"Gale!" I beam. How could I forget gale? He promised to get us home safe. I run to him and do as I did in the hovercraft, touch his face to assure he's real.
"Hey Catnip." He says, but stays put; arms crossed, staring at Peeta.
"Gale I-"
"Shhh." He interrupts. There's something… wrong about him. Something in his eyes. "I get it" he says, nodding towards Peeta. "Any chance to strip"
"What?"
"Don't you have a shirt?" he says. What's wrong with him? I thought he'd gotten over the whole Peeta thing.
"I don't think you're the one to be joking about losing a shirt" Peeta retaliates. "And anyway, what do you mean 'that's what I think' "
"About Katniss wanting the baby" He says. I feel my jaw drop, how… why… how could he know. Why would he say that? In front of Peeta. What's wrong with him? My head fills with questions and my jaw remains rigid.
"What?" Peeta's voice is riddled with confusion. I feel my face go scarlet.
"Go on Katniss. Tell him" Gale taunts.
"I… I don't know what you're talking about" I lie.
"Really. Because when I was up on that hovercraft I could hear everything you said. If you don't want to tell him, I'm happy to do it" I stay silent. I have no idea what to do.
"Fine." He sighs. There's a twisted happiness in his voice as he says "She doesn't want that baby." Everything stops in my head. I can't hear anything. Just white noise and nothingness.
"Katniss! Answer me! Katniss!" it's Peeta's voice that I hear first. Loud and worried, not angry, but almost.
"Katniss." He whispers, as if he's about to give up.
"Peeta. I"
"Look. She's clearly hiding it from you, she doesn't want that baby" Gale repeats. I shoot him a look.
"I wasn't sure. Earlier. I wasn't sure at all. But I am now… I do want this baby. I do want your baby." I tell him. I cup his face in my hands.
"Look in her eyes, Peeta. Do you trust her?" Gale taunts again. I break the gaze from Peeta's and stare at Gale straight on.
"What's with you? You said you would save me. You told me that you were going to get me home, safe. And now you come into the arena. And you… you try to get me worked up. You try and get Peeta worked up. Are you crazy?! What if he went insane? What if the hijacking came back?" Gale holds the stare for a while, he swallows.
"People change" That's it. That's what gets me. I clench my fist and punch him square in the jaw. It doesn't do much but baffle him for a while but I notice something when he swings his head to the left. An earpiece in his right ear. Ula. She's controlling him, manipulating him in some way. Before gale manages to retaliate, Peeta grabs both of his arms behind his back, leaving gale unable to move. I look into his grey seam eyes.
"Calm it, catnip. Honestly, what was that for?" He taunts.
"You gave me hope, and then took it away from me. That's enough to make anyone dangerous." I breathe. Then I grab the earpiece and rip it from his ear.
"YOU SEE THIS!" I shriek to the sky. "YOU SEE THIS ULA. YOU'VE GOT NOTHING. NO CONTROL AT ALL."

We take gale back to the cornucopia and give him some food and water. He tells us everything, the torture, the attempted hijacking; Ula tried anything that had a chance at working.
"I'm sorry Katniss. I could have ruined everything. I can't believe I said that."
"Don't worry." I tell him. "I shouldn't have said it"
"hmm." Gale murmurs.
"What?" I ask.
"Huh? Oh. I… It's nothing. I just. Well, I just couldn't imagine not wanting a child." He stutters. I look at my feet and think. He's right, come to think of it, he has always wanted a family. Maybe that's why he found comfort in Ula. She was everything he wanted, or at least he thought she was.
"So how are we going to get out?" I ask, quickly changing the subject.
"I'm not sure it'll work, but I think I have an idea…"
"Go on" Peeta, says. He, along with Haymitch and Cinna, has stayed silent for the entire conversation (probably because they find it awkward), until now. Now he seems to have an interest in what is being said. Gale looks to the sky.
"What time would you say it is?" He says
"About… 7, maybe 8 o'clock."
"Ok. Good. Ula will be asleep" I look at him, expecting answers. "She never sleeps when you'd expect. That way she can see and hear almost everything." He explains.
"Ah. Makes… sense. I guess. So what's the plan?"
"Well. You know that Ula tried to hijack me. what if she did… it just went a little wrong."
"Sorry, you lost me" Peeta says.
"Her aim is to keep you here as long as it takes for you to drive each other insane and kill one another. But if I… sped up the process. Not properly" He holds his hands up to assure us "just so it looks like it, she would probably come and take me from the arena. I could easily knock her out and take control over the hovercraft."
"Sounds a little far-fetched" Haymitch adds
"I don't see you coming up with a better idea" I say, defending the little hope I have for this plan.
"But we only have one shot at it" Cinna reminds us.
"I don't care. We're trying it." I tell them. "As long as you guys are in on it too." They exchange glances.
"I'm in" Peeta says.
"Me too" Cinna agrees. We all look at Haymitch. He doesn't say anything, but nods; which I guess is better than nothing.

The next morning I awake with anticipation. It's early, but I don't sleep in, and neither does Peeta so we head to the cave. I think through the plan over and over in my head. We come back to the cornucopia just after sunrise. Gale sees us there, pretends to hit Peeta. Peeta hits him back. Gale 'beats him to a pulp'. Peeta 'dies'. I'm screaming. Cinna holds me away from his body and gale is held back by Haymitch. That's when Ula comes to take gale away and he knocks her out.
"It's going to be fine, Katniss. Calm down."
"What if something goes wrong" I say. We're at the cave by now.
"Nothing will. Katniss, I didn't think I'd ever trust him; but for once I trust him with my life." How can Peeta be so confident? I kiss him gingerly on the lips before looking up to the sky. We need to get back soon.
"Come on" I say as a grab his hand and run.