyed years ago."

Haymitch replied dryly. "Well, clearly, it wasn't or we wouldn't be going there. We leave in half an hour." He turned around then and walked away from us but I wouldn't have it. So, I caught up to him.

"If thirteen does exists, why didn't we go there straight out of the arena?"

Haymitch rolled his eyes at the sight of me. "Don't you ever go away?" We didn't go right away because we wanted Gale. Now we have Gale. Plus, we wanted to make sure it was the best option for us."

"Is this place safe? Are they on the rebels side?"

"They are definitely not on the Capitol's side, that's for sure." Haymitch mumbled as he walked faster so I couldn't keep up with him. I was young and strong and right back by his side in a matter of seconds, however.

"Why were we led to believe our entire lives that thirteen didn't exists?"

Haymitch swore to himself and stopped walking abruptly, whipping around to face me. "Why do you think, Madge? To make sure the Captiol still appeared strong. Stronger than any of the districts. But clearly, there are cracks in their armor. Now, leave me alone! There is too much to do and not enough time." He practically ran away from me, racing into his bedroom before slamming the door shut.

Kyler happened to be on the other side of the door and wore a confused expression as he stepped closer to me. "What was that about?"

I sighed. "Haymitch hates me. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Kyler smirked and cocked his eyebrows. He had his arms crossed in front of his chest and the muscles in his arms were more defined because of this. "How could anybody hate you? You practically bleed sunshine and rainbows."

I rolled my eyes and let out a short laugh. "I just gave Gale permission to kill me. I'm not exactly the symbol for optimism at the moment."

Kyler waved this off with his hand like it wasn't a big deal. "I tell people to kill me all the time. No worries!" He exclaimed dramatically.

I couldn't help but laugh. He refused to take anything seriously. I tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. "Did you hear that we are going to District Thirteen?"

He nodded. "I can't even fathom what exciting adventures await us." He replied dryly.

"Five minutes ago, I didn't even know thirteen existed and now, we're going to live there? I shouldn't be surprised. I keep getting hit with curve ball after curve ball."

Kyler's eyes locked with my own and I saw that smirk again. "Join the club." He whispered, while leaning forward on the tips of his toes. With that, he walked away.

I stood in the hallway a moment longer, perplexed by this boy who was nothing like Peeta but yet, shared his blood. Somebody in the hall pushed me and pulled me out of my own mind. There was no time for this. We had a rebellion to start, apparently.

I fell asleep on the hovercraft ride over to thirteen with a scowl on my face. This is what Haymitch and Finnick had been keeping from us? An entire district that was supposed to be destroyed years ago was still alive and thriving? And apparently, it was entirely underground. I could barely even look at Finnick when we stepped onto the hovercraft.

I awoke to the sound of the engine cutting off and the hovercraft landing softly. Everybody was lining up to shuffle down the long and terrifying steps that led to District Thirteen. They had to carry Gale's limp body down the steps.

Peeta was in front of me as we slowly made our way down. I had failed to save his family. I had failed my one attempt at bringing him back to me. Peeta was so close to me but yet, he felt so far away. So completely out of reach. I wanted this all to end.

"What do you think it will be like?" I whispered to him.

To my surprise, he didn't ignore me. He shrugged. "Nothing like District Four, that's for sure."

"Do you really think we should trust these people?" I said close to his ear as we kept walking.

"I don't know who to trust, Katniss." He said with an exhausted sigh.

I swallowed hard. There it was. The implication that he couldn't trust me. He still hated me. Yes, I had lied to him in the arena when I told him I would let him die for me. Why was it so wrong for somebody to mean so much to me, that death seemed more manageable than a life without them? Why was I being punished for that?

"I didn't go to get Gale so you can stop being mad at me now." I said with anger.

He turned around to face me and stopped walking down the steep steps. "Only because Gale came to us first. You had every intention of going to get him."

I crossed my arms over my chest. I wanted to retort with something smart but instead, my lips moved without my permission. "I miss you." I admitted weakly, desperately.

Peeta lifted his hand up and rested it on my cheek for a long moment. I placed my own hand over it and breathed in his warmth, his touch, his everything. He swallowed hard and said in a strangled voice. "You know I miss you too."

"Then why aren't we friends again?" I whispered.

Peeta closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, he gripped the stairwells railing before replying. "I don't know... I feel... I feel numb, Katniss." His eyes locked on my own and were painted with colors of misery that I couldn't even fathom having to feel.

