A/N: First of all I am extremely sorry for posting this 2 months after the last chapter. Life has been good, but very busy. I hope you'll forgive me and accept this super long chapter in return. Thought about splitting it into 2, but I waited too long to post. Thank you to everyone for sticking through with me.

Thank you, Dendroica, for the beta.


Promises Not Meant to be Broken Part V

With his heart thumping furiously and blood drumming in his ears, somehow Gale managed to take slow steps in beat with the music as he escorted Katniss down the aisle. His eyes missed the soft white tulle guiding their way down the lane; he missed the smell of the white daisies and tulips adorning the church pews and columns. Everyones eyes were on the bride, but Gale's eyes were on the most beautiful girl sitting beside Madge. She was even more beautiful in person than in the picture Madge had given him. Similar to Madge's blue eyes, the picture hadn't done any justice to Lily's blue eyes either. Against the dark hair and her olive color skin, her blue eyes were strikingly beautiful. He watched his daughter in veneration that only a father setting eyes on his daughter for the first time would be able to comprehend. He lifted his eyes off Lily just in time to meet Madge's tearful ones. This was his family and as Katniss would soon vow to love Peeta for the rest of her life; Gale vowed to protect both Madge and Lily. He caught sight of Madge's father next to her and anger boiled inside him. There was the man who'd kept him away from Lily and Madge for almost a decade. It was because of him Lily didn't know what it meant to have a father. He'd lost his father at 14 so he knew what it meant to not have one growing up. At least he'd experienced a father's love; Lily never had. And it was all because of the Mayor – the proud man who didn't care whom he hurt as long as he got what he wanted. He'd taken away his only daughter's happiness leaving her a single mother…a shell of a woman…just to keep her under his control. Gale averted his eyes from the despicable man; he didn't want to ruin Katniss' big day any more than he already had. His face softened as his eyes landed on Lily once again. He smiled as her eyes met his for a brief moment before she shyly looked away and hid further into her mother's side. Did she know he was her father?

Gale placed Katniss' hand in Peeta's and took a seat at the edge of the first row bench. Peeta gave him a thankful smile as he accepted his bride's hand. Gale kept his eyes on the couple getting married, though his thoughts continued to stray to Madge and Lily sitting a few rows behind him. In his eagerness to see Lily he missed Madge's supposed fiancé. With the thoughts of the fiancé came the reality crashing down that he really could lose his family. He needed both Lily and Madge in his life. The happy couple said their I-do's and shared their first kiss as husband and wife. He watched Katniss' happy face as she hugged Prim. Peeta offered his new bride his arm and she took it smiling up at him. Gale had never seen such an open display of love and affection on Katniss' face for anyone except Prim. He smiled happy for his best friend. The newlyweds walked down the couple of steps and Katniss stopped to give him a hug whispering in his ears, "Thank you. She's beautiful just like her mother and father."

Gale kissed the bride's cheek and shook the groom's hand, "Keep her happy." Though watching the reverend look on Peeta's face, Gale knew he didn't have anything to worry about. Katniss had found someone who would always love and cherish her. Gale followed the wedding party out of the church, throwing Madge a meaningful look and one more glance towards his precious daughter. He was responsible for driving Mrs. Everdeen and Prim to the Country Club for the reception and he followed through with his duties even though his heart was set on finding Madge and holding his little girl in his arms.

At the club, Gale waited for the Undersees' to arrive so it was no surprise that he spotted them walking in right away. His delight soon turned to jealousy watching the bronze-skinned, green-eyed man walking close to Madge…too close for his comfort. Gale was nothing if not determined when he really wanted something. He took long, confident strides towards Madge and Lily. A fiancé wasn't going to stop him. Despite Finnick whispering something in her ears, Madge smiled at Gale watching his approach. He saw Madge nod and Finnick leave her side to go towards Peeta. "Hello, Madge. You look beautiful. As does the young lady holding your hand."

Lily's eyes widened as she looked up towards Madge and said, "Momma, he called me beautiful."

Madge bent down a little and said, "Of course he did, sweetheart. Because you are beautiful." Their exchange struck a chord in Gale's heart. Had no one else other than Madge told Lily that she was beautiful? Madge kissed her cheek and continued, "Lily, this is a very good friend of mine…Gale Hawthorne. And Gale," she said looking up at him, "This is ou-my daughter, Lily."

