Chapter 38

(Gale POV)

All through classes I can't pay attention to anything. All I can think about is what I read in those files. Madge was about to move to the Capitol. And Haymitch is somehow here in 13. In holding, but here nonetheless. I want to go see him and talk to him but I can't do that until much later. After classes are finished. After dinner. And after my sanitation duty. And after I see Madge. But then maybe that's wrong. Maybe I'm better off seeing Haymitch first and then seeing Madge. Maybe something in my visit with him will give me something for Madge. Some tid bit of information I can whisper to her that will give her some hope. But then she'll have to wait longer to see me and she's been having such an incredibly tough time. She knows that I'm coming later than usual now but I hate to push it because she's so emotionally fragile right now as it is. Still, a visit with Haymitch may prove worth the wait she'll have to endure.

By the time I've managed to get through my day and all I have left is visitation, I find myself walking up and asking for Haymitch's cell instead of Madge's. It was a spur of the moment decision because all day I kept weighing it out back and forth and everytime I felt I'd decided who to see first, my mind would waiver and I'd be undecided again. But as I walked up to the holding floor, Haymitch was the name that left my lips.

They look a little surprised when I ask to see him and I suppose it's because technically, I shouldn't know that he's even here. The only reason I know about Madge is because I was brought to 13 alongside of her. It isn't as if they post a list of people stuck in holding or something. Still, they take me to his cell and I wait outside the door for it to open.

Once it does, I enter the room and find the most disgusting of sights. A half naked Haymitch shoving a sandwich in his mouth. The cell smells foul, like Haymitch's house.

"Well looky what the cat drug in." He mumbles through a mouthful of food.

"Hey. How long have you been here? How'd you get here?"

"No clue how long I've been holed up in here. No windows. No clocks." He says still eating.

"But how'd you get here? All the way from the Capitol?"

"Saw it go bad fast. Got out fast. Went as far as I could by craft and then ditched after a crash. Hoofed it the rest of the way. Been locked in here ever since."

"How'd you know about this place? How'd you get that map?"

"All the victors, careers excluded, have the map. Gets passed down from other victors. Never get an explanation or anything. Just the map. Course it doesn't take a genius to read the damn thing and see what it is. I take it you got her out, right?"

"Got her out but Haymitch, they didn't let her in. She's in holding too!" I spew out quickly so that the monitors can't stop me in case I'm not supposed to tell him anything about Madge.

"Well, I suppose that shouldn't be a shocker. She's been raised as if she was one of them her whole life. Only natural they'd question her authenticity."

"But if she doesn't get cleared…" I start, unable to finish it. Unable to even say it out loud.

"She's clean as a whistle that one. I wouldn't worry." He shrugs as if she's not in any danger at all.

"But…without clearance…they'll…" I stutter out, sure he must not know what really happens.

"Look kid, hold it together, okay? She's a solid girl. Not a blemish on her record. Let it work itself out."

"You sure? I know she's not Capitol. I do. But her record, what if there's stuff on there that she doesn't know about? Stuff that could hurt her?"

"What sorta stuff?" He asks as I suddenly feel like I finally have his full attention.

I hesitate. How can I explain this without revealing that I broke into the file cabinet?

"Well, what?" He demands.

"Her father. He hated us being together. I was too poor, too Seam for his liking. When she wouldn't break things off, he threatened me. He promised to keep the fence on all the time if I didn't break up with her. So I did. Sort of. But I think he knew there was still something between us and he told me he was going to take her away. He said he'd transfer them out of the district if that's what it took to keep us apart."

"Transfer? Undersee wanted out of 12?"

"Yeah, he may have been just trying to scare me by saying it but he told me he'd move Madge to the Capitol and I'd never be able to be with her again." I lie, fitting the truth inside my lies. It's a reasonable explanation. Her father did hate us as a couple and he'd proven just how far he was willing to go to keep us apart.

"And you never told her about this?" He asks incredulously.

"Nuh-uh. Couldn't bare to see her face when she found out her father was pulling such a stunt to keep us apart. It nearly broke her heart when he pulled the whole fence deal with me."

He nods as if in thought and rubs his chin a little. "If he went through with it, if he wasn't bluffing, if he really sent a request, it would be in her file that she wanted to transfer to the Capitol. Did you mention this to anyone yet?"

I shake my head.

"You should talk to somebody about it. Find out who's in charge of all this and tell them she didn't know. Make sure they know she didn't know. It's imperative they know she didn't know." He says looking me dead in the eyes. Fearfully almost.

"I have an appointment but not until Tuesday."

"What day is it now?"

"Sunday."

"Do it sooner. Barge in there if you have to, but do it sooner."

I swallow. His intensity is unnerving. Scary. I nod and let out a shaky breath.

"Give her a hug for me. Tell I'll see her as soon as I can."

"I will." I say as I turn to leave.

"And kid?"

I turn back. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for getting her outta there." He says with full sincerity on his face.

I suck a breath and nod. I may have gotten her out of 12 alive but I haven't saved her quite yet.

