DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.
A/N: No updates after this until June 5 or after.
So I just read a comment that Katniss's actions were OOC for her in the last chapter. They were a little, but Katniss feels very comfortable with McKenna and considers her a friend and used the moment to confide in someone about her troubles. Also keep in mind because she's abusing morphling pills she is more relaxed and her inhibitions are down. Hopes that makes more sense.
Chapter 67-Aftermath
Gale arrived back to his apartment on Monday morning. He takes a quick shower and heads into work arriving there by 11 am. He says hello to his secretary, Alexia before heading into his office. Lately, Alexia is only person he has been friendly with at work which was never the case before.
Almost all of the people who work in the government building with him are from District 2, some coming from District 1. When he first started working there it took time for him to adjust, for the people there had a hard time accepting someone from the rebellion and someone so young being the government official for the District. But after a few months the workers there quickly saw his work ethic and commitment to rebuilding the district, despite the fact that they knew the explosion in the Nut was his idea. He slowly gained respect and trust.
But for the last couple of weeks he felt as if things had regressed back to the way they were when he first started working there. Word quickly spread about what happened with Katniss and his suspension from the military. When he walked by he could feel their stares on him, whispering once he was out of sight. He knows what they were whispering about, not the fact that he got suspended or that he saved Katniss, but that he broke off his engagement and left his fiancé for another woman.
Despite the fact that Panem was more inclusive than ever before, a good 80% of the nation's residents still lived in their home districts. In some areas of the districts, especially the more rural ones, outsiders were not welcomed. In larger districts, like Districts 1, 2, and 4, outsiders were accepted though not by everyone and it took time. District 2 was such a district, while he and his family gained acceptance, he knew that one of the reasons he was accepted was because he dated women from the District and acclimated himself to their way of life. He accepted the ways things were and didn't try to change it. While his co-workers didn't know Dez, he knew they approved of the fact that he was with a local girl, some even being invited to the wedding. By ending things with Dez to be with Katniss, many feared it meant he would leave District 2 and return to District 12.
They were angry at the possibility of him leaving and looked at him differently for what he had done to his fiancé. Many gossiped that obviously the cousins story was just that, a story though some even speculated that they were cousins and that incest had occurred.
Alexia, whose roman name meant "defender" was Gale's biggest supporter defending him from the office gossip. She was 40 years old and had been Gale's secretary since first becoming the government official. She quickly formed a friendship with him and like everyone, enjoyed working with him. While he never spoke with her about Katniss, she had heard rumors that the cousin's angle was a lie orchestrated by the Capitol. She had often theorized there had been more between them by reading his facial expressions whenever Katniss's name was mentioned, especially when he first arrived in District 2. She saw how he had dated numerous women but wouldn't commit to any of them, until he met Dez. Alexia was one of the few people there who knew Dez, for Dez visited Gale at his office from time to time and Alexia would occasionally have lunch with Dez if Gale was not available. She was used to girls like Dez being from District 2 and felt they were a good match for each other. She was sad when she heard about what happened, but told herself he must have had a reason for his actions, for she knew how loyal he was and for him to do something so drastic means he and Dez must have had problems.
When the workers gossiped in the cafeteria about Gale leaving District 2, Alexia challenged them by asking if they had any proof to their gossip. They of course didn't and she challenged them again by saying they should ask him if they are concerned about him leaving. She had a harder time defending his actions about the Dez situation and the Panem Daily article, for the photograph showed evidence of their involvement in District 4.
When she saw him walk into his office and saw him looking down yet again, she decided to go in and talk to him. Because he was her boss she usually kept her distance, always letting him make the first move when they talked, but today she decided to finally confront him on all that had been going on during the last couple of weeks.
She follows him into his office before he can shut the door. "Hi Alexia" he says noticing she has entered without knocking like she usually does.
"Boss are you okay?" she asks.
"I'm fine, just tired, I didn't sleep too well on the train on the way home."
"I think we both know that's not why you are not acting yourself" she says crossing her arms in front of her.
"I guess I just thought things would be more normal around here by now."
"They're concerned, they won't admit it, but they know you are one of the best government officials in Panem, they are afraid you will leave here, go back home with Katniss to District 12 or go to the Capitol."
Gale starts laughing in disbelief and says, "Is that what they are afraid of? It can't be just that."
"Well-no."
"What else are they saying?"
"Some of them, look at you differently now because of the whole, Katniss/Dez thing. The women especially."
"Go on" he sees she's unsure if she should continue.
"They wonder if you cheated, if you are with Katniss to further your career in the Capitol, a way to-get back into the spotlight. She's been in seclusion how long? And now all of the sudden she appears in Districts 2 and 4 and is seen with you."
