don't forget to check out my oneshot, what she didn't know. It's something i've been playing around in my head since i finished mockingjay and i'd like to see some clarification on, lol. enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review with some suggestions!
Where are those damn kids? I give them a morning away and they completely disappear way past when they're supposed to be back.
Typical.
I feel bad because I know that Gale is going to do everything he can to get her home, he made up his mind as soon as the Quell was announced, asking me to do everything I could to protect her. It's a little surreal that I'm going to be working with tributes I already know as opposed to two kids that I try to avoid during the Games.
I take another swig of liquor and look at my watch. It's about time for the festivities to begin, so I start to head towards the square, pulling out a phone as I go. Cinna insisted on using these damn private lines for anything we don't want overheard, and I'm kind of thankful in a way. I click through the contacts and find Odair's number and press send.
"Finnick Odair speaking."
Good, he still remembers the code we're supposed to use. Mockingjay code requires some form of identification if you are in a risky spot where the conversation might be overheard. Since Finnick used his name in his hello, I assume that there are people around.
"We're rolling," I reply. "Do you remember what you have to do?"
"Yes sir," he says on the other end of the line. "Smile, stand straight, hope my name isn't picked." I hear someone say something and laugh on the other end of the phone, and then hear Finnick say "it's just my agent" in a muffled tone. "I'll be there on time, I promise."
"As long as you remember the plan, Odair. Don't forget to call your counterparts from three and seven." And then I briskly hang up the phone. Now as long as the whole day goes exactly as it's supposed to, I would have to kill anyone or start drinking. Knowing I will be on a train headed back to the Capitol in just a few hours is enough to make me want to drink, but I push the thought aside and head to the Justice Building where I'm supposed to report as a mentor.
The pretty blonde receptionist smiles as I walk through the door and motions for me to sign in on the District 12 Mentor's Sheet. I'm the only person to ever sign it in 24 years, but they still require me to sign in. Then she giggles and swipes the clipboard from me. "Not this year, Mr. Abernathy," she sweetly grins. "You're qualified as a tribute this year."
Oh, right. Technically any Victor could be chosen as a tribute this year. "Do you honestly think that boy is going to let me go into the Games with Miss Everdeen?" I ask her.
The blonde smiles, "I know, Mr. Abernathy, but rules are rules, sir. You'll have to go into the roped off section for tributes. As soon as the reaping is over, you may come back here to sign in while the tributes get their hour-long goodbye."
I say my thanks and walk back out the door. As the people begin filing in from around the district, I wonder how some of the Career districts with bigger Victor pools are handling their mentoring jobs this year. Are they seeing who is picked and then drawing straws? or do they already have an idea of who's getting reaped like Gale, Katniss, and I do? Either way, it's going to be tough competition in that mentoring room this year, and it's going to be hard to make this plan work, but i'm determined.
The square starts to fill, and I'm rudely ushered into my roped off spot where the potential tributes usually stand. I look up to the stage, and I see the chair that I normally fill during Reapings. It's unusual to be down here again, and it takes me back to the last Quarter Quell that reaped me. And just before I can get into all the shitty things that happened to be as a child, I feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn to see Gale Hawthorne standing next to me, face red and smiling across the way to a blushing Katniss.
"Where the hell were you, boy?"
Gale's smile fades, "I had some things that I needed to take care of."
I want to ask him what the hell he means, but Effie steps up to the microphone and introduces herself, so I decide to let the comment go without question.
"...Welcome to Panem's Third Quarter Quell Reaping!" Effie says to the crowd, smiling more obnoxiously than normal. I look around at the crowd outside the roped off area. For once, instead of seeing panicked mothers and terrified children, I see happy faces, comforting arms, and smiles. For just this year, the people of District 12 aren't afraid for the lives of their children, they have one more year safe. And for the eighteen year olds, they are out of the reapings for good.
But if this plan goes the way it's supposed to, there won't be anymore reapings, ever.
"And to remind the districts that even the strongest among them cannot rebel, the tributes this year will be reaped from the existing pool of Victors," Effie finishes. "Without further ado, ladies first." Her heels click to the right end of the stage, where a large bowl waits with several hundred slips that all have the same name on them. Before she even calls her name, Katniss strides to the stage with her head held high, knowing it's all going to be broadcasted to the country. But as she faces the crowd, she puts both hands on her protruding stomach, as if to remind the cameras, the crowd, and President Snow himself, that they are sending a pregnant woman and her child to their death.
Not one, single person claps. No one moves until the hand beside me goes into the air.
Gale Hawthorne presses three fingers to his lips and holds them up for Katniss, and the entire district follows. Before I know it, Effie, the Mayor, and I are the only three people who don't have our hands raised for the brave young mother in front of us. Effie hestitantly laughs and walks over to the bowl full of slips with my name and Gale's, selecting one off the top.
She calls my name, but no one is surprised that Gale volunteers for me, striding tall to the stage and directly to where Katniss stands holding her stomach. He puts his hands to her neck and kisses her more passionately than I've ever seen two people kiss. The crowds explode, and I turn to see Prim Everdeen, her mother, and the whole Hawthorne family cheering the loudest of anyone in the district. It's perfect, brilliant, and I hope they show the whole damn thing on television tonight.
The guard pushes me onto the train, almost pushing me down onto the platform, which does nothing more than piss Gale off.
"You've already cost us our goodbyes to our families, now you have to be physically rude as hell to a pregnant woman? What the fuck is wrong with you?!" He shouts.
"New protocol for tributes," the Peacekeeper answers. "And I did not think I used excessive force, sir."
Gale almost turns a shade of red, "Any force is excessive, asshole." He kindly grabs my arm and helps me onto the train, mumbling something about filing a formal complaint with the jerk. "You'd think since I was in the PRA they'd be a little nicer to me," Gale grumbles.
