Author's note: Again, I thank you for the reviews and I thank you more for reading. I hope I'm doing Suzanne Collins's characters justice. I speculated the time it would take to travel between districts by looking at a map of Panem and using Google maps. I hope it's accurate. I approximated it by seeing how long it would take by car. I've never ridden on a train for much longer than a few minutes.

Feel free to tell your friends. Tell your enemies, too. I don't discriminate. (lol) Or just keep it to yourself and hoard the awesome. (Or the mediocre, if you see it that way.)

Happy reading!

Chapter Ten

Gale slept fitfully that night. He got up in the early hours of the morning and moved to his bed, but that didn't do much to help. He still fretted about Annie and Finn.

As he got ready for work the next morning, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong that day. He called Annie's house as soon as he got to his office. Finn answered.

"Hey, buddy. How are you this morning?" He asked.

"Fine. Mom's not up yet. I think it's because today's Dad's birthday. She usually gets a bit worse on his birthday."

"You gonna be okay to get to school?"

"Yes."

"Go straight there. When you get out of school, call me at work."

"I don't have the number."

"Do you have a pen and paper to take it down?"

After a moment, he said, "Yeah, go ahead."

He gave him the work number and had the boy read it back. "You keep that close and call me. Promise?"

"Promise."

"Make sure you get to school. Don't be late. Today's important."

"I know."

"And tell your mom good-bye."

He mumbled, "Okay. Bye, Gale."

"Bye, Finn. Call me."

"Okay."

They hung up and Gale hurried off to his first meeting. He was distant in all his meetings, guzzling his coffee and thinking more about Annie's well-being than the current topic of more reconstruction to the Capitol. There were still, ten years later, some damage that had been left to do at a later date. And that later date was now, the government had decided.

Why this was an issue here was that they'd been working painstakingly to deactivate and remove some of the pods still guarding the place. They had all been shut off, but were still dangerous. The streets that held them were avoided at all costs.

The final pods had been discovered and taken down only weeks before. There were still some, even after all that had happened, who thought Snow could do no wrong. They still caused some trouble, writing threatening letters and making calls. So they were also putting together some guard teams to watch over the reconstruction.

"Hawthorne, is there something more important than this situation?" Commander Cabot asked from her seat at the head of the meeting. She'd been watching him all day and had finally grown tired of that distant, worried look on his face.

"No, ma'am." He said.

"Then do you have any suggestions?"

"I think everything seems in order."

"Good." She turned back to the man who had been speaking before she interrupted Gale's thoughts, "Proceed."

As he went on, Gale tried to pay attention, but there was still something that nagged him with worry about his friend so far away. How was she doing? Had she moved from her bed at all?

After the meeting, Cabot asked Gale to come to her office. She sat down behind her desk and motioned for him to have a seat in front of her. "You work too hard, Hawthorne."

"Too hard, ma'am?"

"When was the last time you took a day off? A complete day off?"

He thought about it a moment before he said, "Well, I suppose not since I was at the Capitol in February."

"Is there something worrying you?"

He looked at her for a moment before saying, "I just have some personal issues."

"Do you need to take a few days and deal with it? God knows you deserve it."

He breathed out a sigh, "Actually, that would be great."

Cabot smiled, "I'm giving you three days. And you should take your Sunday off as you are usually supposed to but haven't been. I don't expect to see you here before next Wednesday. And if you need extra time, call. You've hardly taken any time off since you came here and I was just a soldier at your side."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Dismissed, Hawthorne."

He stood. "Yes, ma'am." He walked out of the room and into his office and stared gathering his things. He would take some paperwork with him anyway to keep on the top of things.

The phone rang. Gale looked up at his clock as he picked it up. "Finn?" he asked. He could hear the worry in his own voice. What would the boy say?

"Hi."

"Hey, how was your day?"

"Good, I guess. Everyone kept watching me all day after they made the announcement about Dad's birthday. And my math teacher sent me into the hall for no reason."

"I'm sorry, buddy. Did your mom get up?"

"No. She's still in bed."

"Did you try talking with her?"

"Yeah, but she didn't even roll over to look at me."

He took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to come there for a few days."

He brightened, "Really?"

"Yeah, really. I've got to call and see about the next train, but I'll be there tomorrow sometime. I'll call when I know for sure."

"That's great. Maybe it will help."

"I hope so. I've been worried about both of you today. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"Good. Put your mom on the phone."

"She won't talk, Gale."

"Just bring her the phone."

"Okay. Here she is."

"Annie?" Gale said softly. "Annie, it's Gale."

He got no response, but he could hear her breathing softly.

"I'm going to come see you for a few days, okay? Just stay strong."

She whispered, "It's so hard."

"I know. Just be strong for a few more hours and I'll be there. Okay?"

She didn't say anything.

Finn got back on the phone. "She's nodding."

"Good. I'm calling the train station right now and I'll let you know."

"Hurry, Gale." The boy sounded suddenly desperate.

"I will, buddy."

He called the train station.

"I need a ticket for the next train to District 4."

The man who answered the phone said, "We have one leaving in two hours."

"Fantastic. I'll take it. About how long will the trip be?"

"About eight hours, sir."

"So that would put me there at about one in the morning?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, then." He gave his information to the man on the other line and then hurried home. He called Finn to let him know what's going on. "I'll just have to find somewhere to stay the night. There's no need in me wandering around in the wee hours of the morning in a strange District."

"Are you good with directions?" the boy asked.

"I am."

"Then let me tell you how to get here from the train station. There's no need for you to stay somewhere for just a few hours."

"Okay." He laughed and then listened intently as Finn told him how to get from the train station to their home in the Victors Village. Gale repeated it back.

"I'll leave the porch light on so you know."

"Okay. Good. I'll see you in the morning, Finn."

Then he called Katniss's house. Peeta picked up.

"Hey, Peeta. Is Katniss home?"

"She's still out hunting."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to District 4 for a few days to see about Annie and Finn. Could you let her know?"

"Yeah, sure. Katniss told me about Finnick's birthday."

"Yeah. Finn called me this afternoon and told me Annie hasn't left her room all day."

"You take good care of her, Gale. She needs it." He paused, "I know that you lost out on Katniss, but… No, that came out wrong. Annie needs someone as steady as you. She's never been stable. But we watched her over the years, looked after her and Finn, because Finnick helped us. He helped Katniss. Annie's never been well since he died. So take care of her."

"I plan on it."

"I'll let Katniss know. And if you need anything, call us."

"I will. Thank you." He hesitated. He really needed to get to the station, but he had something else he wanted to say. "You've been good for Katniss."

"We've been good for each other, I think."

"Good. Now I really have to go. I'll talk to you later, I guess."

"Really?"

He chuckled, "You never know. In another life we could have been friends."

"You don't think we can be now?"

"You were always a better man than me, Peeta. Kinder to others." He admitted softly. "Good-bye." He hung up before Peeta could respond.

Gale quickly packed a small bag and then headed out the door to the station. He was able to board the train not much later. He settled in to the long ride. He hugged his bag to his chest and looked out the window.

As the train rumbled down the tracks, he thought about what Finn was doing. Was he all right? He wished he could talk to the boy again. Would he be able to sleep tonight?

With the rocking of the train, Gale's eyes started drooping. His lack of proper sleep the previous night was finally getting to him. He allowed himself to sleep for the rest of the journey.