DISCLAIMER: HG CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME

A/N: As always thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 144-Whiskey

January 12 (Friday)

Gale walks in the front door and places the brown bag on the kitchen island. Stopping at the store after seeing Jack and Juniper off at the train station, he takes his coat and shoes off then pours himself a drink. Once he is finished, he pours himself another, then another. Feeling himself begin to relax, he heads down to the basement to begin working on sorting through Katniss's belongings. This being his routine for a few months now, he cannot be sober while doing this, for the pain was too great. Katniss was buried with her wedding ring; the pendent necklace he had given her shortly after Avery was born. The necklace had pendants for all four children, along with the tree pendant. She also was buried with the necklace Peeta gave her, along with another necklace given by Gale that had pictures of the children inside. Everything else that had belonged to her, remained here at the house. Gale had packed away her Father's jacket, along with the books she had made for Sienna, Avery, Jack, and Juniper. He had finished donating all her clothes, but he still had more stuff to sort through.

He begins sorting through more books, most of it being textbooks from her job at PES. He begins sorting them into piles, deciding he will donate the books back to PES. He then begins sorting more books, her leisure books and decides to begin a new pile, for he figures he can donate these books to District 12's library system. One of the things Katniss was happy about was that in the last five years, District 12 was able to build a library for the District. He suddenly picks up a book that he knows is not a published book, but the book she had created with Peeta and Haymitch. He goes upstairs and opens a new bottle of whiskey and pours himself a drink. He lights the fireplace and sits down on the large couch. He opens the book and begins looking through it. He reads the stories about the tributes and those who died in the war, seeing the pictures drawn by Peeta triggering long forgotten memories. He knows they had created this book so that the former tributes would not be forgotten. Tributes such as Rue, Foxface, Thresh, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel. He begins thinking about how this was a part of Katniss that never belonged to him, that it was a part of her that belonged to Peeta and Haymitch. He then begins thinking about how that part of her that belonged to them, to the Hunger Games, and ultimately to Snow, inadvertently resulted in her death.

He begins thinking about Snow, about the destruction and pain he caused to so many. He wants to go outside and kill something, but he knows he is no condition to go out in the woods by himself. Instead he continues drinking and turns on the radio, while listening to music while sitting by the fire, he is reminded of the times he and Katniss would sit by the fire on the rare occasions they had the house to themselves. His thoughts turn to the past, when he would playfully get her to get up and dance with him. Not able to bear the thought that he would not be able to dance with her again, he gets up and heads into the kitchen to grab another bottle of whiskey. While getting up he sees Jade curled up and sleeping in front of the fire on the other side. He grabs the whole bottle this time and begins drinking right out of it. He bobs his head to the music as he walks back into the great room, but as he is walking he loses his balance and as he falls he hits his head on the end table, causing him to pass out.


He awakens to his phone ringing on the end table. His head throbbing, he realizes his is lying flat on his back and he sees the sunlight pouring into the large great room windows. While getting up he sees the fire is burned out in the fireplace. He picks up his phone and sees the time is 7:18 am. He also sees it is his Mom calling.

"Hello" he says, trying not to sound groggy.

"Gale! This is the third time I have called you" his Mom says in a frantic tone.

"Yeah sorry, I was-taking a shower."

"It's Juniper, she's not here."

"WHAT? What do you mean she's not there" Gale says in disbelief.

"She left me a note, she must have left before I got up at 7, she said she was going to the Capitol, but she didn't say where."

"Okay, I am coming to the Capitol, I am going to call Sienna to see if she can help find her. If Juniper comes back, call me immediately."

He quickly ends the call then bends down and yells, "FUCK! FUUCCCKKKK!" Angry at himself for being so stupid. Clearly his children were in distress, and he was too wrapped up in his own distress to see it.

He picks up the phone and calls Sienna, she picks up on the fifth ring and says "Hello" sounding as if she was still asleep.

"Sienna-sorry to wake you but this is urgent".

"Dad" she says, now fully awake.

"Juniper came to the Capitol this morning; I need your help finding her".

"But how are we going to find her? Shouldn't we call law enforcement?"

"I think I know where she might have gone".

"Where?" Sienna asks.

"I think she went either to the Hunger Games museum or possibly the District History museum".

Even though he cannot see Sienna for he did not call her virtually, he knows his daughter well enough to know the silence on the other end means the wheels are turning in her head. After a few moments she says, "She went to see Mom".