"I guess they've figured out we are not cousins then?"
"Most, some of them have hinted that you are cousins and that it is a District 12 thing. It's disgusting and I put them in their place."
Gale is pretty sure he knows who would have said such things, individuals he never much cared for. He shares his suspicions with Alexia and she confirms, naming some other names that surprise him.
"I think some of them are just getting caught up in the office gossip, I don't think they actually believe what they are saying" she says trying to make him feel better.
"Well, you can tell them I'm not leaving District 2, and that we are not cousins though I would have thought most would have been smart enough to figure that out a long time ago. I guess I gave some of them too much credit. I told Katniss I am staying here and that she will have to move here which I think she will agree to. But since everyone is being so unfriendly, a part of me almost wants to look for a job in the Capitol."
"I think you should tell them yourself, at the staff meeting later today in fact."
She sees him contemplate her suggestion and says, "I guess I could say something before it begins."
"Hey you're the boss, it be good to remember that."
Gale never forgot that he was in charge, he just chose not to flaunt his authority around. Growing up in District 12 he had seen too many people abuse their power, and that was the last thing he was going to do here. He thinks it is why he was able to be fit in quicker than others. He never acted better than them though some of them never gave him the same respect.
So it came as a surprise while at the staff meeting when he took a more aggressive approach. He had no problem disciplining anyone and while he didn't do it often, he had disciplined unruly staff and even let a few go over the years who were not performing up to the required expectations.
"I wanted to start off the meeting by saying, even though I haven't been around as much, I am still looking at everyone's work and production, and I can't help but notice some of you are slipping. I also know why it is happening, so I'm not going to pretend that I don't know my actions have distracted some of you."
He looks around the room and sees some of them look uncomfortable, refusing to look at him in the eye. He sees Alexia nod in encouragement for him to keep going.
"What did you hear in regards to what happened to Katniss Everdeen?"
No one answers his question and all that is heard is silence.
"The longer this silence continues the longer we will just be sitting here and some of you will be even more behind than you are already are" he says in a stern, yet gentle manner.
Finally someone speaks up and says, "Rumors are she got kidnapped by people who wanted her dead. Some group out of District 1."
He doesn't want to say too much because information on the Jay Killers and the other militia groups were still considered classified, but he does confirm the rumors and says, "Yes, that's correct."
"And that you went to save her" someone else pipes in.
"Well, it wasn't just me, it was me and my squad. But I was the one who found out she was in trouble."
He sees some of them look completely disinterested, the ones he knows have been spreading gossip. He decides to try another tactic to get their attention.
"So I am just going to come out and say it. Yes, I canceled my wedding with my fiancé out of the blue. I'm not proud of my actions. I didn't cheat on her with Katniss though I know some of you have speculated that. Katniss and I are not cousins. The Capitol made that up to keep the focus on her and Peeta. Their relationship was fake, in the beginning at least. By the end of the war things changed between them obviously. I am not going to talk about what is going on between us. But I will say this, I am not leaving District 2. I am here to stay, I am not with her to further my career, and I'll be honest, if I wanted to do that I could have easily done so a long time ago. I don't want to be in the Capitol, I want to be here. So, enough of the gossip, that's not what we're here for. If you want to know something, ask me. I will not talk about anything related to Katniss though, I ask that you please respect her privacy, and mine. I thank you all in advance for your cooperation."
The room is dead silent again. His tactic worked and all of them are looking at him, some in shame, some in annoyance, some completely shocked at what he said.
He then officially begins the meeting and for the rest of the day things go back to normal. He gets off work at 6 pm and goes to his Mother's house to pick up Harper. He is greeted at the door by Posy, who has not seen him since she walked in on him and Katniss.
"Hey Gale" she says as she lets him in the door.
"Hey Pose" he says uneasily, unsure if she still angry at him.
She goes straight into his arms for a hug. He breathes in a sigh of relief and wraps his arms around her, hugging her tight and lifting her up off the ground.
"I missed you" she says into his ear.
"Me too" he says setting her on her feet. "I can't stand it when you are mad at me."
"I'm sorry about all that. How's Katniss?"
"She's okay, I think she's nervous about starting her teaching job."
Harper comes trotting into the hallway, hearing Gale's voice. Gale bends down and hugs the dog as Harper starts licking him. "He misses you a lot" Posy says as she watches the two of them.
"Well, I just found out today I have to go away again for work. I am being sent to District 10 on Wednesday to deal with a problem that has arisen there with one of their butcher plants, I have to go inspect the plant and report back to the Capitol. The government official for District 10 is currently not well health wise and is on leave. A lot of the other officials are taking turns covering, so now it is my turn."