Before Gale could say anything, Lily said awed, "He's so tall, momma." Madge laughed.

Gale squatted down so his eyes were at level with Lily's – exactly like the eyes he'd fallen in love with twelve years ago…exactly like the eyes that still haunted his dreams – and said, putting a hand forward, "It is very nice to meet you, pretty lady."

Lily smiled beautifully even though she shied into her mother. She did, however, give Gale her hand. He took her little hand in his big one and had to blink back tears that threatened to spill out of his eyes. His little girl. Now that he held her hand, he was never going to let her go. Not her or Madge. When Lily didn't say anything else, he added, "I like your purple dress."

"It's not purple," she stated firmly taking her hand back. Gale had the urge to laugh thinking how much she sounded like himself at that age.

Confusion clear on his face, he looked up at Madge once and offered, "Pink?"

Lily rolled her eyes adorably and said, "It's lilac, silly." She immediately covered her mouth with her hand. Her cheeks took on a pink hue and she remorsefully offered, "I'm sorry, Mr. Hawthorne, I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

She sounded prim and proper just like Madge. Was he dreaming? Could there be such a perfect mix of him and Madge in one person? Gale laughed – a hearty laugh – like he hadn't laughed in years. "No it's alright. I can be pretty silly." On impulse he crossed his eyes in an attempt to look at his nose while sticking his tongue out to touch the said nose and Lily laughed, just like Posy always did too.

"You're funny," she said giggling.

"And silly," Gale added.

Madge looked at Gale and then Lily as she said, "Sweetheart, Gale lives all the way in District 2. I thought that maybe soon we could visit him there. Would you like to go to District 2?"

Before Lily could answer, Gale added, "I live near the mountains on a lake. My sister, Posy who is 15 years old, would be very happy to meet you. As would my two brothers and my mom. She would absolutely adore you and spoil you rotten because Posy's too old for that and she doesn't have any other young children to spoil."

Lily scowled, looking even more like Gale, and said, "Oh! That would be nice because my grandma and grandpa don't like me." Madge sucked in a breath as Gale's fists clenched next to him.


Madge took a step closer to Gale and discreetly unclenched his right fist. Looking at Lily she said, "Hazelle will love you even more than me. You can call her Grandma Hazelle." Both Gale and Lily looked at Madge confused, but she continued not giving either of them a chance to voice anything, "How about I leave both of you alone so Gale can tell you all about his family? I need to speak to my dad and I'll find you both in just a few minutes." Madge walked away leaving father and daughter with identical confused looks and furrowed brows, standing with their arms crossed across their chest. If the situation wasn't as dire, she'd turned back and snap a picture of both of them. For now she could only commit it to her memory. She had to do something to make sure she would also leave with Gale and Lily. She couldn't live without them.

Madge walked towards her father and said, "I've carried out the first part of your deal." Madge pointed in the distance to Gale and Lily. They were on the dance floor with Lily standing on Gale's feet. Madge continued, "I've handed Lily over to Gale. I'll still need to say goodbye properly so they don't suspect anything and so Lily can leave without causing a scene."

Her father smiled and said, "Excellent, Madge. I knew you could be resourceful when needed."

"Can't you just let Rue go now? I'm giving you everything you want," Madge pleaded. He just shook his head in answer.

Just then Mrs. Undersee joined them and asked, "What is he saying to Lily to make her laugh so?"

Madge looked both her parents in the eyes and said, "He's telling her about the aunt and uncles waiting for her at home. He's telling Lily about the grandmother who will spoil her and love her unconditionally." Her mother looked down at the ground remorsefully. Her father was still unaffected. Madge couldn't feel sorry for her mother; the woman had nine years to love the only grandchild she had, yet she did not.

Madge sighed and walked away. She had to do something about Finnick next. She noticed Prim take Lily over to the other bridesmaids as Gale also made his way towards Finnick and Peeta. She reached Finnick just before Gale. Finnick immediately draped his arm around Madge as they were supposed to be engaged and in love. Gale scowled. Madge laughed and pointed towards Gale as she said to her fiancé, "Finnick, meet Gale Hawthorne, Lily's father and the only man I will ever love." Peeta shrugged his shoulders and politely excused himself from their little "party."

