DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

Chapter 58-Gossip

Katniss spent the rest of the day at her Mother's before heading back to her dorm the next morning. She had run out of morphling pills, so her Mother was able to ask the doctor who treated Katniss to write one more prescription. When Katniss went to pick up the prescription, she had seen that the amount of pills was less. She was feeling a lot better however and she only had two more days that she needed to wear her bandages. She was happy about that, for she didn't want to be in interviews with her wrists and lower arms all bandaged up. While she wasn't in as much pain, she found the morphling pills eased her anxiety which had gone up dramatically this last week. She tries to push from her mind what happened on the boat. She also tried to forget about Magnus and how he betrayed her. But with Gale gone she had less and less distractions. He was always good at cheering up her mood and distracting her from things that bothered her. She realizes she used him to help forget about Peeta in District 13. No longer wanting to take advantage of him, she wonders if she should go back to the tribe to help move on from her experience with the Jay Killers. She doesn't know how she could go to the wild territory anytime soon though, unless she decided to not finish her program which was out of the question.

She begins thinking about Gale and the afternoon and evening they spent together in his hotel room. Thinking about the looks he gave her while making love to her. His looks made her feel more wanted and desired than she ever felt with Peeta. She felt guilty for feeling this way, but she always knew that Gale's fire inside him would make him a more passionate lover than Peeta. She knew it from his kisses back in District 12 and during the war. She can't wait to be with him that way again, but she knows she has to wait until she is fully healed. Making love to him that day was a mistake, for she was quite sore after and found taking 1 morphling pill did not ease her discomfort on top of the pain she was already feeling from her injuries. She knows the next time will be even more incredible and she is beyond eager for it, the problem was, she didn't know when she would see him again. She was afraid he could be in serious trouble with Paylor and the military for killing Geffen in cold blood, like she had done with Coin. She hopes surely the Capitol will take into consideration the circumstances and why he did what he did.

When Katniss returned to her dorm, she avoided Magnus's door at all costs, going out of her way to avoid it. She was able to see from down the hall, that his room was all taped off, most likely being cleaned out by PES's staff. She will be staying in her dorm until tomorrow morning, for she will be going to the Capitol Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for interviews. PES representatives from each district will be there, and Katniss gets to list the day she gets there which Districts she'd like to interview with. Should she do well, she would receive an invitation for the four month teaching experience with a certified PES teacher. She decided the District's she wanted to interview with were District 4, District 9, and possibly District 2, only considering District 2 because of Gale. She knows he had concerns about her teaching there, but she is not sure if she will be able to be apart from him for so long. She is supposed to pick 5 Districts total, and is struggling with picking the last two. She considers District 11 and District 7 as possible choices.

While in route to the Capitol, Katniss reviews the notes she has taken to help prepare. PES will be putting her up in a hotel room, usually PES provides housing for the students being interviewed, but because Katniss's classmates did their interviews last week, PES decided to just put her up in a hotel as opposed to making housing arrangements. She wonders if Gale would be able to take the train in for the 3 days she will be there since from District 2 the train ride was only an hour.

Once she gets off the train and walks towards the smaller train station to get to her hotel, she sees the display for Panem's newspaper, Panem Daily. Panem Daily was created about five years ago, the main headquarters in the Capitol. It was a decent newspaper, often keeping Panem's residents up to date with everything going on, and was especially popular with residents who didn't have a TV. The newspaper even came to District 12 though was often delivered late, making the readers behind and preventing them from keeping up with current events. While the newspaper had respectable news worthy stories, it did have an entertainment turned gossip section that would show in the lower right corner of the front page and be the news story of the day. While walking and glancing at the Panem Daily display, something catches Katniss's eye. She comes to a quick stop and walks backwards a few feet and stops right in front of the display, her mouth dropping open in shock by what she sees.

In the lower right hand corner of the front page was a picture of her and Gale on the beach. It is a picture of the two of them laughing. The words, "Does the Mockingjay have a new man?" appear overhead.

She immediately grabs whatever change she can find in her purse and scrambles to find enough to purchase the paper, getting it out of the display case. She finds a bench to sit down on and opens the paper up, furiously turning to the back of the newspaper to read the story. It is a short article, but another picture of her and Gale on the beach is shown, only this picture didn't look as incriminating. It was a picture of the two of them sitting casually on the beach, whereas the picture on the front page was of them in the water, her hands on his arms. The reason she ended up touching him was because a big wave came in, almost knocking her off her feet. She grabbed Gale's arms to steady herself, both of them laughing.

She begins reading the article, written by none other than Ceasar Flickerman. No longer the host for the annual Hunger Games, Ceasar survived the war but didn't have a job after. He was put in government housing for a while in the Capitol until he landed a job with the newspaper, of course writing articles for the entertainment section. She reads his article furiously:

The Girl on Fire's New Man

Written by Ceasar Flickerman

Does Katniss Everdeen have a new man? It is no secret Katniss Everdeen had been living with the love of her life, Peeta Mellark in District 12 and helping to rebuild the District and start a new life together after the war. But Panem Daily has inside information from sources that the girl on fire is no longer with her fiancé!