He sees she has a sad look on her face and says, "How long will you be gone?"
"Not sure, depends on what I see at the plant."
"So Harper is staying here then?"
"No, I got permission to take him with me. I plan to visit the farm where he was born and show him to the rancher who gave him to me."
"I'm glad he's going with you, I think he gets depressed sometimes."
"Well, with Katniss in District 9 now I am not planning any more trips. I don't even know if I'll see her during her one week break."
"Where would she go? District 4?"
"I think she'll go see the tribe."
He sees a look of disappointment on her face. "I thought she'd come here, to be with you."
"She has her own plans, I think that's one of the reasons why she chose District 9 in the first place, to be closer to them."
She walks into the living room and sits down. He sees she still has the same look of disappointment on her face. He sits down beside her with Harper sitting on the floor, not leaving his side and says, "Talk to me Pose."
She looks at him and says, "I know Katniss likes it up there, she talked about it a lot when she was living here last summer. It's what makes me afraid."
"Of what?"
"That'll she want to be there forever and you will leave us to join her. That we'll never see you again."
He looks at her fiercely in the eyes and says, "That will never happen."
"Come on Gale, if there's two people in all of Panem who could live off the grid in the wilderness it is the two of you."
"I'm surprised you remember those days."
"I remember certain things, images really. I remember watching you bring in game that you caught and I remember Katniss bringing it when you went to work in the mines. Mom always said the two of you are the reason we survived."
He nods in response and says, "Doesn't mean I want to live that way again."
"I think you would for her."
"Katniss wouldn't be doing all this training with PES if she didn't want to be here. She is not going back to District 12. I have asked her to come here to District 2 when she is finished with her training, I think she will."
Posy is very aware that Gale didn't respond to what she said and lets Gale know it. He becomes flustered and says, "Katniss would never ask that of me."
"What if she asks you to move to District 9? Or 4?"
"Then I will deal with it if it comes to that. But I made it clear to her I wasn't leaving my job or you and Mom."
"If you two broke up I don't want to see you sad again. I remember how sad you were when we first came here."
He smiles at her, touched by her concern for his happiness. "I appreciate your concern, but you are worrying too much, it won't come to that. I wouldn't have done what I did if I wasn't 100% sure she was committed to me. I was sad when I first came here because things ended so badly between us. But that's all in the past. If Katniss can't get a job in District 2 we will work it out. But I am not leaving you-ever."
She nods, looking more relieved. She perks up suddenly and says, "I spoke to Dez."
"You did" he says in surprise.
"Yeah, she called me almost a week ago. She agreed to be in my fashion show project at the end of May."
"That's great." He is pleased to hear that Dez agreed to try to still have a relationship with Posy.
"Will you come?"
"I'll try, but I might be out of town for work, but I promise I'll be there if I can."
She smiles brightly. He then says, "How's Mom?"
"She's fine, nothing new to report. She should be home pretty soon, I think her last house cleaning was on the other side of town."
"Has she-said anything about me and Katniss?"
"I overheard her say to one of her friends on the phone that she is afraid you are going to get Katniss pregnant."
He becomes slightly agitated, tired of his Mother's accusations on the subject. "I don't know why she keeps thinking that will happen."
"Because it's Katniss. She knows this is not a typical relationship."
"Katniss never wanted children."
"Then I suggest telling Mom that again if you haven't already."
He stays for dinner, having a nice time catching up with both of them. After Posy goes upstairs to start on her homework Gale says to his Mother while she is walking him out "So, I heard you are telling your friends that you are afraid I am going to make you a Grandmother."
She sighs and says, "I see things between you and Posy are back to normal. She can't keep anything from you."
"Nope" he says proudly.
"You can't blame me for wondering it."
"No. But I told you, Katniss has her own plans, plans that don't concern me. She also never wanted children. I never told you because you know how private she is about things."
"She felt that way back in 12 didn't she?"
"Yes."
"Have you discussed her thoughts on it now?"
"No."
"Then she might have changed her mind. The Hunger Games are over. I totally get why she didn't want children before."
Gale shakes his head in disagreement. "Not Katniss, she never had them with Peeta."
"People change Gale."
"Does she seem all that different to you?"
"Did you ever think she'd be a teacher?" his mother retorts back.
"No, but I am not that surprised. I saw her with Prim all those years, she loved her sister more than anything and was so patient with her. I can easily see Katniss transferring that kindness and patience teaching children."
"We all saw how much she loved Prim. Well, we will see which one of us is right. Don't tell me you don't want it to happen."
"Of course I do, but I don't want kids now! I just got her back, I want her all to myself for a while."
"Good" she says in a very parental tone.