Finnick gulped his drink visibly. Gale put his hand forward and said, "Finnick Odair, right?" Finnick nodded. "Peeta told me last night to find you. He said you wanted my help. Something about getting your lover, Annie Cresta, out of old fishing loans?"

Obviously surprised, this time Finnick spit his drink while coughing non-stop. Madge laughed and Gale enjoyed Finnick's discomfort for a few moments. Finnick finally got control of the surprise and put his charming face back on. Before he could say anything Gale explained, "I have more respect for Peeta now than ever. I don't think he slept for even a moment last night after he ran into you and Madge. It's amazing how deep his contacts run in the Capitol. Seems everyone likes Peeta and are willing to do him favors at any odd hour of the night."

Finnick laughed and turned to Madge, "I wish one of us had taken the leap of faith last night and come clean so that the groom could've slept the night before his wedding. If your friends will help Annie, I'll do whatever I can to help you."

"Thank you, Finnick. All I want is my family, Gale and Lily. I don't want to marry you or go into politics. I don't want your money either," Madge said sincerely. Gale excused himself politely as he saw General Beetee entering the club grounds.

"I never wanted to hurt you. I came here to get to know you better so I could decide what to do." Finnick sighed heavily and said, "I'm pretty sure Peeta can get Annie out of the loans easily solving my problem. But even if I refuse to marry you, it won't solve yours. Your dad is a well-connected, dangerous man."

Madge took a deep breath and said, "I know. He plays dirty. Gale and Lily aren't the only two he's blackmailing me with."

Finnick furrowed his brow and asked, "Who else?"

Madge turned pale as she said, "Daddy!"

Mayor Undersee had walked up to them behind Finnick. He demanded, "What was Hawthorne doing here?"

Madge looked at her father meaningfully and said, "I wanted to introduce him to my fiancé. You said to make it final and believable."


Finnick draped his arm around Madge protectively. Though Madge had discovered Finnick wasn't a threat to her, she was still uncomfortable because she still didn't know the man behind the façade. What very few people knew about Finnick was that he was very protective, a loyal friend and an infinitely astute individual. That he'd missed the façade behind Madge's behavior was in itself a testament to the amount of danger Madge and her loved ones were in. He watched the silent conversation between Madge and her father…a conversation they carried with just their eyes. Finnick moved his head just a little and found Gale proudly introducing his daughter to General Beetee. Once again his eyes landed on the Mayor. What had he done to all these good people? How far was he willing to go?

Whatever the answer to those questions, Finnick suspected that just because he and Madge had cleared the air between themselves didn't mean that she and Gale were safe. Her father didn't look like he'd give up easily. He hoped whatever Gale had planned to free Madge – and the mysterious third person she alluded to earlier – was enough. No, he knew it wouldn't be enough. Finnick said a silent prayer for Madge and Gale. They'd need a force of nature….something/someone to help them out of the mess with the Mayor.

Finnick looked at the sad woman standing next to him. He wondered what exactly was the trump card the Mayor was holding over Madge. He'd need to find out. It was the least he could do for his new "friends." It was safe to call them friends because anyone who'd help Annie was a friend in Finnick's books. And Finnick always proved to be a useful, loyal friend.


Gale guided General Beetee towards Madge while asking, "Did you have a good flight in?"

General Beetee shrugged and said, "I had great company on the flight."

"Someone else who came to the wedding?" Gale asked him.

"No, I don't think he's here," Beetee said looking around. He wasn't sure why the usually stoic General was talking in riddles today of all days. But he needed him and would go along with the stoic yet somewhat eccentric man.

This time Katniss had taken Lily with her under the pretense of taking pictures with the bride and groom. Prim, Peeta and Katniss were the only three besides Madge he trusted at this party. He didn't miss the significance of Madge handing Lily over to him. He understood it was the only way to keep their daughter out of Mayor Undersees clutches. He understood he needed to keep Lily even away from Madge for the time being.