Peeta had lost his father and his oldest brother. His mother was still missing and probably dead. Rue was dead. Madge's father was dead. Everybody was dying all around him and there I was, diving into the ocean of death itself. I was going to die so he could live in the arena. I was going to go on a risky mission to save Gale. He couldn't handle losing me. So he pulled away from me, he pulled as far as possible, even though it destroyed him to do so. Because maybe then, it would hurt him a little less when I got myself killed with my recklessness.

"Peeta," I began, my mouth hanging open as I searched for words.

Someone coming down the steps behind me nudged me. "Let's move it, Katniss." Kyler mumbled from the step above me.

I whipped around to glare at him and he held his hands up. "Sorry." He said quickly.

By the time I turned back around, Peeta had moved. He was traveling down the last of the steps and walking out into a hallway. With a sigh, I continued down the steps as well.

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. We were given a tour, shown our rooms, and were told about how things worked in thirteen. Every citizen of thirteen must abide by a strict schedule that is printed on your forearm everyday by some machine. Prim and Gale's brothers and sister would be going to school because of their age. I rolled my eyes when the lady giving us the tour noted that sticking to these schedules was of utmost importance. We'll see about that, I thought.

We were given the day off because we were new and had arrived late anyways. Gale was placed in a small, white room with glass surrounding it. I didn't like the idea of watching him through glass, like he was some sort of an animal, but it was important that we could keep an eye on him. Somewhere between pacing the halls and twirling with my fingers out of boredom, I decided to visit him.

Shoving my shaking hands into my pockets, I walked towards his glass room that was tucked far away from any of the other rooms. When I reached it, I noticed there was speakers built into a part of the glass so we could still communicate with him. When he came into my line of vision, he was sitting on his bed, wearing a scowl. Spotting me, his scowl only grew. He crossed his arms over his chest and began to speak. I heard his voice through the speaker.

"What the hell are you doing here, Four?" He growled.

"I have a name." I said calmly.

He snorted. "Yeah. Rebel." He practically spat the word at me.

I found myself smiling because a thought occurred to me in that moment that hadn't before. "Nobody ever asked me, you know. If I wanted to be a Rebel, if I wanted to start a war with the Capitol but yet, here I am. Thrown right into the middle of it all."

Gale watched me carefully, his expression changing often. One moment, he appeared on the verge of killing me with only his eyes. The next moment, his anger would fade to annoyance. And sometimes, his look was simply a look of confusion. "I'll pretend to believe that for the sake of this stimulating conversation." He mumbled. "If you did have a choice, what would you have done?"

"Died in the arena like I had planned to do." I answered honestly. I found it oddly easy to talk to Gale when he was in this state. I felt like I could be so much raw and real with him now that he thought of me as a monster, which wasn't far off from what I thought of myself.

Gale rolled his eyes. "Don't play the pathetic, innocent little girl in this. You wanted this rebellion."

I shook my head. "Honestly, I have no idea what I wanted. Or what I even want right now."

Gale's glare returned. "Well, I want you dead."

I found my lips working on their own accord. "Me too, sometimes. Not all the time. But... sometimes."

"You want to be dead, Undersee told me to shoot her. None of you really care what the hell happens to you." He said this as a statement, his eyebrows furrowed. He glanced up at me then. "Why?" He demanded. "Why don't you care?"

I shrugged. "I don't know why, Gale. I just...you can only care for so long before you're just too damn exhausted, too drained of emotion and determination to care. I'm just too tired. We are all just so tired."

"Well, then you better wake up because it's only just beginning." He said through gritted teeth. "You can lock me away in this room and psychoanalyze me but I'm still killing every single one of you once I deliver you to the Capitol."

I couldn't help myself but speak the truth. "The Capitol could not possibly care less about you, Gale. They want you to believe they are on your side but they're not. You're a rebel too and-"

"Dammit, stop that!" He stood to his feet, screaming his words at me, his face red with rage. "Stop trying to spin this around and make me believe that you're the good guys just because I see you all for what you really are; pathetic, lonely, low-life traitors! I know the truth!"

"No, you have no idea what the truth is!" I found myself yelling back.

Gale charged towards me and slammed his fist into the glass wall between us. I jumped as the walls rattled and shook, the sound of the impact echoing through the air. "You're just angry because you can't hide any longer, Katniss. Do you even understand the impacts of fighting the Capitol? How many innocent people will die because of it?"

"Think about how many innocent children die in the games, Gale!" I practically cried. "You can't justify that, can you?"