I leave and head for Madge's cell, figuring I'll see her next but I'm stopped outside her door by an officer.

"You need to follow me please." He orders flatly.

Shit. Oh shit. Did they find out I broke into the file cabinet? Did they see through my doctored up tale of how I found out Madge was moving to the Capitol? Shit.

He leads me down a few hallways to an interview room like the one I was in before they cleared me. He tells me to have a seat and I do and he leaves the room. I feel my pulse racing. My palms feel sweaty and I rub them over my knees. What happens now? What happens if I'm totally busted? What happens when you break into stuff in 13? How do you get punished? Shit. This is so bad. So freaking bad.

I can barely see straight by the time someone comes in. It's a woman. In uniform. And her nametag says Matthews! This is Matthews! The one lady I've been trying desperately to speak to on Madge's behalf!

"Mr. Hawthorne, I'm Sergeant Matthews. I have a few questions for you regarding Miss Madge Undersee." She tells me as she sits down across the table from me. Her chair screeching against the concrete floor as she slides it back.

I nod, not trusting my voice to speak just yet.

"Very well, now, as you are aware, we monitor all visitations with those we have in holding. Your visitation this evening with Mr. Abernathy prompted our monitors to contact me."

"He's from 12. I heard he was here. Wanted to see him." I shrug trying to look calm, cool and collected.

"And how is it that you came to know of his arrival in 13?"

"Just heard it around is all."

"I see." She says as she stares me down from across the table. I try not to look nervous. I try to stare back at her, feigning innocence.

She continues. "What I would really like to know more about is the conversation you had earlier with Mr. Abernathy. You mentioned that there may be something on Miss Undersee's record that she was unaware of, something that could hinder her clearance. Can you elaborate more on this for me?"

"Of course I can. Like I was telling Haymitch, Mayor Undersee hated me being with his daughter. Hated it a lot. He initially called me into his office and told me to break up with Madge. Said if I didn't then he'd make sure I could never get back out in the woods again. And well, the hunting I did in the woods, that was the only way my family and I could survive. I had to break up with her, it was as if I didn't have a choice."

"So you two went your separate ways for awhile? I don't see any mention of this in either of your intake interviews." She comments as she flips through the pages of the folder in front of her.

"Didn't know it was relevant to anything." I say as I raise my shoulders in a shrug.

"Everything is relevant." She muses, still flipping through the file. "How long did the separation last?"

"Just a few days really. We got called to come to the Capitol to interview for our friend and well, time alone, away from the watchful eyes of her father sort of brought us together again."

"I saw your interview and you certainly appeared to be a couple there. Was her father not a factor at this point?"

"Yes but Madge was raised to always pretend to make the Capitol happy. Even if that meant pretending. So we concocted a story about how we would tell her father we had to pretend to be a couple. And truthfully, we sort of did. That's the thing about the Capitol, you have to do things sometimes to please them in order to keep yourself or others safe. "

"And you continued the relationship upon returning home from the interview?"

"Couldn't help it. Just felt natural. It was all in private though. And it was only a short time later when the bombings happened and we had to run for our lives."

"And at what point did her father realize you two were still together?"

"The day of the bombings. He told me he could tell that we weren't just pretending for the Capitol cameras. He said it was written all over our faces. Told me that he had paperwork written up to transfer to the Capitol and that he was taking Madge with him as soon as the approval came in. He told me I shouldn't have challenged him. That I should have stayed away from his daughter."

"And you never felt it necessary to discuss this with Miss Undersee?"

"She lost her home and her entire family in the bombings. What good would've come from telling her that her father was going behind her back to keep us apart? Didn't seem like she needed to know at that point."

"And what was the reason you failed to mention this in your intake interview?"

"Like I said, I didn't know it was relevant. When you guys interviewed me, nothing made sense. I had no idea what would be relevant and what wouldn't."

"For future reference, everything is relevant here." She tells me as she closes the file and pushes back from the table. Her chair legs screeching against the concrete again.

"I see that now."

"Have a pleasant evening Mr. Hawthorne." She says as she leaves the room.

I don't even get a chance to talk to her further or to ask what happens now. She's gone just like that and I'm being escorted out of the room. I tell the officer to take me back to Madge's cell, that I still have to visit her today .

"Miss Undersee is unavailable for visitation at the moment. You will have to see her tomorrow instead."

"I'll wait." I say, figuring she must be gone to bathe or something like that.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible this evening. She's undergoing some tests that will take quite awhile."

"Tests? What kind of tests?" I ask as fear shoots straight through me.

"I'm unable to divulge any information other than what I've already told you."

Tests? What are they doing to her? Are they hurting her? What sort of tests? Is she sick? What in the hell is happening to her right now that's so secretive they can't tell me about it? If there's anything I've learned about 13 it's that anything secretive isn't a good thing. Whatever these tests are, they aren't a good thing at all.

A/N: I am SOOOOO sorry it took me so long to update! My apologies a thousand times over!