Here we are! Part eight! A little less angst... I think? Please give me feedback. I would love to hear it.
Gale watches. He watches her train leave for the Capitol. She leaves four weeks early. He knows it is because of him. The guilt becomes a coal dust he cannot wash off. He watches her greet her tributes in the Capitol. She does not return for the reaping. He watches them interview her. She far outshines the children. He watches them use her. Again. Again. Again. Their hands sink into her flesh like skinning knives. Their mouths find hers like arrows find targets. Every time. He hides his anger. It pulses beneath his skin.
His mother calls him crazy. He stops watching so much after that.
Life goes backwards. Everyone agrees without speaking that they will pretend Madge was just a bad dream. They do not ever mention her in front of Gale. Things are as they were months ago. Sundays are for hunting. Mining destroys the ground. The work destroys Gale. His back hurts too much to lift Posy anymore. She tries to understand. But her special light begins to leave her eyes. The broken pieces of Gale Hawthorne ache as they watch it.
"You loved her, didn't you?"
An arrow is pulled from the carcass of a squirrel. The sound cracks the air. He looks at Katniss. He takes the animal from her hand. His knife is true as it slices fur. Gale knows. Gale knows who she is talking about. But he plays dumb. He tries to ignore how his hand twitches at the thought of her.
"Who?"
Katniss would leave it alone. But she wants to know. Peeta Mellark asked her about it the other day. And it hasn't left her thoughts since. The big empty house in the Victor's Village calls to her in the dead of night.
"Madge Undersee."
The name comes out. It is covered in mud and spit and sweat and slander. That name means a million things to a million people. It only means good to few. Gale loves it. Gale misses it. Katniss can barely speak it.
His answer is immediate. Because it is the truth.
"Love is a big word."
That is all he says.
Things go back to normal. But, as always, his mind wanders down a path that only leads to her. She shoved photographs in his hand that day. He keeps them. One hides in the pocket of his mining uniform. Right over his heart. It is folded and crinkled. But she is there. There is no mistaking her. The others rest under the mattress. His father's broken mining pin keeps the photos company.
Some nights, his brothers fall asleep quickly. The light of the stars and the sound of the sky keeps Gale awake. And he takes Madge out. He flips through the blackmail. He relives the moments. A brush of the hand. A laugh.
And the next day, he catches a glimpse of her walking into a party on some snake's arm. Things look hopeless.
Things are hopeless.
Madge is a wreck. No one would know it. But Madge is a wreck. She arranges transport to the Capitol early. Snow is pleased. His message is louder than he thought. He enjoys the feeling of tightening her leash. Madge feels the collar dig into her flesh.
She works. They give her pills for everything here. They are her most precious possession. She is never far from a tiny silver capsule full of smaller white pills. The work is hard. The pills make each encounter less like death.
Finnick and Madge are magnets. They find each other. Always. But these games keep Finnick busy. His tribute did well until the end. One night, he finds her roaming the halls. She is a vision in black. Finnick says so. Then he sees her. Instead of just looking at her.
"Madge?" He asks again.
Her eyes are unfocused. Her hand skims the gently fabriced walls of the hallway. She is docile. Her entire body shakes. Her knees barely withstand the weight of her body.
But she smiles.
The makeup is plastered on her face. The team did well tonight. It is so flawless, so lovely, the crowds have no hope of knowing.
"How long have you been awake?"
There is tension in his voice. There is angst. He knows this look. He has been here before. Right after they took Annie. Madge leans against the wall. Her head lays carelessly in a pool of golden light. She cannot remember how many days. How many hours. She counts the clients. They are her only way of knowing that time has passed.
"Six days."
It has actually been seven. But neither of them know that.
"You can hardly walk-"
Finnick tries to reason with her. It is no use. The pill bottle is empty. She took their energy supplements. Their magic pulses through Madge's veins. Everything is a haze. But she cannot stop. Gale is back home. She has to know he is safe. She can't stop until she is safe. She has to prove to Snow her loyalty. Her eyes lose their cloud and her tongue sharpens for a moment.
"Then you'd better take my arm and help me into that bedroom, hadn't you?"
There is no room for refusal. Finnick slides his arm around her frame. The medicines they prescribe make her impossible thin. Brittle. Fragile. Energy courses through her veins. Finnick can feel it vibrate under her skin. Pulsate into his palm.
That is the beauty of a Capitol prescription. All of the whores get them. These little white pills keep the body awake and the mind just alert enough. But only enough to get the job done. Medicine can only do so much. Finnick knows she has a long night ahead of her. He opens her door. She finds her way to her bed.
"Thanks."
Madge barely breathes the word. Her back slackens. Her feet dangle from the bed's edge. Her hands pick idly in her lap. Any minute. Her appointments are always kept. She is surprised when Finnick stays. Even through days of drugs, she can register surprise.
"You can't keep doing this to yourself."
Haymitch muttered rumors of this behavior during the games. Said Madge was unhinged. Unstable. Something happened. Mentioned a boy. Finnick hopes he is wrong.
"Is that what they told you when you did this for Annie?"
Her tone is flatlined. It belongs to a recording, to a toy. It is emotionless. The drugs do that to a person. Finnick could run her through for that. Annie is off limits. She knows that. The violent receptors in his body twitch. His killer instinct gets thirsty. But he steps back. He breathes. Counts to three. Then ten.
And realizes that Haymitch was right. There is a boy.
"Oh, shit."
Finnick marvels. Humans just can't learn. He told her. He told her about Annie. He wanted her out of this when the debt was paid. He should have known that Snow would never let that happen. Madge's body continues its shaking. She has been on this energy medication for too long.
"They can't have Gale."
The air conditioning unit and Madge's thundering heart drown out her words. She turns and looks at her companion.
"They can't have him."
This medication is a medical miracle. It is popular in the Capitol. It's main focus is sheer energy boost. It is to keep the Victors awake long enough to watch the Games and service clients. But a side effect? Temporary memory loss. Finnick took it to forget Annie during his work in the Capitol. To wash away guilt.
But Madge remembers. Madge remembers this boy. Madge remembers why she is fighting. Seven days of drugs and men and abuse couldn't rip him from her mind.
Finnick looks at Madge for a long moment. And then, he smiles. It is a smile of waves and oceans and fish and knots. Because in Madge's eyes, Finnick sees something.
A young man in a mining uniform. Madge in a white cotton dress. Dancing. Laughing. A kiss.
In Madge's eyes, Finnick sees it all. And Finnick knows.
This story has a happy ending.
Please review! I cannot wait to hear what you all have to say about this one!
