DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.
Chapter 99-Hope
Katniss shuts her door and looks at Vick waiting for him to continue as he walks into her room. She notices he looks nervous as he says, "The plan the Capitol has come up with could go wrong, and I think we should prepare for a back-up plan."
"Which is?"
"I can borrow one of the smaller hovercrafts and take us from here to District 10."
"You mean steal one of the ships?"
"Well yeah…."
"Vick-"
"We have to have ship to get to Gale! I have a plan to distract the Jay Killers."
"Do I even want to know what this plan is?"
"Using you as bait."
"WHAT?"
"We show up unannounced outside the compound to lure them out, that way the soldiers nearby can take them out. We will say it is a trade, you for Gale and the squad."
Katniss inhales deeply, thinking over Vick's request. Showing up announced might not work, plus, how would they communicate with the rest of the soldiers? She asks him that.
"I will radio over when we land and tell them we are going to the compound."
"And if they tell you to stand ground?"
"We'll go anyway, they'll see us on the image feed."
While Katniss wanted to do whatever she could to save Gale, she had to put her baby's safety first. She also had to protect Vick's future.
"Vick….you'll be expelled from the military, and you still have one year left of training. I can't let you do this. We will just have to put our trust in the Capitol. I'm willing to do that."
"I don't care if I get expelled, I have to help my brother" he yells angrily.
"It might not work."
"I think it will."
"I can't go with you, I can't. I'm sorry. I'll see if you and maybe your Mom can be there in the control room when I watch. If things start to go bad, how about we leave then?"
"It will take a least four hours to fly there, we would need to leave at least that many hours before they approach the compound."
Knowing he is right and unable to come up with any other ideas that will make him feel more at ease, Katniss says, "The only other thing I can think of is seeing if Paylor will allow us to be closer, maybe I can see if she will let us fly overhead nearby. Not you flying though."
She sees her suggestion is not what he wanted to hear but nods and says, "Let me know" and storms off. His actions reminding her of Gale's behavior when he was Vick's age.
She picks up the phone and dial's Haymitch's room. He answers on the sixth ring, sounding even more intoxicated than he did a few short moments ago when they last spoke.
She asks him if he can get into contact with Paylor on her behalf and tells him what her request is. He tells her he thinks it would be safer if she stays in 13. She presses it further when Haymitch finally says, "Something's up, what is it?"
"I need to be closer to 10 Haymitch I've already told you" she says in an annoyed tone.
"This is more than just that. There's a reason you keep pressing this."
"Gale's brother Vick wants to steal a ship from here and use me as bait in case things go bad. I am just trying to placate him."
"You have no problem saying no to people. That's not what this is about."
"If something happens, if anything goes wrong, I can't wait in 13 until I am taken to the Capitol. I won't be able to handle it."
"Yes you can, you're strong. You're one of the strongest people I know."
She starts to tear up, her hormones taking control again. "It's different now Haymitch."
"Gale's your husband, but you trusted the people who now lead the Capitol when Peeta was in danger. It's no different than before."
"Yes it is! I can't risk becoming so distraught if something happens that I….I….."
"You what?" Haymitch says completely perplexed.
"I lose my baby" she whispers.
"Excuse me?" Haymitch says raising his voice.
"I'm pregnant."
She hears a loud sigh before he says, "That's what I thought you said. Well, you two sure did pick a great time to start a family."
"No one else knows. We agreed not to tell anyone until I was further along." He hears the fear in her voice, immediately feeling guilty for what he just said.
"Look-I….I shouldn't have said that. It's just…..this complicates things."
"You think I don't know that Haymitch!" she says, her sadness and fear turning to anger.
"I will talk to the President on your behalf."
"I would prefer you don't tell her that I'm pregnant."
"I may have to Katniss. Do you want my help or not?"
She quickly relents and thanks him. He tells her he will call her back if he is able to speak to Paylor.