When he gets back to his apartment, he speaks with Katniss on the phone, she chats excitedly about her first day and about McKenna. He's surprised to hear Katniss taking such a quick liking to her, but is happy to hear her sound so excited. He tells her about his upcoming trip and senses her disappointment on the phone.
Over the next week he doesn't get a chance to speak with her again, but arranges to send her birthday gift to the school. He saw the picture while having dinner in the small ranching town he was staying in, window shopping with Harper while walking back to his small hotel. The minute he saw it he knew he had to buy it for her. He makes sure he has a chance to call her on her birthday. He is still in District 10 with Harper and plans to leave tomorrow. He calls three times with no success reaching her. He figures perhaps McKenna took her out to dinner to celebrate, hoping she is having fun.
Once he returns to District 2, things become tense again at work. On his first day back on Thursday he notices the whispers immediately, though it was fewer people acting this way than last time. Before going home for work one of the staff members comes in his office and shows him the Panem Daily article. He quickly reads Ceasar's article:
Katniss Everdeen's Steamy Romantic Weekend!
Written by Ceasar Flickerman
It appears things are still hotter than ever between the girl on the fire and her new beau Gale Hawthorne. Sources exclusively tell Panem Daily that Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne were spotted last weekend in District 4 and were seen getting cozy on the beach and them some!
"They were seen kissing on the beach, right in front of everyone" a source says of the recent sighting.
Another source reports once the couple returned to their hotel room things really started to heat up. "You could hear them having loud, passionate sex in their room, it went on for quite a while. We had to turn our TV up really loud to block out the sound. And then they had their hands all over each other out on the balcony."
It definitely sounds like the girl on fire is having a fiery relationship! While it is unknown what is next for the two lovebirds, obviously Peeta Mellark is ancient history.
Gale wants to tear up the article but hands it back. He thanks the staff member for showing it to him and leaves without another word. He is beyond furious on the train ride home. He knows if Katniss sees the article that she will be embarrassed beyond reason. He begins to wonder if she is right about things not really changing all that much in Panem. Obviously the residents are still obsessed with her, to the point that their privacy was violated in the worst way possible. He doesn't put it past Ceasar to pay money to get whatever dirt he can. The only saving grace was that the article had no pictures so the authenticity of it could be questioned.
The person he feels the most sympathy for is Peeta, hoping he never sees the article. He contemplates calling Dez but decides not to, not wanting to risk upsetting her even more than she most likely already is. He knows her friends probably showed her the article, saying who knows what about him in hatred.
He begins thinking about leaving District 2, going to a more rural district such as 9 or 10 and living with Katniss there. He was missing her like crazy but he knows he needs to let her finish what she has been pursuing for the last year. He knows she has worked very hard and he doesn't want to distract her any more than he already has.
By the time he arrives home he decides that he cannot leave District 2, no matter how bad things get. He promised his sister and Mother he wasn't going anywhere. He tells himself he will just have to be with Katniss in seclusion, until the newness of all this dies down, telling himself it still only has been a little over a month since they've been together.
He tries calling Katniss and still is unable reach her. He tries not to worry and finally speaks with her on Saturday morning. They discuss the article and agree that they cannot be out in public so openly. Over the next few weeks they speak at least every other day, but as the days pass Gale senses a change in her demeanor, not sounding herself. He tries to ask her about it but each time he does she quickly ends the phone call, saying she doesn't want the phone bill to get too high. When he offers to be the one to make all the calls moving forward, she snaps at him telling him she doesn't want him taking care of her.
"I don't want you to pay for everything" she says in an agitated tone.
"I'm not, I just want to talk to you for more than five minutes every once in a while."
"Well I don't want to talk for hour and hours. I've got things to do."
"No one said hours and hours. What is your problem?" he says raising his voice in anger.
"Nothing, I just-I want to be on my own two feet. All of Panem thinks I can't be without a man and I am tired of it."
"Since when do you care what other people think? You are not being paid while doing this teaching experience, I don't want you to have to use up all the money that you saved if you don't have to. Let me help you."
He hears her huff in response and say, "Fine. I am sorry I yelled at you."
After that they begin talking for longer periods of time, finally getting back to a more normal state. Suddenly, things change again and Katniss becomes more distant, answering his calls less and less and going for almost a week without talking to him. He contemplates taking off work and arranging an impromptu trip to District 9 to confront her when she suddenly calls him at work the next morning right as he got in.
She drops a bombshell on him. Informing him that she is taking care of a baby and that she wants them to have a baby of their own right away, asking him to come to District 9 and spend a weekend with her as soon as possible.
He is unable to answer her, realizing his Mother's prediction has come true.
