7.

It didn't take long for Gale to understand why they called this place Neverland.

He watched curiously through the windshield as the van made its way through the fortified Village, both impressed and scared by the tall walls that surrounded the little enclave, by the sense of purpose of everyone running around for whatever errands they were fulfilling, by the obvious almost military organization… Everyone he saw was armed to the teeth with stakes, blades or crossbows…

What struck him above everything else, though, was the fact that almost every person the van crossed on its way to the top of the hill was under eighteen. There were a lot of teenagers, quite a few kids far too young to run around with blades strapped to their back… There were the occasional adults or demony-looking people but, mostly, the Village seemed to be full of children.

"Do you steal kids or something?" he asked Trinket when he felt her silencing spell fade away from his tongue.

A flash of disgust passed on her face and her features hardened just as the van stopped at Abernathy's house. Except it clearly wasn't Abernathy's house any longer. It looked entirely different. The front door was open for one thing and kids were walking in and out with the same kind of purpose everyone seemed to have in that place.

She didn't answer, opening the doors of the van with a flick of her hand and hopping off. She strode inside the house and he hurried to follow, a bit scared despite himself that she would leave him to hang.

He wasn't sure why she was so offended. That was what witches did, wasn't it? In every fairytale. They stole kids, pushed them in a big oven, ate them… Or they hurt people. He couldn't remember one story with a single good witch in it – Harry Potter notwithstanding.

And this Trinket? His mind might still be swirling from the whole vengeance demon slash different reality thing but one thing was clear: this Trinket was not the Trinket he knew. Gone was the eccentric slightly ridiculous Art Teacher. The woman right there? She was a witch from the fairy tales, a dark witch through and through. He could feel it in his guts. And it wasn't just the new hair color. It was the urge to run away that gripped his stomach every time her dark blue eyes settled on him.

"Mom, you're back!" a boy exclaimed from the top of the stairs.

Trinket stopped walking and Gale almost collided with her back, a bit too aware that Madge and Thresh were right behind him – watching him because they didn't trust him, more likely than not. Because he had to avoid walking straight into the witch's back, it took him a second to identify the boy who was awkwardly hopping down the stairs, leaning heavily on the banister on one side and on a weighty-looking wooden staff on the other.

"Mom?" he repeated, incredulous, staring at Mellark.

But Mellark, like everybody else he had found so far that night, was not really Mellark.

And if he had had any doubts left about this being some sort of deranged test, the empty space where Mellark's shin should have been swept them away. The boy's leg ended a little above the knee. His pants were pinned up neatly.

It was… surreal.

Mellark frowned and studied him, a bit curious but not as hostile as the others. "Mom? What's going on?"

Trinket sighed but Gale saw her relax as the boy came closer; some sort of tension seemed to leave her body when she laid a heavy hand on the teenager's shoulder.

"Vengeance demon wish gone awry." she explained in a dismissive tone. "We found a few vampires far too close to the perimeter. Did everything go well here?"

Mellark winced. "Their witches are aiming attacks at the north side again."

"I know." Trinket nodded. "I feel it but the wards are holding."

"I strengthened them as best as I could." Mellark eagerly nodded. "But… I think we should add another layer. I can..."

"No." the witch cut him off. She sounded exhausted but she forced a smile. "I will do it."

Mellark's face twisted with worry. "But, Mom…"

"I will be fine, darling. Not to worry." she promised, turning away in the library's direction. "I am not to be disturbed unless it is an emergency."

"Hey, wait!" Gale frowned, reaching out to grab her wrist by reflex.

He should have known better in hindsight.

The bang of magic pushed him away and he hit the wall with sickening speed. He felt the crash but it all went so fast that, really, the next thing he was aware of he was sitting on the floor – sprawled on the floor – with a dozen pairs of eyes staring at him. Thresh had his knife out and was glaring at him. He spotted more glints of blades. Kids were peering out of the living-room, the kitchen, outside… They all looked ready to skin him alive for having touched their precious witch. There was also a shimmering bubble of white light around Trinket and, since Mellark had both hand and staff up in the air pointed in her direction, Gale figured it was some kind of magical protection.

For a very long second, time seemed to freeze.

Mellark was the one who eventually dropped the fighting stance first, limped closer to Gale and outstretched a helpful hand. "I don't think he meant any harm, people."

"He did not." Trinket confirmed, rubbing her forehead. She seemed frayed at the seams. As if she was only hanging on by a thread. To her credit, she looked a bit guilty. "Show's over. Everyone goes back to their own business."

Like magic, everyone moved away, grumbling.

Gale wondered if she had them all under a spell or something. Still, he grabbed Mellark's hand and let the boy haul him up to his feet. His shoulder had taken the brunt of the crash and he rubbed it nervously.

He looked for a flicker of recognition in Mellark's eyes but, unsurprisingly, he found none.

"Go get some rest." Trinket ordered Thresh and Madge who were still hovering by the front door. "You earned it and I will need you to do patrol later. We cannot let them get this close to the Village." She waited until Thresh had gone back out into the street and Madge had walked past Mellark – their fingers deliberately brushing together in a way that was definitely not friendly – and up the stairs before turning back to Gale. "Do not grab me like that. Ever."