"Yes, that's why I think she went to one of those two places."

"Most likely she went to the Hunger Games museum, Mom's hologram is there, I'll go there first." While Katniss was featured at the District History museum, she, Peeta, and Haymitch were not as heavily featured as they were at the Hunger Games museum, for the District History museum was more for the District as a whole, and did not focus as much on individual people.

"I think she went there too. I'm on my way to the Capitol. Keep me updated. If we cannot find her at either place, I'll call law enforcement." Law enforcement was the replacement of the peacekeepers. It was in all practicality the same concept, to maintain order in Panem, only instead of all the training being in District 2, each District and the Capitol had their own group of law enforcement. And law enforcement was not nearly as aggressive though at times they still used unnecessary force and violence. Another difference now is that law enforcement does not have a mandatory service term of 20 years, a person can serve as long as they like, however most serve for 20 years due to the retirement and benefits package that is offered. A lot of the individuals who go into law enforcement are those who either drop out of Panem's military or who are not able to test in.

Once he hangs up he runs upstairs to change his clothes and brush his teeth, he does not have time to take a shower, so he rinses his mouth out with mouthwash, hoping that will help mask the smell of alcohol on his breath. He comes downstairs and makes sure Jade's food dish is filled and that she has enough water before leaving.

He sees the time is 7:45 am as he heads to the train station. He figures if he can board a train to the Capitol by 8:30 am, he should be in the Capitol by 9:50 am, then the walk to the area where the museums are will take another 15 minutes. Once he boards the train, he buys two bottles of water, to hydrate himself and try to ease his throbbing head.


Juniper takes one last look at her Mom's image. The tears still falling down her face, she knows she should go for she hears footsteps approach, but she finds she cannot move, for she does not want the moment to end.

"She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" the voice behind her says while the image of Katniss in her red dress is projected.

She whips her head around and sees Sienna behind her. Knowing she has been busted, she looks down as she says, "Grandma called Dad I take it."

"Yep. I got the call about 7:30 am this morning. Dad is on his way here. Which reminds me-". Juniper watches as Sienna takes out the phone from her backpack and dials their Father.

Once Sienna hangs up, she says, "He says he should be here in about 45 minutes. It is almost 9:30 now so we need to meet him outside the building by 10:15. Oh and he's calling Grandma now".

"I left her a note saying where I went" Juniper says sheepishly.

"The note only said you came to the Capitol; you could have been anywhere!"

"I can handle myself; I'll be 13 in a couple of weeks."

"Juniper you know it is not safe. It is a good thing you came here so early in the morning; the city is not awake yet."

"I had to see Mom".

"I know" Sienna says looking at her little sister gently. "But why didn't you just ask Dad or Grandma to bring you here?"

Juniper shrugs and says "Dad is not the same anymore, and Jack will hardly talk to us. I could have asked Grandma, but I was afraid she would tell Dad and-I don't know. I just, wanted a moment to myself with Mom, or as close as I could get with Mom. I'm afraid Sienna".

"Of what?"

"Of slowly forgetting about Mom. Of her voice fading from my memory. Dad says he has forgotten a lot of things about Mom's sister Prim."

Sienna's heart breaks for her sister. While she missed their Mother terribly, she and Avery were fortunate enough to grow up with both of their parents. She could not imagine entering her teenage years without their Mom. On the days when she felt lost knowing that their Mom would not be there to see any of them get married or have children, she reminds herself that she is and adult now, and Juniper is not. And that Juniper needs her now, more than ever.

"I understand, as time goes by, memories do fade. But we are lucky, we have Mom's books that she made us, and we have this museum, where we can see the younger version of her, and Dad". Sienna puts a hand on Juniper's shoulder.

"I don't understand why she didn't say goodbye."

Sienna pauses before answering, knowing her sister deserves to know the truth she says, "I've thought about this a lot since Mom died. I think-she tried to hold on as long as could. The fact that she could keep how bad she was feeling from Dad is astounding. The only time they ever spent time apart was when he was on business trips for work, the last few years her friends came to visit her at the house. They were together all the time. Mom was already gone when Dad found her, if she did not say goodbye to him, it must have happened quick. You know he would have done everything in his power to help her, like he would do for all of us."

"Mom got to say goodbye to the tribe. She said goodbye to them and not to us."

"They didn't know she was saying goodbye to them. She had not seen them in four years. Like I said, she was trying to hold on, maybe-after seeing them-it made it easier for her. Maybe it is not a coincidence she died in District 12, where she was born."

