DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME
A/N: I wanted to address the comment that Gale is a different person in this story. Yes and no, as I mentioned, some of the dialogue/events are real lines from the book-with some slight changes. I feel when it comes to non-canon pairings the character is always going to be a bit OOC-to keep them completely in character is just not realistic, at least in my opinion. I would think the type of dialogue/events between them is what Everthorne fans would like to see, at least I do! But I always appreciate the reviews!
Katniss wakes up in 13's hospital, an IV inserted into her arm. She knows after her meltdown earlier they gave her something to knock her out. She sees Haymitch in a chair pulled up beside her. He tells her she has been asleep for eight hours, but it feels as if she has been asleep longer than that.
She had woken up at 4 am, for Boggs had informed her and Gale after dinner yesterday that they had to be up and ready to report to the conference room at 4:45 to begin prepping for a propo that was to be filmed above ground. After she was suited up and her hair fixed and make up applied by her prep team, they head outside around 7 am. They head to the ruins of the old Justice Building. Gale notices the freshly cut pink and red roses on the ground, and she panics, knowing that the flowers were a message for her.
Unable to film the propo showing Panem that the Mockingjay survived the bombing, she begins to have a panic attack. She sees Gale instinctively move forward to comfort her, but in the end, the only person she wanted comfort from was Haymitch.
She gives Gale a pleading look with her eyes as she reaches out for Haymitch, her mentor wrapping his arms around her in response, telling her it will be okay. Telling Haymitch she cannot do this anymore, she begins sobbing in hysteria as she tells him it is her fault what is happening to Peeta, and that it is because she is the Mockingjay. As she continues to sob uncontrollably, the needle is inserted into her arm.
She is floored when Haymitch tells her they are going to try to get Peeta out of the Capitol.
"What? That doesn't even make any sense."
"Plutarch's sending in a rescue team. He has….people on the inside. He seems to think we can get Peeta back alive."
"Why didn't he do it before?" Katniss says angrily.
"Because it's costly. But everyone agrees it is the right thing to do. Even Coin. They don't want to lose the Mockingjay now. And you can't perform unless you know Snow can't take it out on Peeta."
"What do you mean costly?"
"You know-covers will be blown, people may die, but people have been dying every day. And they are not just rescuing Peeta, they plan to get Annie out too."
"They are?"
"Yeah, he had to be sedated as well. He lost it right after they knocked you out. I think Boggs knew it was finally time to do something, so he arranged the mission."
"I think it is good that Boggs is leading it."
"Oh, he's on top of it" Haymitch says, but Katniss immediately notices his demeanor changes when he says, "it was volunteer only."
"Who else volunteered?" she asks warily.
"There were…seven altogether" he says avoiding her eyes.
"Who else!" she says in a desperate tone.
"You know who. Who else would step up to be the first volunteer?"
"No" she says shaking her head vigorously. 'Not Gale' she thinks to herself, thinking that she cannot lose him.
Seeing the hysteria about to come on again, Haymitch gently says, "do you want me to have them sedate you until it's over?"
"No! I want to go to the Capitol, I need to be a part of the rescue mission" she says, needing to be with Gale, it was always the two of them, side by side in this rebellion.
"Too late, they are already gone."
"I can still catch up; they could send out another hovercraft" she blurts out.
"Not a chance, you are too valuable too them, you know that. And too….vulnerable. They wanted to send you to another District as a distraction, but they don't think you can handle it."
She pleads with Haymitch to do something, she cannot sit by in agony. Hating herself for not telling Gale that she did in fact love him, that instead of allowing him to comfort her she went to Haymitch. While she loved Peeta, she knew in her heart she was in love with Gale. Loving them both in completely different ways.
Heavensbee agrees to allowing a propo to be shot to try to distract Snow. Katniss finds herself back in front of the old Justice Building, finally doing what Haymitch has asked her to do since the first day they met. She opens up, telling Cressida as she is being filmed about the day her and Peeta first met. How she was 11, trying to sell baby clothes in the rain, and how Peeta's Mother chased her away, and how Peeta took a beating from his Mother after he gave her the loaves of bread that saved her family. Cressida tells her that Peeta was in love with her by the time the Hunger Games started, and she responds by saying, "I guess so" with a small smile. When asked how she was handling the separation she responded with the truth-not well. Because she had not been doing well. "I know at any moment Snow could kill him. It's a terrible thing to live with."
Finnick is interviewed next and drops a bombshell. That Snow forced him into prostitution. His parade of lovers who paid him in secrets.
He then begins talking about Snow and everyone's mouths drop in shock.
Once Finnick's interview is done, he and Katniss try to keep themselves occupied, for they were not allowed in the command room. Desperately trying not to think about Gale or Peeta, she distracts herself by asking Finnick about Annie, the two of them making knots as they talk.
Around midnight, Haymitch tells them they have arrived back. Without a word, Katniss and Finnick run at top speed to the hospital.
When she arrives, she sees in a doorway Gale's tall frame. He's stripped to the waist, perspiration streaming down his face as a doctor removes something from under his shoulder blade with a long pair of tweezers. He's wounded, but alive.
"Gale!" Katniss calls as she moves at full speed towards the door.
"You can't be in here" a nurse says to her as she pushes Katniss away from the door and abruptly shuts it in her face.
"Open up! Let me in!" Katniss screams pounding on the door.
