THE FOLLOWING AUTHOR'S NOTE WAS WRITTEN PRE-MY MYSTERIOUS ABSENCE.
Author's Note: Thank you guys a bunch for the positive reviews! I really love hearing from you guys. Bad news, though, this story should only be a couple more chapters long. :( Don't worry, however, there will be a part two (just like the movies, I'm so clever, right?) coming at some point.
Anyway, enjoy.
/
Chapter Nine: Cradle Will Fall
The alarm is loud enough to bother Leah's ears, so she covers them and stays still. Gale's fingers have just made contact with Athena's, and his grey eyes catch her blue ones.
A moment later, they are in action. Gale has the door open and Athena has swept Leah up into her arms, carrying her out behind him. They walk the route to the bunker as quickly as possible, following the growing crowd of people.
There is panicked conversation as everyone tries to figure out why the alarm is blaring. Most of them seem to have agreed that it's simply a drill, but Athena doesn't believe it.
Then the first bomb hits above them.
Everyone falls silent as dust falls around them, and then there is an all-out panic.
People begin to scream as they run to the bunker, tripping and trampling each other in their rush.
Athena and Gale are two of the first people to make it to the bunker door. Athena ushers Leah inside.
"I have to go back and make sure everyone made it." Gale says, his hands on Athena's arms. She nods once.
"Be careful." He nods back and turns around, walking into the crowd like a salmon swimming upstream.
It feels like hours (but is probably only about thirty seconds) before Katniss rushes into the room, colliding with her mother.
"Where's Prim?" she asks.
"I thought she was with you!" Her mother answers. Athena turns.
"She went back for the cat." Katniss realizes. Athena knows it has to be true. Without another word, Katniss is running back for the stairs. Athena follows her without hesitation.
The two of them run up the stairs, Katniss yelling for Prim, and Athena following after her should she need anything.
"PRIM!" Katniss calls again right as Gale and Prim come running down the stairs together. Prim is gripping Buttercup tight to her chest.
There is a countdown overhead to when the doors will close and they are cutting it dangerously close. Katniss grabs onto her sister and Athena feels Gale right behind her. The four of them manage to slip in right at the last moment.
"What were you thinking?" Katniss yells, looking at her sister.
"I couldn't just leave him!" Prim answers. "He deserves to live too."
"Don't you ever scare me like that again." Katniss says, pulling her into a hug. Buttercup meows and drops to the ground.
"Athena." Gale says behind her.
"Gale." She turns and moves into his open arms. He pulls her into a hug that's tight to his body, crushing and comforting, and they stay like that for a few minutes.
/
The bombings have stopped, but they have been told to stay in the bunker for a while.
Katniss is entertaining most of the kids by teasing Buttercup with a flashlight. Gale and Athena lay in one of the bunks, fingers intertwined between them. Gale has been trying to convince her to sleep, but Athena is far from tired.
"This war is starting to get more and more real." Athena says quietly. Gale turns his head to look at her.
"It's always been real." He counters. She shrugs.
"Not in the bubble I've been living in with you." His eyes soften and she curls herself into his side. "I guess, in my mind, I figured we had more time until it really began, you know?"
"I know." He kisses the top of her head. "But we can't stop it now." She sighs and closes her eyes, relaxing.
/
The bombings have cleared and everyone has been permitted to return to their rooms. A small group of people, Katniss, Gale and Finnick included, have gone to the control room, ordered there by Coin.
Athena is doing a sweep of the bunker, to make sure nobody has left anything. She finds a couple of papers and a sweater, but nothing major. Carrying them up the stairs, she hears the sound of another pair of feet hitting the metal and a moment later Gale appears a few steps above her.
"Hey." He says, face breaking into a smile the second he sees her. She can't help but smile back, using her free hand to push back a piece of hair that's fallen out of her ponytail.
"Hi." She says. "How was your super secret meeting with Coin?"
"That's actually what I came to talk to you about." Gale steps down closer to her level. She steps up to meet him. Her eyebrows furrow and she reaches out for his hand.
"What happened?"
"They're sending in a rescue party for Peeta and the others." She is about to tell him that's great, but he continues. "And they wanted volunteers." He won't meet her eyes and she knows.
"I'm guessing you were the first to stand up." She says. He finally looks at her, expecting to see disapproval, but it's nowhere on her face.
"You're not mad." He says it as though it is the most relieving thing he's heard since the war started.
"Of course I'm not." Stepping closer to him, she takes his other hand. "She's your best friend. I know you would do anything for her, and that includes doing this for Peeta. You have to go." There's a heavy silence as they both think the same thing.
Suddenly, he reaches out for her, pulling her mouth to his. She lets go of his hands to put them around his neck and pull him closer. He has one large hand at the back of her head and one around her waist.
The fierce kiss isn't what it normally is; it's not to sneak in a moment of passion, for Gale to coax her to their room in a moment of boredom, for Athena to forget about her duties for a minute. No, it's a kiss where all the "I love you"s and stolen looks and moments of happiness of a lifetime spill against each other because they both know this could be their very last. They both know that if Snow catches him, he won't hold him hostage for Katniss. It's far too late in the game to play that move. He'll kill him without a moment's hesitation.
"I love you." He says when he pulls away. "I love you so much Athena." His forehead pushes into hers and she steadies herself with her hands on his forearms.
"I love you too, Gale." She responds, kissing him again.
They repeat it a few more times, trying to say it as often as they can before Gale starts to pull back and she knows he has to leave. He doesn't offer any parting words as he makes his way up the stairs. After a moment to catch her breath, Athena sprints up after him.
"Gale!" He's already halfway across the crowded main room, but hears her yell. She runs through people who part for her and throws her arms around him, kissing him once more. "Come back alive." Her words are pleading with him to fight for everything, for them, for a future.
"For you? Anything." The people around them make small noises that sound like the audible versions of smiles as he leans down to kiss her cheek. This time, when he walks away, she lets him, standing in the middle of a room where people have started moving again, repeating that sentence in her head.
For you? Anything.
/
Athena is standing in the control room, bent over Beetee's shoulder when Katniss comes in the room.
"I couldn't do it." She tells Haymitch. "Not with all the roses." They all nod in understanding in her general direction, as Finnick takes her place on camera.
"What's Finnick doing?" Athena asks as he begins to speak to the Capital's people.
"Distracting." Beetee answers her.
"Distracting from what?" Katniss asks. She turns in a full circle before asking, "Where's Gale?" She's asking Athena directly, expecting her to have the answer.
"A rescue team was sent for Peeta and the other Victors." Haymitch says. Athena comes to stand by her father, addressing Katniss.
"And guess who was the first to volunteer." There's a shakiness in her voice that she doesn't like at all. Katniss's eyes widen in understanding and she opens her mouth to respond, but no words come out.
Then the three of them turn to see Gale's face enlarged on the screen in front of them, flying towards what they all know could be his death.