Katniss and Peeta seemed to be living the perfect life in District 12. It is reported that they moved back into their home in the Victor's Village, the only area of District 12 that was not bombed from the previous regime. But by looking at these pictures, it appears Panem's favorite victor has a new man!

Sources claim that Katniss Everdeen has not been living in District 12 for some time, that she disappeared to another District for months and that nine months ago, she began pursuing a career as a teacher with Panem's Education System and has been residing in District 4. She has been living a relatively busy but quiet life, but it appears the Girl on Fire has a new flame-Gale Hawthorne.

You may recognize Gale Hawthorne from his interviews about District 2's rebuilding process, for he is working as a government official there. You may also recognize him from footage of the war for he is a former member of the Star Squad aka Squad 451 and fought alongside the Mockingjay. It was previously reported that Gale Hawthorne was Katniss's cousin, for he was often seen with her when she lived in District 12. But was the former regime lying about their relationship? Is Gale Hawthorne Katniss's former flame from back in the day?

While they indeed look like cousins, it has long been known that the Seam's residents look similar in appearance-black hair, olive skin, and gray eyes where they are both from.

While unknown how serious their relationship is, sources claim the two were seen together frequently in District 2 last summer. Has their romance rekindled? Based upon these picture of the two of them on the beach, it certainly looks like Peeta Mellark might be yesterday's news.

Katniss scrunches up the newspaper after she is done reading, forming it into a ball and throwing it in the trash. She can't believe she is still considered a celebrity in the Capitol. 'Will it ever end?' she thinks to herself. She knows she will have to see Peeta sooner rather than later, preferring to let him know beforehand. The two of them never read Panem Daily, but she knows someone in District 12 will say something to him once the paper arrives there.

After she arrives at the hotel, she unpacks and tries to relax to clear her mind. Her first interview begins tomorrow at 9 am and she knows she cannot be distracted for she wants to do well. She always felt since she started the program she has more to prove than her classmates, to prove she is more than just a former tribute turned victor. That she deserves to be there just as much as they do and that she didn't get into the program just because of who she is. While most of her classmates were friendly and treated her like a colleague and with respect, some of them were standoffish and never spoke or even looked at her, for if they did, the look was not friendly. Often giving her sideways looks when she was around.

She tries calling Gale at his work, but the line goes straight to voicemail. She leaves a message giving her hotel room number. She then tries calling his apartment and decides if Dez answers, she would hang up. But no one picks up there either.

She then focuses on her notes in preparation for tomorrow. She knows she is almost over preparing but she doesn't feel like going out in public at the moment. Luckily Panem Daily is a daily newspaper and another entertainment article will be posted tomorrow for surely they don't have enough gossip to print another story.

Her mind starts to wander back to the article, not able to forget about it. She finally decides to forgo studying and reaches into her purse and takes another two morphling pills to help ease her anxiety. After about 30 minutes she starts to feel less anxious while watching TV and ends up falling asleep.

The next day she feels refreshed and starving for she slept through dinner. She wakes up at 6 am and takes a shower, gets dressed, applies a little bit of make-up and heads down the hotel lobby for breakfast. She studies her notes while eating and when finished walks over to the PES building for it is only a few blocks away. Once she arrives she finds out her first interview is with District 9. The interview takes 1 hour and Katniss feels it went very well, for the people interviewing her seemed friendly and genuinely interested in having her come to their District. She then has a 30 minute break and her next interview is scheduled with District 4. She feels that interview went well too, but she wasn't sure how the interviewers felt about her. She was able to answer all of the questions so it helps her confidence. She then gets an hour lunch and is told to come back at 1:30 for her final interview with District 2. The District 2 interview goes okay, she is able to answer the questions but Katniss felt that some of the interviewers exhibited and indifferent attitude. She can't help but wonder if some of them had read yesterday's article.

She arrives back at her hotel by 3 pm. She tries calling Gale again without success, still unable to reach him. She tries not to worry, for she knows most likely he is either busy with work, she just didn't know which job he was busy with. Is he not answering his phone because he is being formally investigated?

She ends up calling Spencer on a whim to see if he would be available to meet for dinner, for she knew she would go crazy with anxiety if she stays in her hotel room all night. Surprisingly Spencer answers, and informs Katniss he could meet at 7 pm. He gives her directions of where to go, recommending a restaurant he thinks she would like.

She gets to the restaurant promptly at 7 and sees him standing outside waiting for her. She hugs him in greeting and he informs her that he already got them a table. Dinner flies by as they catch up. Spencer talking about what he has been up to with his medical training and she filling him on what is happening in her program. He avoids talking about her abduction, until he lets it slip how happy he was to see that she has recovered from her injuries.

"You were there?" she asks incredulously.

"Yeah, I was sent to help the Commander along with Abraham, Hance, Stone, and Robin. We were all there."

"I don't remember" she says softly.

