DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.
A/N: Next update probably won't be till Sunday.
Chapter 59-Closure
Katniss's interviews with District 11 and 7 went well, much better than her interview with District 2. If she had to guess, she feels she would definitely get an offer from District 9, 11, and possibly 4 and 7. She is to return to PES at 3 pm to find out which offers she has received and has to make a decision by 5 pm with her final selection of which District she wants to go to.
She walks to a café nearby, when she finished eating her lunch, before getting up to go she is approached by one of her guards who had been waiting nearby. He tells her the President wants to see her before she returns to the PES building.
She eagerly walks over to her mansion, wondering what she wants to talk to her about. She grows concerned if her being summoned there has to do with Gale's investigation. It does.
"I'm sure Commander Hawthorne has told you he is being formally investigated" Paylor says to her once Katniss takes a seat in her office.
"He did, but I don't know any details, just that the committee asked a lot of tough questions."
"They did, what Commander Hawthorne did goes against the protocol of what our soldiers are trained. When we go after serious suspects, the goal is to capture them alive, if a soldier needs to shoot, they are trained to shoot in a non-lethal area. And from what he has told the committee, he could have easily knocked Geffen unconscious or injured him without killing him."
"He was only trying to protect me, like he has always has done. He has a habit of sometimes reacting before thinking. Surely the committee is taking into consideration what he saw, I was dying, and I could feel myself slipping away." Katniss becoming anxious being forced to remember the details, the details she was trying to push from her mind.
"They do, but they also take into consideration his training and direct orders. I don't want my legacy as Commander in Chief of Panem to be anything even remotely mirroring Snow's regime. That citizens will be automatically killed if they speak or act out against me. We don't have peacekeepers anymore for a reason."
"He was a security threat!" Katniss says raising her voice.
"Of course, but the average citizen of Panem does not know how dangerous he was, or what these groups true agendas are, nor will they."
"So what did the committee decide? I'm assuming that is why you brought me here" Katniss says bitterly.
"Part of the reason. They recommended a short term prison sentence in District 13."
"WHAT?" Katniss says in shock.
"I'm not going with that recommendation for his sentence. I've decided instead that Commander Hawthorne will be suspended from all military duties for one year."
Katniss sighs in relief, at least Gale won't be going to jail. "You won't consider a full pardon?"
"I can't show any type of favoritism, especially with you being involved, I'm sorry Katniss, but I have to enforce some type of punishment. Suspension without pay was the most lenient option."
"What about his job in District 2?"
"He can return to it."
"Good."
"Katniss, I wanted to talk to you about something else. I saw the Panem Daily article concerning the two of you. I'm sure you have seen it?"
"I have, what about it?" Katniss says in an icy tone, not wanting to get into her personal life with Paylor for she was angry that she would not give Gale a full pardon.
"I know this is not my business, but is there any truth to Ceasar Flickerman's article?"
"What if there is? What punishment will you instill next?"
"None. By your reaction of my decision I take it you and he are on good terms again?"
"We were, well-we are."
Paylor raises her eyebrows at her, asking her to elaborate by the look on her face.
"When I stayed with him in District 2 last summer, we became close again. But then, I didn't hear from him for months and months until he rescued me. The seriousness of my whole ordeal with Geffen changed things for us. We are-together. The plan was to keep it a secret, but it appears some people are still interested in knowing what goes on in my personal life." Katniss wasn't about to tell Paylor the reason Gale didn't talk to her for months.
"I see."
"Why do you care?"
"There is something I think you should know. Something I wasn't planning on telling you but since things have changed between the two of you, you need to know."
"What?" Katniss asks, totally confused.
"I have been working with Gale a long time. He has always been one of my most loyal supporters, and he's an excellent worker, it is why I offered him the government official job at such a young age."
Katniss is surprised to hear Paylor finally address Gale by his name. And she wasn't surprised to hear that Paylor recognized his loyalty, it was his best quality. He was loyal to fault.
