Helloooo, it's meeee. ... Yes, I disappeared from this series but I had the most massive block ever (I blame Gale). Good new is you get the new episode in time for Halloween! Hopefully you will like it? I hope?

Thanks to the wonderful akachankami as always for the beta!

And The World Goes Blind

1

Gale released the arrow but it was already too late, it flew wide and lost itself into the night to hit a tombstone or a tree - because Katniss had dispatched the vampire in front of her and spun around to kick the one behind her in the stomach so he would be projected back onto Abernathy's waiting stake…

He clenched his jaw but fished another arrow just in case.

There were no more vampires though, once the dust hit the ground that part of the cemetery became deadly quiet again.

Abernathy and Katniss high-fived like it was all a game.

Gale clenched his jaw harder to the point his teeth were gritting together. He had fallen back like they had told him to, to provide cover with the bow, but what was the point when they clearly didn't need it or even take him into account? He had been following instructions to the letter so he wouldn't be kicked off the team again since it was the only way Katniss would let him come on patrols and be involved, but no matter how nice he tried to play, it still felt like he was on the outside.

They had their rhythm and he didn't fit in.

"That's ten tonight." Katniss remarked, picking up a stake she had dropped earlier and slipping it back on her belt.

"Let's take the long way home." Abernathy suggested. "We're gonna swing by the trailer park to drop the boy off and circle back through town."

"You wanna hit the Cornucopia?" she offered.

The Watcher made a small hesitant face and then shook his head. "No. That's Enobaria's hunting ground and I don't wanna get too close to the Careers without more firepower."

The man hadn't even asked Katniss if she was okay, Gale mused, falling in steps with them, hanging back a little – not that they noticed – either because the Watcher didn't care or because it only served to reinforce this stupid tale that Katniss was somehow almost invincible.

"Doesn't seem like we're gonna get more firepower anytime soon." she pointed out.

Firepower was probably a code name for magic.

And Gale wasn't surprised Abernathy wanted to wait to hit the nightclub because Abernathy wanted to wait before hitting anything of importance. The Capitol? The Cornucopia? The woods that were slowly but surely becoming a sure way to end up dead during the night and weren't much safer during the day?

It had been close to two weeks since that day at the hotel, since he had watched dozens and dozens of children get ripped apart, and Abernathy wasn't willing to do anything to go against the ones responsible.

Too dangerous.

Too soon.

Not well enough prepared.

Not enough firepower.

All excuses in Gale's opinion.

He was too busy moping around – after a drink or his ex, that was anyone's guess – to be of real use.

Gale had tried to warn Katniss, to make her see but…

Katniss was happy training in that basement all day long, training Prim so she would be able to defend herself… She had even offered to let him join but… Letting Abernathy coach him through combat moves was too much for him.

The man was barely tolerating Gale coming to patrols anyway and Katniss was never quick to defend him even if he felt he had proven himself more times than necessary. He was a great shot. He was useful.

But he probably had too much influence on Katniss and Abernathy couldn't bear that because he was a fucking controlling ass. What other reason was there to force both Everdeen girls to drop out of school completely so they could spend all day learning to fight in the basement?

And that was exactly what he told Madge at school the next day before first period.

"He's a fucking controlling ass."

Madge pursed her lips, hugging her books closer to her chest, not really pleased with the language or, he supposed, the dark look on his face. Gale leaned against the row of lockers, crossing his own arms in front of his chest, a bit aware he probably looked like a sulking child.

"That's really not my impression." she replied calmly.

"Yeah, cause he's good at being charming." he scoffed. "He's a hell of a manipulator, I'll give him that."

"Oh, and we're all too stupid to see it but you're not?" she snapped.

"That's not what I said." He frowned, shooting her a wounded look. "Why are you so angry with me?"

"I'm not angry." she denied but her shoulders were tense and she looked angry. "But I don't think you've ever given Haymitch a fair chance."

"Right." he deadpanned. He had heard that one before. From Katniss, from Mellark, from his own mother… Everyone was so convinced the man was a saint… He knew better because he had done the research and he had seen the trail of bodies Abernathy left in his wake. Perhaps he hadn't killed those people himself but where he went, it seemed death followed with certainty. If he was in a charitable mood, Gale was willing to call it incompetence. If he wasn't, he called it just what it was: laziness and a selfish need to save his own ass. "Anyway. When are we going to make a move? That monster's influence is spreading and all we're doing is killing random vampires every night. It's like trying to stop a ship from sinking with a shot glass."