It sounded more like a threat than a warning.

He didn't let that intimidate him.

Or, at least, he tried not to let that intimidate him. She was scary.

He jutted his chin up, crossed his arms, widened his stance, ready to make his stand. "You need to help me fix this. You need to…"

She snorted in a bitter mocking way. "I do not need to do anything."

"What's the problem exactly?" Mellark butted in, his gaze traveling from Trinket to him. "Can I help?"

Trinket seemed to hesitate and then her face fell and, again, she looked more exhausted than menacing. "His wish resulted in this." She waved her arm around. "Apparently, he comes from a world where vampires do not rule supreme and Maysilee..." Her voice broke on the name and she cleared her throat. "Maysilee succeeded in banishing Snow, at least for a time." she added with more poise. "Then he had to go and feel vindictive enough that a vengeance demon turned that perfect world into… this."

"Wouldn't say the world's perfect." Gale muttered but then winced. "Look, we need to fix it, don't you see? If we fix it…"

"If we fix it, chances are you will disappear and we will still be here trapped in this hell, because that is how magic works." Trinket scoffed. "And I do not have time to spare fixing your mistake. I have a war to fight."

"There's no way to fix it." Mellark added with a bit more compassion. "I'm sorry. Vengeance demons… There's no return policy on their wishes."

He shook his head. "Then we make him take it back. Look, just… I need to find him. Then I can handle it. I just… I just need help finding him, I know shit about demons, and…"

"The Quell is around the corner." Trinket snapped. "I have bigger problems." Her eyes fell on Mellark and she softened again. "Help him identify that demon if you want but I guarantee it won't change anything for us."

"But we would have done something right, something good." Mellark argued with an impish smile. "And that's karma points, right, Mom?"

Trinket chuckled but it didn't sound quite genuine. "Right. Karma points. I need to see to the wards. Be careful, darling. And no summoning without telling me first."

She dropped a distracted kiss on top of the boy's head and then disappeared in the library. A dark purple shimmer glimmered over the door long after she had shut it. Mellark stared at it for a few seconds, concern clearly written on his features. Then he shook out of it and turned to Gale, offering a hand. "I'm Peeta."

"I know." he said. He shook the boy's hand anyway, fighting that feeling of surreal again. "We're…" What were they? Not friends. Not even really friendly. But not enemies either. Not really. "We know each other. You're… You're going out with my best friend."

At least he thought they were, even if no one had officially told him. He wasn't blind.

And it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would to say it out loud.

Maybe because to those people Katniss was…

He couldn't think it. He couldn't even think it. Katniss was fine and he just needed to get back to his own reality. And then he would hug her and it would all be fine. And he would run to kiss his baby sister because she wasn't… She wasn't…

"Madge?" Mellark asked innocently.

It felt like a punch in the chest to have that suspicion confirmed. He didn't like picturing it. Mellark and Madge… He didn't like picturing it any more than he liked picturing him with Katniss but somehow… Somehow the burning bite of jealousy was harder to suppress. Fresher.

Maybe because he had had time to accept he had lost Katniss but Madge…

He wasn't sure what he wanted from Madge. But he was very sure he didn't want Madge with Mellark.

"Katniss." he corrected with clenched teeth.

A flash of recollection passed on the boy's face. "Oh, Katniss? She's alive where you come from? I used to have such a crush on her before…" He shook his head. "Shame what happened to her and her sister. She could sing, that girl…"

How could those people talk about dead people with that sort of casualness? Gale almost bit his head off for it so, in retrospect, it was probably a good thing he didn't have time to.

Mellark maneuvered around using his staff as a crutch and headed for the stairs. "Come on, we can figure this out in my room. Sorry, what's your name?"

"Gale. Hawthorne." he answered, feeling a bit disconnected as he followed the boy. "Why do you call her mom?"

Mellark shot him a surprised look over his shoulder. "She didn't find me in your world?" Then realization passed on his face and he winced. "Oh, right… If Maysilee… The Seam didn't fall for you, right? It still… It still works like a normal town?" The boy didn't seem to require an answer and he was so focused on navigating the stairs that Gale didn't offer one. "I was five when Snow decided he wasn't happy ruling from the shadows anymore. They already controlled everything, you know… It was not that hard to grab the Seam. And it was only the first step… The first town… He's got the whole state now."

"And nobody comes to help?" Gale asked. "The government…"

"The government built a nice tall fence around us and declared we're a quarantine zone." Mellark snorted. "There are ways to go in and out, of course, but there's a full state full of vampires and demons to sneak past first. Not many people can make it." The boy shook his head. "We're on our own. We've been on our own from the start. Even the Council…" He paused to glance at him but when he caught no question on Gale's face about that he went on. "They won't send anyone. No Slayer, no Council Operative, not even a Watcher… Effie's it. She's been it for twenty years. Ever since Maysilee died."