"When he first started working for me, I had asked him what was going on with you, assuming he'd know. Since I couldn't reach out to you I figured I'd ask him. He told me that the two of you were no longer friends and that you never would be again. I was sad to hear that, he finally confided a few months later that the reason the two of you were no longer speaking was because of what happened with your sister. He asked me if I could find out if the bomb that killed Prim was his design."
Katniss's eyes grew wide. "And?" she says chocking out.
"I was able to collect information from some of the District 13 officials who had worked with Alma Coin about what happened that day."
"Was it his design?" Katniss asks in a cold manner.
"It was."
Katniss looks down at the floor. She takes a few deep breaths trying to compose herself. Her mouth goes dry, unable to speak. She gets up and walks over to one of the windows, looking out. Her mind racing with emotions.
"Gale doesn't know, I never told him what I found out, and he never asked again."
"Why would you keep that from him?" Katniss asks in the same cold manner, still staring out the window, not turning around.
"Because I also found out that Coin had been using him to get to you. She had tasked Beetee with weapons design, but that when she found out what Gale had designed, she specifically chose to use it on the Capitol-and Prim. She knew that Gale had unconditional loyalty to you, and planned to drop the bombs and tell you later that it was his design. To make you distraught in knowing that the people you trusted were responsible for Prim's death. There were other bombs she could have used, ones just as efficient, but she specially wanted to use his to accomplish her goal. To kill more capitol citizens and used your sister and the others as collateral damage. I didn't want him having to live with knowing that for the rest of his life."
Katniss still continues to look outside, not reacting in any way to what she was just told.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"Well, I didn't think you two would ever be friends again, let alone more than that. I figured why cause more heartache and grief. When I saw the Panem Daily article I knew you finally needed to know the truth. Does this change anything?"
"It does."
"Are you going to go back to hating him again?"
Katniss finally turns around and looks at Paylor. Paylor sees tears start to form in Katniss's eyes, slowing falling down.
"No. I can finally have closure knowing the truth."
Paylor lays a hand on Katniss's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Katniss nods her head in response, not wanting to talk further. For if she did, she knows she would start crying even harder. She asks if she can leave and Paylor and walks her out.
Katniss heads over the memorial and stops in a nearby store and buys Primroses on the way. She places the primroses on the ground near Prim's name. She reaches her hand out and traces her name again, like she did the last time she was here. She starts crying and is unable to stop, sinking to the ground. She can feel the stares on her while people walk by, lost in her emotions to care.
She returns to the PES building right at 3 pm. She goes to a bathroom to wash her face before heading to the main office. Her face showed no signs of crying, but all the make-up was removed, making her look more tired than anything.
When she gets to the main office, she is escorted into a room and is given a list of the Districts that have extended an offer. She looks at the list and sees she has been accepted to District 9, 11, and 7. She is shocked to see that she wasn't offered a position in District 4, and is not at all surprised about District 2.
She has two hours to make a decision, but tells them in less than 5 minutes which District she wants to go to. She chooses District 9.
She is given information where her housing assignment is, and that she is to be moved in by the Monday after next. She is also given information on what supplies she will need and is responsible for purchasing them.
Instead of returning to her hotel, she decides to go to the train station and buys a ticket to District 2. She needs to see Gale right away. She calls her Mother on a pay phone at the station, letting her know where she will be teaching for the next 4 months. They speak in length about the interviews and her decision before hanging up.
She doesn't call Gale, for she doesn't have time, after she ended her conversation with her Mother the train arrived, she quickly got on it and took a seat near the back.
It was 5:30 pm by the time she arrived at Gale's apartment, she figured he would be home by now. If he wasn't there she planned to go to Hazelle's to try to reach him there. When she walks to the main door of the apartment building, a woman walks out and leaves the door open for Katniss, giving her access inside without having to be buzzed in. She gets on the elevator up to his floor and walks over to his door and knocks.
He opens the door slightly and looks at her in surprise. "Katniss" he says, not opening the door any further.
"I'm sorry I didn't call. I needed to see you right away and I figured you'd be here. We need to talk, it's important."
Katniss sees Harper poke his head out by Gale's legs, the dog eager to see who is at the door. Harper's large body causes the door to swing open more and Katniss sees Dez standing behind Gale. Looking at Katniss with pure hatred.