Last night he and Katniss had stayed up late into the night finalizing the plan while Peeta had gone back to his office to make phone calls and line up the necessary people in the Capitol. Gale wanted to keep the events of the next day simple. The first part of the plan had worked beautifully – he easily backed Finnick into a corner and the man was more or less on their side. Now he just needed to introduce Madge to the General, Katniss would bring up her being married. Finnick would be appalled being engaged to someone already married. Beetee would take Madge into his custody for lying. They would all leave. Of course he knew her dad wouldn't give up so easily, but at least he'd be dealing with the Mayor in the Capitol and not in district 12. Katniss had offered to represent Madge if her case went to trial.

Once they were all safely away from district 12, Gale planned to leave Lily in Hazelle's care while he worked on freeing Madge. He was set. He had General Beetee, Peeta, Katniss and now even Finnick on his side. Together they'd have Madge freed from her father's cruelties. And if the Mayor ended up going to prison in the middle of it all then so be it.

Reaching Madge, he made the introductions, "General Beetee, this is Finnick Odair and Madge Undersee. And Madge, this is my General."

Beetee narrowed his eyes at Madge and asked, "Undersee? Mayor Undersee's daughter?"

Madge looked at Gale for a clue as to how to proceed, but he just shrugged his shoulders. What was the General doing? Madge answered him, "Yes sir. Mayor Undersee's daughter, Madge Undersee."

The Mayor too joined them by then probably noting Gale's closeness to Madge. General Beetee raised his right hand to his chin and asked, "Though you're technically not Undersee, right?" Madge, Gale, the Mayor and Finnick looked at each other confused and then turned to the General. He laughed to lighten the mood and said, "You all look like someone just died. I was only alluding to your married name, Mrs. Dubois."

"You're married?" Finnick asked unbelievably. The Mayor's face paled more than even Madge's.

While Gale asked shocked at the same time, "Sir, what are you talking about?" Was the General making up a married name for Madge? They didn't need to complicate things with more lies; they were already complicated enough.

Beetee patted his left breast pocket and said, "I have Mr. and Mrs. Dubois' marriage certificate with me. They were married almost ten years ago."

"You do?" three voices (Madge, Gale and the Mayor) asked at the same time.

Beetee took out the certificate from his pocked and unfolded it to reveal the following: Mr. Marvel Dubois of district 1 and Madge Undersee of district 12 were united in marriage on this day, listing the date of their marriage. The certificate was signed by Audra Undersee and Romulus Thread as witnesses. It bore Mayor Undersee's signature over 'Name of Person Solemnizing Marriage.' And there all the way at the bottom were Madge's and Marvel's signatures.

Madge took the certificate out of the General's hand and studied it closely. That was certainly her signature. She remembered signing the blank certificate just to placate her father. She didn't know anyone from district 1. She certainly didn't know anyone named Marvel. But her father did. He knew several people in district 1.

Everyone was stunned into silence once Beetee produced the certificate. The Mayor absentmindedly turned towards Gale and asked, "Where did you get this certificate?"

Gale responded, "I didn't. I didn't know anything about it until General Beetee just mentioned it. I've never heard of a Marvel Dubois."

As if on cue, a young man about their age, skinny but fit and almost as tall as himself with light brown hair walked up to them and asked, "Did I just hear someone call my name?"

All eyes, stunned and confused, turned to the new comer. Madge asked, "M-Marvel?"

"Hello sweetheart," he replied charmingly and took a step towards Madge. Every muscle in Gale's body tensed ready to push him away from Madge. What the hell was going on? His simple plan had just spun out of control. Then Gale remembered that the General had mentioned having good company on the hovercraft. He turned towards Beetee and raised an eyebrow at him to ask if he brought Marvel with him. But the General's face had paled by now and he shook his head. Their plan was unravelling out of control right in front of their eyes. With the certificate out in the open, none of them would be able to stop Marvel from taking Madge away. Gale looked at Madge and saw his fear reflected in her eyes.

The Mayor said, "Marvel, I'd like to have a word with you in private."

Marvel shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure, but let us take Madge with us. I've missed her terribly." He moved to grab Madge's hand and she quickly moved out of his reach. Marvel smiled and said, "I think Madge prefers we talk here. By the way, where's my beautiful daughter?"

Gale could no longer hold his temper and punched Marvel in the face stating firmly, "Do. Not. Ever mention her again."