She thinks she hears Gale's voice behind the door, but she is distracted by the loud sounds of a woman calling out to Finnick. Realizing that it is Annie, she watches as Annie and Finnick fiercely embrace each other. Jealousy overcomes her, seeing Finnick comfort the person he loves but she cannot.
Boggs tells her that they got everyone out but Enobaria. He then tells her she should be in the room when Peeta wakes. She begins to worry as they head into the room if Peeta will try to kiss her, picking up from where they left off on the beach in the arena. She ponders how she will react, for things have changed now, and while she does not want to upset him, he deserves to know the truth. That she and Gale are now lovers, for she knows that what happened yesterday at the cabin won't be the last.
Her worries quickly squash once Peeta's hands lock around her neck.
Katniss awakens to the feel of Prim's hand. Prim tells her she thinks they will take the extremely large collar that is on her neck off soon. Prim tells her Heavensbee, Haymitch, and Beetee were waiting outside for the doctor to give clearance to come in and talk to her. She knows they have not told Gale, for he would be here with Prim if they had.
She is told about the hijacking that the Capitol has done, how Snow has conditioned Peeta to look at her as a threat. She knows her face shows her sadness, but she is glad she cannot speak. The sadness on her face, reflects how she hates herself now. For while it is hard to process the concept of Peeta now hating her instead of loving her, she feels a sense of relief, for she thinks perhaps, maybe he will not ever have to find out about her and Gale. Maybe he will never recover. Maybe she will not have to break his heart.
Prim tells her later that night she found out Gale has been confined to another part of the hospital, recovering from a shoulder wound and that he is not allowed to visit. But after she is medicated for the night and the lights are turned off, she hears him slip silently into her room.
She feels his fingers run over the bruises on her neck before she feels his lips on her forehead.
"I can't believe what's happened to you" he says quietly.
The drugs beginning to kick in, she fights to keep her eyes open as she gives him a look trying to convey that she is okay, relieved that he is now here.
The next evening, she finds out he has been discharged, for he comes into her room and kisses her before whispering into her ear that he will find a way to visit. He then disappears, for she knows he cannot be seen in her room past visitation hours.
Over the next three days, he comes with Prim and her Mother during their daily visit to her room. She wonders how he manages to get out of his schedule, considering he is not family, but figures they probably look at him as family since besides Haymitch, he is her only friend here.
Still unable to talk, she takes solace in the board games the four of them play to pass the time, helping her take her mind off Peeta, for she had not gotten an update or visit from Heavensbee or Beetee since the day of the attack.
When she is finally released, after having passed an exam from 13's speech therapist, she becomes restless in her room after Prim leaves and not wanting to stick around with Buttercup, leaves to try to find Gale.
When she does not find him in the training room, she makes her way down to the Special Defense area. She quickly finds him in the research room with Beetee, the two of them immersed in a drawing on the table, taking a measurement. She looks around the room and sees sketches of drawings all over the floor and table. She sees other designs taped up on the wall and on the computer screens when she recognizes Gale's twitch up snare in one of the designs.
"What are these?" she asks, the hoarseness in her voice startling them both.
"Katniss-you found us out" Beetee says with a hint of guilt in his voice.
"What? Is this a secret?" failing to tell Beetee she knows Gale has been down here working with him quite a bit.
"No, but I've been feeling guilty, stealing Gale away from you so much."
She gives him a fake smile as she says, "I hope you've been putting his time to good use."
"Come and see."
She is angered by what she sees, the ruthlessness of the bomb designs. She looks at Gale as he remains silent as Beetee talks, explaining to Katniss how the bombs work.
"You don't think this crosses a line? Anything goes now? I guess there isn't a rule book for is and is not acceptable to do to another human being?"
She watches as Beetee stares at her in shock, then forms a look of doubt on his face as he ponders what she has said.
Gale however looks at her with hostility. "Beetee and I have been following the same rule book President Snow used when he hijacked Peeta."
'Cruel and to the point' she thinks to herself. Disgusted that the behaviors that fueled the conflict between them were resurfacing, she turns around and leaves.
The next day, she watches as Delly Cartwright unsuccessfully tries to talk to Peeta. Distraught that everything was falling apart around her, and that yet again things with Gale have become strained, she pleads with Heavensbee to send her to the Capitol.
He tells her that can't happen until all of the Districts are secure, and that fighting still continued in District 2. She asks him to send her there and to her surprise, he does not say no.
"I'll pack my things" Gale says to Katniss. They are alone inside her new compartment, for she, Prim, and her Mother were moved to a new location after the bombing.
"No. I don't want you to come."
"What?" he says in disbelief.
"Beetee needs you, you two have important work to do" she says with a tone indicating her displeasure with him.
"I'm doing what needs to be done to win this war. To protect you!"
"Exactly why you need to stay here right? I can't take you away from that" she says in a mocking tone.
"All I want…is to be with you."
"I want that too, but I told you we had to be on the same page when it came to rebellion."
"And I told you I'd get Peeta back! I risked my life-for you!"
"I think this rebellion has….put us at an impasse."
He stares at her in shock, unable to form a response.
"You don't know how hard this is for me. It is why I asked Heavensbee to send me away. I need to get away from….all of this conflict. What has happened to us, I cannot bear it anymore. Despite what happened at the cabin and how I feel about you, I can't ignore what is going on. Sometimes I think, the sooner you let me go, the better it will be."
She sees the devastation in his eyes as the tears form, walking away without another word, refusing to let her see his tears fall as he closes the door behind him.
A/N: A lot of angst happens when trying to work off the original source material.