They had reached the top of the stairs and Gale followed Mellark to what was supposed to be Katniss and Prim's bedroom. There was no doubt it was Mellark's room though. The shelves were overcrowded with books, fiction and leather bound tomes alike, magic stuff was laying around, crystals and glass jars full of herbs mixed with drawing pads and colored pencils… A few sketches were tapped to the wall… He spotted a few of Trinket and Madge but mostly they were landscapes: open forest, a glimmering lake, fantastic looking places…

"Anyway, that's the day she found me. The day the Seam fell." Mellark continued, dropping down on his bed, carefully leaning the staff against the wall in easy reach. "My parents had a bakery and when the vampires attacked… My mom, my real mom, she hid me in the big oven. The place caught fire… I was stuck… My leg… Effie saved me." He shrugged, a small sad smile on his lips. "I don't remember much from that night. The pain… But I remember that part clearly. She burst in through the flames… She was like an avenging angel. A really bad-ass angel. She brought me back to the Village. I was the first kid she took in. She raised me, that's why I call her mom. Oh, sorry... Sit down."

Gale wasn't really at ease but he grabbed the desk chair and sat down, not quite sure what to say about that tale. He couldn't really imagine it. "She did find you where I come from too, I guess. Just not… Like that."

He wasn't sure why Mellark was suddenly living with Trinket, Katniss hadn't explained and Madge wouldn't say, no matter how much he pressed for details, so if the girl knew she was keeping the secret. However, there was no doubt that his Mellark was as enamored of the witch as this one was. The boy looked at her like she was shitting rainbows.

Still, whatever the reason why Trinket now had custody of Mellark, it couldn't be as bad as…

His eyes fell on the missing leg.

Mellark must have been used to the staring because he shrugged it off. "Guess I never lost my leg either in your world?"

He winced. "No."

There was a light knock on the door they hadn't bothered to close and Madge came in, wearing pajamas and a pink dressing gown. She tossed Gale a curious look but answered Mellark's bright happy smile with a smile of her own. Wordlessly, she climbed on the other side of the bed, sat cross-legged, her blond hair pulled up in her usual ponytail.

The sight of Madge in her pajamas sitting on Mellark's bed… It wasn't one he wanted to linger on.

"So…" He cleared his throat. "Trinket… She's in charge here?" That seemed obvious enough but that begged the question… why? "You said she took over after Maysilee died but… I don't get it. If she's not a Slayer and she's not a Watcher…"

"Well, she was here and that's Effie for you, she would never leave family." Madge shrugged. "After Aunt Maysilee died, she couldn't leave my mom knowing she might be in danger… And my mom and my grandparents… They didn't want to believe the rumors about Snow so they wouldn't get out of town. Effie stayed. Even if they hated her, she stayed."

Gale frowned, trying to remember what he knew about that particular time, which was not a lot because he hadn't been very interested in the specifics of the Seam's vampiric history. What he knew about Maysilee he had learned from his little investigation on Abernathy and a few off-hand comments from Madge.

What he knew with certainty, however, was that Trinket had come to the Seam for the first time a few months ago. She had never met Maysilee. That didn't add up.

"My Trinket… She wasn't there for any of it." he countered. "She's new to the Seam. And she's a Watcher."

"Weird." Mellark frowned. "Effie was a Potential and her Watcher got assigned to Maysilee when she was Called so she came along for the ride."

"She and Maysilee hated each other at first." Madge added with a small sorrowful smile. "Then they didn't…"

There was a whole load of unpacked things in there he wasn't sure how to interpret. And he wasn't that interested to try anyway. What he wanted to know… "You said they had the same Watcher… Where's Abernathy?"

Where was Abernathy?

The Watcher was conspicuous by his absence. Was he dead too? Like Katniss? Like Posy? Like…

No.

No, none of them were dead.

He was just lost. Just lost.

Mellark and Madge shared a puzzled look.

"That's twice you ask about that Slayer…" Madge pointed out. "You know she's dead, right? She's been dead forty years…"

"Closer to thirty five." Mellark corrected with a hint of teasing, nudging her. "Some Watcher, you make."

Madge playfully stuck out his tongue at him with the familiarity of people who grew up together. They must have, Gale realized, if Trinket had created this Neverland place right after the Seam had fallen.

"Not the Slayer." he argued, before they could do something that would infuriate him – like kiss. "Her son? Haymitch Abernathy? Is he dead too?"

They both shot him blank looks.

"Is it important?" Madge asked.

Mellark nudged her again with a chiding look, as if to remind the girl that, yes, dead people still mattered.

Gale couldn't really understand this Madge. She was hard in a way his own had never been. The Madge he knew wore her heart on her sleeve. She was kind and smart and compassionate…

"Yeah." he reluctantly scoffed, his jaw clenched. "Cause I think he's the reason we're in this mess…"

That was Abernathy, after all, a fucking pain in his ass even when he was nowhere to be found.

Oh sure let's blame Haymitch XD So... You wanted Peeta, you got him ;) And it seems we figured out where the universes diverge outside for Haymitch not being a Watcher... Caesar got the job instead... And Effie and Maysilee grew close... How are we feeling about that? :p What did you think?

(for some reason ff is not telling I've got reviews anymore. I don't know if alerts go out or not. If you want to comment (and an answer from me) maybe you could do it on AO3? I can answer comments there and at least I will know I've got them haha)