Marvel rubbed his jaw and wiped the blood off the left side of his mouth as he asked Madge, "A friend of yours?" Madge pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

Gale turned angrily towards the Mayor and demanded, "Why are you doing this? Just let Madge go? Why bring Marvel into her life now?"

The Mayor narrowed his calculating eyes at Gale and in that instance they both knew that neither one of them invited Marvel here. As the Mayor stood silently trying to figure out how he could use Marvel to his advantage, Gale voiced the more pertinent question, "So who brought Marvel here?"

Peeta, who'd been busy taking pictures with Katniss up until now, walked up and patted Marvel on the back as he said, "I see everyone met my new friend, Marvel Dubois."

Madge asked unbelievably, "You brought Marvel here? H-how? Why?"


The easy smile left Peeta's face. He had hoped for some more time to finish his investigation on the Mayor properly, but the situation between Gale and Madge had forced him to call the Mayor out now. He had enough dirt on the Mayor to put him away for years, but he still hadn't figured out what the Mayor did to Brutus. Maybe they'd never find out unless James Undersee confessed. Peeta took a deep breath and said, "Mayor Undersee, you are under arrest." Peeta motioned to the two peacekeepers behind him and they stepped forward to arrest the Mayor.

"How dare you? And on what charges?" The Mayor asked.

Peeta handed him a piece of paper and said, "Everything is listed here. You'll have plenty of time in the jail cell to read over all your offenses." Peeta turned to the peacekeepers and said, "Cato…Clove, take him away."

Cato and Clove responded, "Yes sir," and handcuffed the struggling Mayor.

"What's going on, Peeta?" Gale asked curiously.

"Madge…Gale, President Paylor appointed me two years ago to look into Mayor Undersee. We've had a lot of reports of mishandlings in district 12, but every time she sent anyone here to look into it either something mysterious happened to them or they turned up with no wrongdoings on the mayor's part. She believed that he either blackmailed or bought his way out of it. So for the last two years I've collected information. I've snooped around his house and office. A few weeks ago, I came across a hidden safe in his office. I extracted a pile of paperwork. With the wedding preparations, I didn't have much time to go through everything in detail, but I thumbed through it. I had seen the marriage certificate, but didn't pay much attention to it. After all, I didn't really know much about the mayor's mysterious daughter at the time. But about a week ago Katniss told me about your history with Gale. I went back and dug out the marriage certificate. Immediately, I started searching for Marvel. President Paylor has authorized a lot of resources under my control. I didn't tell anyone because I didn't know what to expect from my search. I didn't even know if Marvel Dubois was real. Luckily, I found a Marvel Dubois rotting in the prisons of district 1."

Peeta paused and looked at Marvel who took it as his cue to explain his side of the story, "Under Snow's regime, I was trained to become a peacekeeper. My family had always diligently supported Snow. So naturally when the new government took over, I was not offered a position of peacekeeper. I didn't have any other skills and no one looked kindly upon the families of Snow's supporters. So I left district 1, where everyone looked down upon me and resorted to petty crime to keep myself alive as far away from 1 as possible. I came to district 12. Peacekeeper Thread arrested me for stealing, but instead of putting me in jail, he took me to the Mayor. The Mayor asked me to sign the marriage certificate in exchange for a hefty sum of money, a new name and life in district 5. I didn't know anything about the girl I signed the marriage certificate for. I did it. Thread escorted me with new papers to district 5. Instead of setting me up there he tried to kill me. Luckily for me, I was a trained peacekeeper too and stronger…younger than Thread. I got away. I suppose Thread never told the Mayor I escaped. I still didn't have any money so I continued my life of thievery to survive."

Peeta picked up the story from there with a hard look on his face. "About a year later, Marvel was arrested for raping a girl in district 7. A good friend of mine, Sergeant Johanna Mason, found out his real identity and he's been rotting in the prison in district 1 since then."

Madge looked horrified. Finnick said, "I can't believe your own father had you legally tied to such a person. Thank goodness for Johanna that she found him before he found you." He looked at stunned faces and clarified, "Sergeant Johanna Mason is also a good friend of mine."

Gale took a step forward and engulfed Madge in his arms, "It's over now, Madge. You're safe. I'm here. He can't hurt you anymore."