After she hangs up the phone she walks down to Hazelle and Posy's room, Vick in the room with them. She informs the three of them that Gale's rescue will begin around 8 am tomorrow. She also tells them she has asked Haymitch for his help to see if all of them could be in a hovercraft nearby. She sees the doubt in Vick's eyes, and his anger that they aren't doing something more.
She tells them she will call if she hears anything and heads back to her room, declining Hazelle's offer to stay longer. She tells them she needs to be in her room in case Haymitch calls.
While it was the truth, the truth was also that she needed to be alone. She needed time to prepare herself for the possibility Paylor forces her to remain in 13 and that reluctantly, she may have to go along with Vick's faulty plan. She knows she has to do something, she can't just sit in 13 and watch from an image feed. Not this time.
She cries herself to sleep and wakes to her phone ringing. She looks at the clock and sees it is 10:30 pm and answers.
As expected Haymitch was on the other line, telling her that Paylor agreed to let the Hawthorne's be in a secure location in District 10, about a 15 minute hovercraft ride from the compound. She would be allowed to ride in the medical hovercraft that was on stand by for the rescue. She and the Hawthorne's were to be ready to leave at 5 am. She thanks Haymitch and calls Hazelle's room. Hazelle thanking Katniss and telling her she would pass the message along to Vick.
Once she finishes speaking to Hazelle she lays back down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She looks at her dreamcatcher hanging above her and whispers, "Hang on Gale, I'm coming. Stay alive."
Gale is not sure how much time had passed since he heard the gun-shot until now. He feels blood on his face, no doubt from the blow he took to the head after he called out hearing the gun-shot. The same man who had whipped him had come in and yelled at him to be quiet. Gale demanding to know what had happened. After he heard the gun-shots he heard the cries of Hance and he thinks Spencer so he started shouting and continued to demand answers until he saw the man raise his arm and felt a blow to the side of his head.
His head throbbing, he tries to remain hopeful that the Capitol was on their way, but doubt started to creep in. He is starving, having only be given water though he hadn't had any since after his second whipping, he knows the lack of food is clouding his judgement. The Capitol's military was coming, Katniss was coming, and he would be reunited with her soon.
While sitting in total darkness he thinks about Katniss and his family, hoping they have been taken somewhere safe. He knows Katniss would be with them, making sure they are alright. It was one thing he never had to worry about, his family being taken care of. It was what made his relationship with Katniss so great, the fact that they both looked out for each other's families always.
He is not sure how much time passes before he begins to hear commotion, then gun-shots, a lot of gun-shots. He sits up and strains to listen, only hearing noises and continued gun fire.
After a few moments he sees the door open, his eyes adjusting to the light, the door is open but no one is standing there. Suddenly, an image of a solider appears right in front of him, seeming to come out of nowhere. He gasps as the soldier bends down and yells for help.
Thinking that his mind was playing tricks on him or he has suffered some type of damage from the blow to his head, he is unable to speak as another soldier comes in and helps free him from his chains, using a small torch. Both soldiers help him to his feet and begin carrying him out of the cell. He tries to walk but is unable, his legs and feet almost dragging as the two men carry him as quickly as they can. Before he knows it he is outside, the bright light of the sun shining into his eyes.
He is taken onto a hovercraft and is lowered onto an operating table, lying face down. He feels his arm getting poked and looks over to see an IV being inserted. Suddenly he hears himself cry out, his back burning intensely. Feeling the morphling taking affect he feels his eyes start to get heavy when all of the sudden he hears Katniss calling out to him. He turns his head and sees her flying towards him, falling to her knees and begins touching his face.
"Gale your head, you've been bleeding" she says out of breath.
"Katniss-it's okay" he manages to say, his voice raspy from lack of water.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she says and begins kissing him, closing his eyes in response.
"Mrs. Hawthorne, you need to leave please. You shouldn't be in here" Gale hears an unknown voice say.
He feels Katniss pull away from him and is unable to open his eyes and feels himself quickly fall into a deep sleep.
A/N: Of course next chapter you will see what happened during the rescue.