"I just wish she had been here with us, I could have seen her one last time, could have hugged her."

"I know, but, Mom would not have wanted you to see her, you know-" Sienna stops talking for she knows Juniper knows what she is referencing.

"But why is she with the tribe?"

"You know Mom had a lot of loyalty to the tribe. They helped her recover from her trauma of the Hunger Games. And the tribe helped bring her back to Dad."

Juniper had known, like all children in Panem are taught in history class about the Hunger Games and the previous Victors, that her Mom and Peeta were unique in that they both were crowned Victors in their district. She also knew that her Mom and Peeta had a special bond and that she was once with Peeta. While she could not see her Mom with anyone else but her Dad, she had seen the pictures and videos for herself.

"I just wish-I could see where she is."

"Maybe we can ask Dad."

She begins crying again and Sienna wraps her arms around her sister, they walk out of the large room and into the hallway to get some privacy. They sit on a bench and let their emotions take over, both consoling each other as they cry. After a while, Sienna begins to feel better and looks at her watch and sees the time is 10:10 am. She tells Juniper they need to head downstairs for it was almost time to meet Dad outside.

Once they are outside, they see their Father waiting for them outside on the steps. Juniper has a look of unease on her face as she approaches him, for she does not know if he is angry with her. Seeing her pause as she comes down the stairs, Gale nods his head and motions for her to come to him. She quickly goes to him for an embrace, Sienna joining the hug.

"I'm sorry Dad" Juniper says as she pulls away.

"We'll discuss what happened later, come on, let's go" he says as he grabs her hand and leads her towards the train station.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. I was worried, your Grandmother was scared to death. She was responsible for you, and you just left."

"You sound mad."

"I said we will discuss it later."

Once they reach the train station, Gale is surprised when Sienna says she will join them on the ride back to Silver Lake.

"I thought you would just take a train back to your dorm" he says.

Sienna shrugs and says, "I only have some reading to do this weekend. I figured I could head back tomorrow evening, I packed light" and points to her bookbag.

Gale smiles in response and buys three tickets for them. On the train ride back, Gale and Juniper sleep while Sienna studies.

Once they arrive home Gale orders Juniper into the kitchen to call Hazelle to apologize. While they are in the kitchen making the call on Gale's phone, Sienna walks into the great room and sees a half empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. She also sees her Mom's tribute book on the end table. She knows her Father had been drinking when she saw him outside the museum.

She turns and goes into the kitchen as they are ending the call. "Grandma and Jack will be here after lunch" Juniper says to her.

"Great. Will you do me a favor and take my bag into my room?"

"Sure" Juniper says happily as she grabs Sienna's bag and runs upstairs.

"I think she's happy you are here" Gale says.

"We talked in the museum."

Gale nods his head in response. Sienna takes a deep breath then says, "You need to clean up in there before Grandma gets here."

Looking embarrassed he says, "Sienna-"

"Save it Dad. Juniper and Jack need you, now more than ever. You need to get it together. You can't keep shipping them off to Grandma's and Uncle Vick's every weekend just so you can sit around feeling sorry for yourself."

"That's not what I am doing."

"You are going through Mom's stuff I know, but you don't need to get drunk in order to do it."

"You don't understand."

"What?"

"Drinking helps."

"You are a mess Dad. You look like shit. You are getting too thin. I imagine this is what you looked like when you lived in District 12 minus the beard. You need to start eating again."

Shocked by her words he says, "You are your Mother's daughter."

She crosses her arms and says, "Yeah, I am."

Knowing that she was right, that he needed to tone down the drinking and start being a better Father he says, "What would you suggest I do to help Jack and Juniper?"

"Well, I know Juniper is upset that she can't see where Mom is."

"She wants to see her?"

"Maybe not see her in person, if there was, a way they could see her virtually, like with a camera or something."

Gale ponders what Sienna has said. He could see if Vick could pilot a portable camera near the area where Katniss was placed, it might be like finding a needle in a haystack, but he knows he owes it to his children to try.

"I'll see what I can do" he says in response.

Sienna nods and says, "I'm going to go upstairs to check on Juniper." As she turns to head upstairs, she hears her Father say, "Sienna."

"Yeah?"

"I love you" he says fiercely.

She smiles and says, "I love you too. We might not say it enough. But we love you Dad. All of us, you are the best Father anyone could have asked for."

Moved by her words he embraces her, the tears falling from his face.