Madge pushed back a little and said, "Rue. We have to get to Rue." Gale looked at her confused and Madge explained in a rush, "I live and work with her in district 11. Her parents took care of me when I first arrived in 11. I love her like a sister. My dad has her imprisoned in the house with Thread watching over her. He was using Rue as a means of blackmailing me and…"

Before Madge could finish, a frantic Katniss ran up to the group with Lily in tow and said, "Prim! She's gone. We can't find her."

"She couldn't have just disappeared with the place crawling with peacekeepers. She's got to be here," Peeta exclaimed walking off towards peacekeepers. He walked to the nearest ones and said, "Find. Prim. Immediately."

In the chaos that ensued, Marvel tried to make an escape. Finnick caught him before anyone else and said, "You don't think I'm going to let my good friend, Johanna's, hard work go to waste do you?" Finnick punched him twice before handing him over to a peacekeeper; he immediately handcuffed Marvel and shoved him into the waiting vehicle.


Lily ran to Madge crying. Madge picked up her frightened daughter and tried her best to calm her. Gale took a few steps forward and rubbed his hand gently on Lily's back. "Please don't be scared, sweetheart. I promise I will not let anything happen to you, your mom, Rue and Prim."

When Lily only continued to cry, Madge explained, "She's scared, Gale. She often gets nightmares about getting separated from me. You go ahead; it will take me time to calm her."

Gale shook his head and softly said, "Lily?" She only hugged Madge tighter and cried harder. Gale moved behind Madge; Lily had her face in Madge's neck so he only saw the top of her head. He softly whispered again, "Lily, look at me, sweetie." She slowly lifted her head and looked up at him. Gale began, "No one is going to hurt you or take you away from your mom." He wanted to tell her he was her father and he'd always take care of her…that they would always be together from now on. But this wasn't the time to make that declaration. But his heart broke at her terrified face. His anger boiled at Madge's father again, but he kept it in check. Gale wiped his daughter's tears and said, "Do you still think I'm strong?"

Lily nodded and said, "Just like a superhero."

He was now glad that he and Lily had played a game earlier when he'd shown her his biceps and thrown her up in the air. She'd called him a superhero. He smiled and said, "Then you'll have to trust me that I'll use my superhero skills to keep everyone safe." Lily smiled a little. Gale continued, "Will you stay here with your mom and wait for me to bring Rue and Prim back to you?" Lily nodded.

"That's my good girl," Gale said kissing her cheek and the top of her head. He moved to Madge's side and whispered in her ear, "It'll be alright. I love you."

"Be careful," she whispered back to him.

Gale joined Peeta and Katniss. Peeta immediately said, "I knew the Mayor would retaliate somehow. I didn't expect him to give up so easily. But I hadn't thought he'd take Prim."

General Beetee walked up to the group and said, "I came prepared for the unexpected too." He then took out a little microphone and spoke into it, "The mission is a go, Commando. Location – Mayor's house. Two female hostages. In their early twenties. One blonde and one dark-haired. Use any means available to rescue both hostages at any cost."

"You brought a Commando with you?" Gale questioned unbelievably. New Panem only had a handful of Commandos and they were only sent out on the most dangerous, most important missions. The President must consider Mayor Undersee a big threat. Thought was chilling. Gale turned to Peeta and said, "Thank you for your help. I don't think I could've freed Madge without your help. You and Katniss stay here. I promise I will bring back Prim. She's my family too."

"I'm coming with you," Katniss stated firmly. "Peeta's parents and my mom can handle the guests. It won't be the first time where the bride and groom sneak out early."

Gale hated that Katniss and Peeta's wedding day was ruined because of him. No…it's because of the Mayor. "Let's go," he said to everyone.

Mrs. Undersee rushed to the group and frantically said, "James shot Clove and escaped. I saw him headed towards the house. Cato took off after him."

Gale looked at Madge and Finnick answered, "I'll keep Madge and Lily safe."

Gale, Peeta, and Katniss quickly exited the club and got into Gale's car.

"I'll kill him if he even touches a hair on Prim's head," Katniss declared.

Peeta rubbed her arms and said, "Don't worry. There's a Commando on site already. He'll protect Prim."

"Gale, can't you drive faster?" Katniss screamed at him. Gale shifted the car into a higher gear.