Madge's eyes widened and she glanced around to make sure nobody had heard him. The corridor was full of kids though and the sound of laughter and conversations drowned his voice enough that he wasn't scared about being overheard. And even if someone did hear… Who would believe he was talking about real vampires?

"We shouldn't discuss this here." she rebuked. "Look, I'm still on house arrest so I can't go to the Village but I've been texting with Katniss and she says it's too dangerous to go on the offensive for now. She agrees with Haymitch from what she told me, she doesn't think she can take Enobaria or Gloss so, for now, she's training and avoiding a confrontation."

"She's too busy babysitting Mellark all day, you mean." he snorted.

In his opinion, Katniss dropping out of Seam High was the last in a series of bad decisions. He didn't see why she had to give up her education. Abernathy certainly hadn't given up his job as a teacher.

She claimed she was spending most of her day training and studying all she could about Snow but… Gale thought it was all an excuse to make sure there was someone there to keep an eye on Mellark and Trinket – someone who wasn't Prim.

"Now you're really being unfair." Madge accused. "It's not Peeta's fault. He's trying."

Feeling a bit guilty because it really wasn't the other boy's fault, Gale half-shrugged, granting her the point.

He wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with Mellark because nobody had really seen fit to explain the details to him – another way Abernathy had of making him feel like an outsider to their little group, their family as they called it as if he and Katniss hadn't been family long before they all came along – but clearly, whatever had happened in that hell dimension had taken its toll.

He hadn't seen the other boy a lot because the teen was rarely at Abernathy's and the rare times Gale had ventured to Trinket's – out of genuine concern – Mellark had barely noticed him.

As far as he could tell, Mellark spent his days painting terrifying stuff or frantically sketching more creepy images. The finished products were all very abstract so it was hard to say what it was exactly but it always left Gale with a bad taste in the back of his mouth.

The boy wasn't responsive either.

He'd answer Abernathy if the man asked him a direct question and he immediately replied to Trinket when she addressed him but he had a tendency to lose himself in his own thoughts and, from what Gale had seen, only Katniss could coax him out when that happened. There was a weird game of "real or not real" going on between the two of them that he didn't even want to try and unpack.

Gale wasn't sure exactly what was up but he figured maybe they should seek some professional help – which he had tentatively suggested once because the state Mellark was in had truly spooked him and he had found himself facing four identical defensive faces. Prim had been the scariest of the lot.

"I guess." he sighed. "Not sure Trinket is, though."

Trinket moved around a lot more than Mellark did. He had found her in the basement with Katniss a few times, supervising her training… Although he wasn't sure what the woman could contribute because she didn't seem to be able to stand on her own two feet for more than a few minutes at a time. She looked like a walking corpse those days, far too pale and far too thin, her eyes were often vacant and even her outfits lacked their usual… flamboyance. She was uncharacteristically silent most of the time, as if she was so exhausted she reserved her words for when it counted.

She looked depressed and she kept tossing longing looks at Abernathy when the man wasn't looking – and since he was always looking with yearning at her when her head was turned, there wasn't a lot of actual looking at each other going on.

"She went through a lot." Madge chided, more coldly. She had taken a liking to the witch, just like Katniss had and he bit his tongue not to point out her losing her magic might be the best thing that had happened to her. He still thought magic couldn't be natural. "I heard she quitted."

He frowned. "Teaching, you mean?"

"Yeah." the girl nodded. "Heavensbee's looking for another Art teacher."

That didn't quite surprise him.

The woman had spent more time on sick leave since she had been hired than actually working.

Which, again, in his humble opinion, tended to show how much all those people who supposedly should know how to take care of the Slayer sucked…

"Makes sense since Katniss dropped out." he remarked. "Don't know why Abernathy won't do the same."

And make his life easier in the process.

He had skipped History as much as he had been able to but he would get in trouble if he kept that up.

He really didn't want to see his face any more than he had to.