He didn't even blink. He responded with ease. "That's as a reminder to the districts that-"

"That what?" I screamed. "That all of this is sick and twisted and wrong?"

Gale backed away from the wall then, grabbing a fist full of his hair as he did so. When he turned back around, his face was red again. He shook his head at me. "Get out of my face, Rebel."

"With pleasure." I spat before turning on my heel and marching to my bedroom. I slammed the door as I did so, catching the attention of both my mother and Prim.

"Are you okay?" Prim asked me.

I sighed and nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, that's all."

"Maybe you should take a nap." She said, leading me over to my bed. I smiled at my little sister and sat down on the thin, cheap mattress. She pulled off my shoes and pulled my legs up onto the bed. She tugged the comforter up and over my shoulders before placing a kiss on my cheek. "Just sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."

I laughed. "I love you, Prim." Was all I managed to say before my eyes closed and I drifted off.

Dinner was served at six o'clock sharp. No second helpings. No saving food. You got what you got and you ate it. That was that. I tried to hide my grimace when I was handed a tray with a chunk on meatloaf drowning in gravy and a small side of plastic looking carrots. I ate better in the arena, I thought to myself as I sat down next to Peeta at a small, round table.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss fish." Peeta said after he swallowed his first bite.

I groaned. "Is it that disgusting?" Peeta nodded. "What I wouldn't give for my mother's cooking right now." I said dreamily.

"Maybe she can work in the kitchen as her job." Peeta suggested.

I sighed. "They have her wearing some bracelet that exempts her from work because she's so sick. So, no kitchen duty for her. What about you?"

Peeta smiled at me and leaned in close to my ear. "Haven't you heard? Now that Gale is back, we are the Fantastic Six. Our job is to rally up the districts and start a war. Fun, huh?" He said dryly.

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. "Wait, who is the Fantastic Six?"

"Me and you, Katniss and Gale, Haymitch and Finnick. That's what people are calling us in the districts. Together, Coin believes we can start a revolution." He said dramatically and in a mocking tone.

Coin was the president of District Thirteen. So far, I had yet to meet her but from what I heard, she seemed like quite the character.

"Gale can not be part of this so-called Fantastic Six. He tried to shoot me this morning!" I tried to say this with a laugh but my laugh came out as more of a strangled cry and I coughed to cover it up.

Peeta shrugged. "He probably doesn't have to do anything. They can just keep showing his picture or something."

"I don't want to start a revolution." I grumbled as I wiped off some of the excessive gravy on my meatloaf.

"Haven't you noticed the trend? We don't have a choice in anything. It's been that way since the reaping."

"You had a choice though, volunteer." I reminded him.

Peeta shrugged and took a sip of water. "Besides that."

I smiled and then a tray slammed down next to me. I looked up to see Kyler, looking quite upset. I had to roll my eyes when he began to speak. "They practically slapped me when I asked if I could get seconds. You would think I asked them if I could murder one of them."

"Oh, don't worry. You don't want seconds. It taste like plastic." I said to him.

He sat down with a sigh and took a bite. His grimace had both Peeta and I laughing. "Well," He began, "I start work in the kitchen tomorrow so I come with the guarantee of better food."

Peeta rolled his eyes. "All you know how to make is fish."

I patted Peeta's hand with enthusiasm. "Perfect! You were just saying how much you miss fish!"

Kyler nodded his head at me. "Thank you for the support, Madge. And you know what? I'm going to find where they stash the chocolate and smuggle it through my pants."

"I doubt they even have chocolate. That sounds like a petty inconvenience for this place. Unless they can use chocolate to power one of their fancy machines, of course. " I said before taking another dreadful bite of my food.

We all laughed and I almost felt joy again. I almost felt okay, content, alright. But the burning sensation in my chest reminded of me all the truths I had tucked away; my father was dead, Gale was brainwashed and wanted me dead,I wanted myself dead. My laugh faded away and I glanced around the room out of nervousness.

I spotted Gale's family in a far back corner, eating alone. I hated what had happened to Gale but I couldn't imagine what Hazelle was feeling or how she was explaining it to her children. Before I knew what I was doing, I jumped up from the table and made my way towards them.

Hazelle glanced up at me and she smiled softly. "Madge! How nice to see you."

"Madge!" Little Posy shrieked before racing towards my side and hugging my legs tightly. I ruffled her hair and ticked her side for a moment. She giggled and took a step back, placing her hands behind her back and swaying on her feet in this adorable manner.