They arrived at the Mayor's house to a chaotic scene. The first body they encountered was that of Romulus Thread's. Next they found Mayor Undersee lying on the floor with a bullet in his thigh and the ever soft-hearted, kind Rue attending to his wound.

Gale asked, "Rue?" She nodded sheepishly. "Are you ok?" She nodded again.

Katniss asked frantically, "Where's Prim?"

"She's inside," Rue said with a mischievous smile.

Gale, Katniss and Peeta all hurried inside and came to a stop shocked. Katniss gained her senses first and yelled, "Get your hands off my sister."

Prim pulled back from the kiss embarrassed and said, "Katniss! You remember Rory, don't you?"

"Rory? Rory Hawthorne?" Katniss asked surprised. Prim and Rory nodded with their cheeks burning from embarrassment at being caught kissing by their brother and sister. Peeta and Gale laughed.

Gale asked, "General Beetee brought you?" Rory nodded. When Prim moved away from him, Gale saw his arm and asked horrified, "Are you bleeding?"

Rory, even more embarrassed, said, "It's nothing."

"He got shot in the arm," Prim stated glaring at Rory. "It's not nothing."

"So you were making him feel better?" Peeta asked easing the mood…hopefully Katniss'. She looked like she was ready to kill the very man who saved her sister's life.


Three days later, at the hospital, the doctor explained to Madge and Mrs. Undersee that the bullet hit the femoral artery and the Mayor had lost a lot of blood. They'd tried but weren't able to save his left leg below the knee; it had been without proper blood flow too long. They'd need to operate and amputate. Mrs. Undersee cried. Madge sighed, her emotions a mix. It was her father, but then again he'd never been a real father to her. True she had his blood in her veins, but she wasn't anything like him. Madge nodded to the doctor and walked away leaving her mother to sign the papers and take care of her husband.

Madge knocked and entered Rory's room just down the hall. The bullet had grazed between his arm and chest – a little too close to his heart. He was fine, but the doctors were keeping him under watch for a few days. Because his family was involved, no one questioned Rory's involvement in the rescue thus leaving his identity as a Commando safe from everyone, but their immediate family. After a lot of persuading on everyone's part, Katniss had finally agreed to leave for her honeymoon with Peeta only a day ago. Though Madge had apologized profusely to both, they'd both assured her they couldn't have cared less about the reception. Their wedding was beautiful and they were only happy that it brought everyone together.

Gale and Lily were already in Rory's room. She smiled seeing Lily sitting on Rory's lap on his bed. She'd told Lily about her father and the loving family that awaited her. Someday, when Lily was older, they'd have to explain it all to her, but for now the nine-year old – starved for affection from anyone but her mother – had accepted her father and uncle. Madge smiled watching Rory tell Lily about rescuing Prim and Rue, leaving out the horrifying details.

Gale moved closer to Madge and hugged her silently asking her what the doctors said about her father. She shrugged and hugged him back. Gale kissed her cheek and said, "Rory's telling Lily all about how he saved the day." Madge laughed.

"I did save the day. Who knows what would've happened by the time you slow-pokes got there," Rory declared firmly. Lily's face paled. Rory immediately kissed her cheek and said, "I'm just kidding, Lily. Your dad could've saved the day too, but I'm just faster and better. Stronger and smarter too."

"Rory, don't fill her head with lies," Gale said. He looked at Lily and said, "I taught Uncle Rory everything he knows. I sometimes let him go out on missions and redeem himself."

Rory took pity on his brother; he didn't want to put down Gale in Lily's eyes since she'd just found him. Rory shrugged his shoulders and said, "Your dad's not too bad, but he does tend to forget everything when your mom's around. So that leaves me to pick up the pieces."

"Just like you forget everything when Auntie Prim enters the room?" Lily asked innocently.

As hard as it should've been for a trained Commando to blush, it really wasn't for Rory at the time because Prim entered at that exact moment. Gale laughed and lifted Lily off Rory's lap saying, "It's time for us to go home and for Auntie Prim to keep Uncle Rory company."