"It's a good way to stay involved in the local community and pick up rumors." Madge explained. He shot her a surprised look and she shrugged. "It was in his Watcher journal about my aunt. Effie didn't quit because there's no point teaching anymore, she quitted because she doesn't think she will recover any time soon. And…" She hesitated. "Katniss told me they want her back in England. For a hearing or something like that."

A hearing… Maybe there were other people who realized just how bad Trinket and Abernathy were at their job, then. That was mildly reassuring.

He frowned. "So she's leaving?"

"I'm not sure." she admitted. "Katniss says nobody really talks about it. Haymitch gets angry and Effie gets frustrated."

He rolled his eyes. "They should just get their act together. If he hadn't been so distracted at the Reaping, he could have killed that vampire and…"

"If it had been you standing there and Katniss dangling in that hole, you wouldn't have been distracted?" she challenged knowingly. And maybe a bit sadly.

He winced, not quite sure why his heart was suddenly beating faster. "It's not like that with Katniss."

Madge's eyebrows did a funny thing that probably meant she wasn't believing him but before he could remind her that Katniss was obviously in love with Mellark, she cleared her throat.

"You really have the wrong idea about Haymitch." she insisted. "He's a good man. I've read my aunt's diary and I've read the journal he kept… You think he's all about the job but… He cares about his Slayers. He really does."

The bell rang, preventing him from having to awkwardly contradict her again.

He didn't think Abernathy really cared or was especially good at his job, for that matter.

He didn't like the man.

He hadn't liked the man from the start.

It was a feeling that came from deep within his guts.

The moment that man had showed up, everything had fallen apart.

Madge waved as she sauntered off to class and he turned to walk to his own classroom. He dropped on his seat without paying the rest of his classmates any attention. It was hard to connect with anyone lately. They all had silly preoccupations like the winter dance or who was going out with whom…

All he was thinking about were vampires and dead kids.

It sickened him that they weren't doing anything to avenge those dead kids.

It sickened him that there were still potential victims trapped in the hotel and they were just sitting on their asses.

The teacher called the room to order and he fished his manual from his bag without really thinking about it. He barely looked up when the door opened again and a boy walked in, handing a slip of paper to the teacher.

They didn't often get new students and that held his attention for a moment.

Sejanus Plinth.

Weird name but they had plenty of that going around, he supposed.

By the time the boy sat on the empty seat next to him, Gale had already lost interest.

There was nothing exceptional about the other kid. He was tall and he had an angular frame, a heap of brown hair on his head… The boy flashed him a quick awkward smile when he caught him watching and Gale nodded back politely but with disinterest.

He could still feel his soulful brown eyes on him though so he forced himself to outstretch a hand, to be friendly, because it wasn't the guy's fault if all he could think about were monsters. "Gale."

"Sejanus." the boy answered, shaking his hand, his smile easing a little.

"Nice watch." he commented because it was the only thing he found to say.

It was exactly the sort of watch he had always wanted but could never afford. It looked expensive, with a golden frame and a leather strap. Strange though because the clothes Sejanus wore looked ordinary enough, he didn't give off the vibe of being one of the wealthy spoiled kids.

"Family heirloom." the new boy said and Gale nodded because that made more sense.

The teacher started her lecture and Gale took half-assed notes that wouldn't help at all later on. He was still in a weird mood, replaying his conversation with Madge in his head and trying to figure out why it felt like he had made a crucial mistake at some point…

When Sejanus asked him to point him out in the direction of the Biology's classroom, he offered to show him without thinking twice about it.

And, he supposed, making a new friend wouldn't hurt.

His current ones didn't seem to be too happy with him anyway.

So... Who wants to tell Gale to chill? Madge apparently is already on that train XD Gale should wake up on that front, shouldn't he? And loooook... A new character! Let's welcome Sejanus! There won't be any real spoiler from TBOSAS so if you haven't read that yet you're in the clear.

Let me know aaaaall your thoughts even if I don't deserve them for going AWOL for so long on that series. The truth is I'm trying to be better about not forcing myself to produce and write stuff and this was really a thorn in my side for a long time, it's stressed me out to know there were people waiting for it and that didn't help so... Yep. The episode is all finished now so it's all ready to go. =)

Let me know your thoughts!