"And these are my boys, Rory and Vick." Hazelle pointed to the two young kids at the table and I waved at them awkwardly. They nodded their heads at me, signaling their greeting.

She stood up from the table and pulled me to the side. She leaned in and asked me in a hushed whisper. "How are you? I know you were the one...you were there when Gale arrived this morning." She was trying so hard not to ask the real question. How are you after my son tried to kill you?

I smiled and crossed my arms over my chest just to do something with my shaking hands. "I'm fine. It's been a long day but I'm fine."

She nodded and licked her lips. "I visited him earlier. He... he was upset with me because I was living in the bomb shelter. He's upset that I'm not on the Capitol's side, I guess. He still knows who I am, thankfully. He still loves me... he's just...confused."

I nodded my head slowly. "He remembers his past. Just not the games. And not anything that would reflect his negative attitude on the Capitol. He changed those memories to make them fit into his new idea about the Capitol."

Hazelle sighed. "Can we change these ideas back?"

"I don't know." I answered honestly. "But we have to do something because I'm not going to watch him sit in that room and plan my death."

Hazelle pulled me into a warm hug then. Her arms wrapped around my shoulders and I leaned into her. She smelled like home still. In the way that Gale always did in the arena. At the thought of Gale and arena, I remembered something he had said once. It was right before we tried to fight the careers with Rue as our distraction. The subject of love had come up as we watched Katniss and Peeta sleep.

"My parents love each other." I had said.

"Mine too."

This implied that his father was still alive but if that was the case, where was he? I had only then noticed that it was only Hazelle and the children. I wanted to ask but it felt rude. Instead I pulled away from the hug with a smile. "I'll let you get back to your dinner."

It was later, when I found myself tossing and turning in bed, that my feet began to drag me towards Gale's room. I wasn't sure what I would say to him or what I even wanted to say to him. How did I fix this? How did I make him see the truth? It seemed hopeless.

But so did winning the games. I mean, I guess I didn't technically win but I could have. I defeated the strongest and most lethal career there was. I outsmarted the others when I made that trap for Marvel. I learned how to use a sling-shot. If I could do all that in a few weeks, surely I could get through to the boy who confessed his love for me.

Gale was awake when I took the slow and steady steps up to the glass. He was pacing the room and when he spotted me, he walked towards me, leaning his hands on the glass. He looked more exhausted than angry. I know how he felt. I was never not exhausted.

"Hey, Gale." I said softly.

His voice was hoarse through the speaker. "Why won't you people ever leave me alone?"

I let out a sigh. "I wish I could."

"You all come here and tell me all these things that I'm just supposed to believe." He said quietly, his eyes on the ground before him. "But I have no reason to trust you. Any of you. You betrayed your country."

"A country that needs to be betrayed." I said with a fierceness I had forgotten I had. "I know your mind is probably flooded with things and words that make you believe otherwise but, Gale, Panem is not a happy place. Children are dying. And for what? So the Capitol can appear to be in control? It's wrong. You know it's wrong. You've just forgotten."

He shook his head slowly then glanced up to meet my eyes. "Why do you even care about me? I'm just some boy from your district."

I wanted to laugh because if he was just a boy from my district, all of this would've been so much simpler. But he was more than that. "No." I said with a small smile. "You're not. You mean the world to me, Gale. And if you could just remember the past few weeks, you would see that." My words were soft and weak. I began to walk away then, figuring our conversation was over. It was Gale's voice that brought me back, however.

"You told me to shoot you earlier."

I stopped walking and spun back around. "Yes." I agreed. "I did."

He squinted his eyes at me. "I still don't understand why."

"Because I've lost everything, Gale." I said, my voice cracking. "And seeing you there, trying to kill me... it made me realize that I've truly lost you as well. Good night."

I turned back around to walk again and this time, he didn't stop me.

A/N: Yeah, okay. This chapter is kinda/sorta a filler and I'm sorry about that. It's really hard to pace this story so I'm trying my best. This story takes place in district 13 like Mockingjay and they will make propos and have talks of a war and all that good stuff but I assure you, this IS NOT Mockingjay. It may be similar but yet, very different. Let me know what you all think now that Gale is back! Will he come around? One minute he seems just confused and the next, he's freaking out. Poor guy.

P.S- Can I get a holler for the rebels; The Fantastic Six? You can bet Gale won't have any of that crap!

REVIEW AWAY!