Lily blew Rory and Prim a kiss and allowed Gale to carry her. They went back to the Hawthorne house in the seam. Sometime later, Gale climbed in bed after putting Lily to bed and Madge immediately moved into his arms. He kissed her lingeringly, slowly deepening the kiss. When they pulled apart, Gale said, "I talked to Ma earlier and she's made all the arrangements for us to get married as soon as we get to 2. They wanted to come here, but I assured her that we'd leave tomorrow."

"Can we get married already?" Madge asked surprised, but excited at the same time.

Gale nodded, "I spoke to General Beetee and President Paylor earlier. They said your marriage certificate is void because the marriage never took place. Your mom told them it was all a ruse and that you and Marvel were never even in the same room at any time. You are a free woman. They've also assigned a team under the Honorable Wiress to look into the laws. Our new government is supposed to protect the people, but several laws – as necessary as they were right after the war – make little sense now. While it'll take some time to change the laws, the President has decided to pardon you from lying and having a child outside matrimony. In fact, once you're settled, she wants you to consider working on Wiress' team since you've suffered so harshly under the new laws. Laws that completely failed you and who knows how many more like you."

"I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for Rory getting hurt," Madge said sadly.

Gale shook his head and said, "You shouldn't worry about that. When Rory volunteered for this mission he didn't know you or I were involved. He didn't know anything about Lily. He only volunteered when he heard Thread's name. Rory's held a vengeance for Thread and your father ever since my whipping. He volunteered to avenge me. I owe Rory."

"He loves you," Madge said hugging Gale.

"I know. And he loves you and Lily too," Gale added.

Madge smiled playfully and added, "Don't forget Prim. I think he's falling in love with her too."

Gale nodded his head smiling and said, "They had a thing for each other when we lived in 12. But they haven't seen each other in ten years." He laughed and added, "You should've seen Katniss when we found Prim and Rory kissing at your house. She looked like she was about to kill Rory. He's got his work cut out dating Prim under Katniss' watchful eyes. If he's smart, he'll just marry her before Katniss comes back from her honeymoon."

"Gale! Give them a chance to properly date and fall in love," Madge said laughing. She turned serious again and asked, "What about Annie and her loans?" They'd been so busy sorting out everything for the last three days that this was their first chance catching up with each other. Madge had helped her mother deal with the paperwork for his dad's stay at the hospital. She'd even helped her mom gather few personal belongings from the Mayor's house since Peeta had been named the interim Mayor until proper elections could be held in 12.

Gale kissed her temple. His sweet Madge always worries about everyone else. "The Mayor of district 4, Mags, has also been assigned Head of the Aqua Culture Loan Department. She'll personally look into those loans taken under Seneca Crane's authority." Gale lay back on the bed, bringing Madge along with him. Madge played with the hair on his chest as he continued, "I don't think it'll take long for Mags to clear those fishermen. I'd venture they'll also receive compensation for not only their hardships, but they should also get back all the money they paid towards those loans."

He shifted a little and pulled out a card out of the side table next to the bed. "I almost forgot. This came in the mail earlier while you were at the hospital with your mom." Gale handed her the card – a thank you – from Mr. & Mrs. Odair with a picture of the two at their wedding on the beach. "They married two days ago."

Madge laughed, "Finnick didn't waste any time, did he?"

"No, he didn't. I guess they'd waited long enough," Gale said taking the card out of Madge's hand and rolling her back into the bed.

Madge moved his hair out of his eyes as she said, "Not as long as us."

Gale bent down to kiss her once and said, "Two days and we'll be married too." He kissed her soundly then and said, "For now, I only want to think about us. After all, as good parents, we owe it to ourselves to give Lily a sister so she's not so lonely."

"A sister?" Madge questioned pushing him away a little to look into his eyes.

"Yes, a sister. Posy always says she loves us, but wishes she had a sister too," Gale said closing the distance between them again and kissing Madge.

"But I always wanted a b-brother," Madge managed between kisses.

"Have mercy on me, Madge. I can only do this one at a time," Gale teased.

"Gale!" she said, her cheeks reddening.

He raised his eyebrow and said roguishly, "Though…twins do run in your family and they usually tend to skip a generation…" Before Madge could say anything else, he effectively put an end to all conversation for the rest of the night.

THE END


A/N: I can't forgive Marvel for killing Rue in the book so I still kept him a bad guy. Thank you for sticking with this story. Please let me know what you thought about it.