"I wouldn't expect you would, when the Commander brought you up to the top deck you were struggling to stay awake."

"How did I….how did I look?" She can't help but be curious.

"Unrecognizable. And you were bleeding heavily."

She looks down in sadness, she sees Spencer reach out and put his hand on her hers and said, "While we didn't make it in time to prevent your ordeal, we did make it and most importantly, you made it. I don't know what the commander would have done if he lost you."

"What do you mean?" Katniss asked in confusion.

"The Commander was so distraught when you passed out we almost couldn't get him to get off the floor. He was on his knees crying while holding you."

Katniss is lost for words, having no idea that Gale openly showed emotion like that in front of his team. It reminded her how much he meant to her not that she needed to be reminded.

"He and I tried to see you the night we rescued you but no visitors were allowed until the next day and we had to return to the Capitol, leaving before we got a chance to see you."

"He came back to see me, he visited me at my Mom's for a week."

"I know."

"Did you see the Panem Daily article?" Katniss says dryly.

"Yes, but that is not how I know. The Commander called me letting me know that you were okay and were recovering."

"What did you think of the article?"

"Trash" Spencer says snickering. "Everyone knows Ceasar Flickerman is just trying to stay relevant. Must be hard to not be a part of the Capitol's biggest entertainment event anymore."

"He did it for a long time" Katniss says aloud in thought.

"Doesn't mean he has to stoop to the level of writing gossip columns. I think Panem Daily only prints the gossip articles to attract more readers. At least they only print one article a day."

"The article is not false though, Gale and I are together. We wanted to keep it a secret."

"But someone took photos of you on the beach?"

"Yeah, I'm assuming someone took the pictures and sold them to Ceasar."

Katniss sees Spencer smile at her admission and says, "I'm happy for you, both of you. I'm not surprised though, I'm sure almost losing you made him realize how much he needs you."

"Thanks. But people will be hurt, and that's the last thing I wanted."

"You mean the Commander's former fiancé?

"And Peeta."

"What are you going to do?"

"Once I find out where I will be teaching I plan to go to District 12 and get some of my things. I plan to talk to him then, I just hope I am not too late. I already bought my train ticket and plan to leave first thing Friday morning."

"Good luck. I'm sure it won't be easy."

"Thanks."

After they finish eating Spencer shows her around the military grounds, the parts that were open to the public. He walks with Katniss back to the hotel lobby and says, "Hopefully next time you are in the Capitol we can meet up again."

"I'd like that, thanks again for dinner."

"Sure, take care of yourself" and he leans in for a hug.

"We better be careful, next thing you know Panem Daily will be saying you are my new boyfriend."

They laugh at her joke and Spencer walks off, turning around one last time to wave before heading down the street back to the military base.

Once back in her hotel room, Katniss tries one last time to call Gale, still not able to reach him. She again leaves a message on his work line.

The next morning the phone rings at 7 am, jolting Katniss awake, she quickly sits up and answers the phone, not wanting to miss the call in case it was Gale. It was.

"Hey Catnip did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but that's okay. Where have you been? I've been calling and calling!"

"Sorry, I have been…pretty busy."

"With what?"

"Well, when I got back I was at my Mom's for the day, then the next morning I had to report to the President. She informed that the investigation was to begin and I was sent to the military base in District 4. I was there until yesterday. Now I have to wait for the committee to make their recommendation to the President."

"Good luck, I'm sure it will be fine."

"I don't know, they asked a lot of tough questions."

"At least the final decision is Paylor's."

"That's true. So how are things with you?"

"Good. My three interviews went pretty good, one went extremely well. I met up with Spencer for dinner last night, it was good to see him."

"Good, I'm glad to hear you are enjoying yourself."

"Gale-did you see the Panem Daily article on Tuesday?"

"No, why?"

She figures the reason he didn't see is because he was busy at the base. She fills him in on what the article said and the pictures that were taken. After she is finished he says bitterly, "I see the residents of Panem are still obsessed with your personal life, at least Ceaser Flickerman is."

"I need to talk to Peeta. I bought a train ticket that leaves first thing Friday morning for District 12."

"I will let the President know, we still need to be cautious, the Capitol is still trying to get information from the men we captured."

"Okay, I wish you could come with me though. I miss you."

"I miss you too. I need to get back to work, I started early today."

"Are you back in District 2?"

"Yeah, at least until the investigation is over. I am to report to my job unless I hear otherwise."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"Good luck today Catnip, I know you will do great."

"Thanks" she says appreciatively.

"I love you."

"I love you too" she says before hanging up. Now fully awake she gets out of bed and takes her shower.

Once she finishes breakfast she heads to the PES building. She will be interviewed by District 11 and District 7 today.

While walking into the PES building Katniss sees a display for Panem Daily. She quickly goes over to the display to see if another article was written about her and Gale. She is relieved to see the story for the day is about the President, and if Paylor has a hidden agenda against Panem.

She shakes her head and walks on, eager to be one step closer to her next journey, teaching in the classroom.