"Let's just drop it," I suggest. "They won't let us do anything about it, so there's no point in fighting it." He starts to say something else but he stops, probably because he knows that I'm right. I sit down on the couch and wait for Effie to flip on the TV so we can watch the televised reapings. Gale sits next to me, but he doesn't cuddle up next to me or anything, and I know exactly what he's doing.
He's scoping out his prey.
As they go through every district, Haymitch writes down the names in a notebook, and I can see he's adding his own notes out beside each of the names. I can tell he knows most of them or was present for their games, because he's writing down bits of information that the average person would miss. Gale mutters things next to me like, "He's left handed," or "She doesn't look like a runner," just silly little notes that he thinks will matter in hand-to-hand combat.
Districts one and two both look like fierce competitors, just like Career districts always do. Three is a wiry guy with glasses who looks more like a super nerd than a fighter, and his district partner is old and has to be helped to the stage. Four is Finnick Odair, and I only know that because I remember watching his Games ten years ago. The only other Victor I recognize is Johanna Mason, who won by pretending she was a weakling.
And then District 12 is shown. Inside, I know I felt scared as hell, but on the outside, I look as fearless as I did during my first reaping. My head is high, my jaw is set, and I can hear the announcers talking about how bloodthirsty I'm bound to be during this Hunger Games... and then I touch my stomach. It only lingers on the screen for a flicker of a second, but it's long enough that the audiences at home will be reminded that I am pregnant, even if my dress did a good job of hiding it.
Then Effie calls Haymitch's name, and Gale immediately volunteers. The announcers just go on about how the Star-Crossed Lovers of District 12 just don't have any luck, and they end the broadcast with the still image of Gale passionately kissing me. The picture of the kiss makes me blush, because I don't think I've ever seen a video or a picture of us doing something so intimate, but I like it. I like letting the entire country know that Gale is mine, and I am his.
I look down at my hands in my lap, still bearing the mockingjay ring that Panem thinks Gale proposed with. I really thought he would propose when we were out in the woods today, but he just acted as if nothing was wrong, as if it were any other reaping day. Maybe he wanted the normalcy of our last day in the woods together, maybe he wanted to escape the reality of the world for just a few hours. I don't know, and it's one of the few times that I don't know what he was thinking, but I don't dwell on it long. Gale has his reasons, and I'm sure they'll make sense to me eventually.
I get up from the couch and announce that I'm heading to bed, and I look down at Gale, do you want to join?
He shakes his head, "I want to watch some video on some of these new tributes before I turn in. I'll take some notes and be with you soon, Catnip."
For some reason, the nickname makes me blush, but I say goodnight and head for my bedroom. I decide to wait for the morning to take a shower, because I want to smell the woods in my hair and on my skin. For some reason, I feel as if today was the last time in a long time that I'm going to get to enjoy the smells of the woods, so I just take off my reaping dress and put on a nightgown. I take my hair down from its braid and climb in between the soft sheets, letting the gentle rocking of the train put me out like a light.
When I open my eyes again, I can see the back of Gale, sitting on a blanket in a field of taller grasses. I call his name, but he doesn't answer me. Instead, I see a small baby girl stand up and kiss Gale's cheek. She can't be more than two years old, but when she sees me she goes crazy, "Mommy, Mommy!" she squeals. I hold out my arms for her to run to me, and she starts to take a step when Gale picks her up and turns to face me.
But it's not Gale.
The person before me has transformed to President Snow, and he takes my baby girl and smiles.
I start to scream, but I don't scream for long because I feel Gale's arms around my shoulders and his voice in my ear, hushing me and assuring me that everything will be okay. I feel hot tears on my cheeks and reach up to kiss him, touch him, anything to make sure that he's still here.
I kiss him deeply, moaning into his mouth and tangling my hands in his hair. He recognizes my actions, and I don't know if he feels the need to make love as badly as I do, or if he wants the reassurance that I'm really here too, but his actions begin to mirror mine. He kisses my neck, moaning into my ear, and my hands find his shirt tucked into his pants, pulling it out and tossing it on the floor while he takes off my nightgown. His mouth makes a trail from my lips, to my neck, down my chest and stopping at my pregnant stomach.
"You're so beautiful, Katniss," he breathes. "You're carrying my child and it only makes me love you more."
I smile in the darkness, "I love you, Gale."
I hear him chuckle and I can feel his lips press against my stomach again while he shucks off his pants. His mouth meets mine again and his hands grope my body, while mine press him closer to me. He makes love to me, almost as passionately as the kiss we shared earlier. He moans my name, whispers again and again how much he loves me, and I barely have it in me to do the same. My head and heart are swimming with emotions for him, for us, for our baby.
When we both come, we collapse on our sides, in each other's arms, breathing heavily. I can see his smile in the darkness and he rolls me on my back, making his way down to my stomach to kiss our child again. I can see a flicker of fear on his face, and I know he realizes that he will never see our baby born, that he or she will never see Gale's smile, but he pushes away the thought and smiles, cooing at my stomach.
He presses his hands and lips to my stomach and I feel the slightest nudge. "Gale, don't nudge me," I say. "It's uncomfortable."
His eyes grow wide, "What are you talking about Katniss?"
"You mean.. you didn't just... nudge me?"
He shakes his head, and then the biggest smile breaks on his face, "I thought you nudged me somehow, but that must have been.. Could it have been?" His smile gets bigger and bigger, and he presses his face to my stomach again, "Daddy loves you, little Hawthorne!"
He kisses my lips and goes to find his pants, screaming about having to tell Haymitch that he just felt our baby move. I smile and pull the covers back up to cover me, with one hand on my stomach, documenting this moment so that in the years to come, I can tell our son or daughter the first time they felt their father's touch.
