The last time Gale on his way to find the lair of the Citizen...
TRIGGER WARNING VIOLENCE & DEATH OF CHARACTERS
"Madge, I found the lair." Gale's voice came over the communicator box on the desk.
Katniss stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Gale's voice. She held her helmet in her hand. They were all gathered at the train station, the command center of the attack.
Madge made eye contact with Katniss, disbelief written all over her friend's face. "I cannot believe Gale found the lair?"
Darius punched the button and spoke, "Can you repeat that Gale?"
"That squirrel, Corky led me to the Citizen's lair." Gale's voice was quiet.
Katniss recognized Gale's tone of voice; it was the tone he used when they went hunting. He was engaged in the hunt and this scared her because Gale wasn't a marksman. He was a good trapper, good at understanding how to get prey to fall into his traps, but his aim was horrid.
"Gale, this is Madge, where is the lair?"
"Inside of the stone wall that runs along the back of the Merchant businesses," Gale replied calmly.
"What is the nearest identifying home?" Darius asked, going to the map.
"It sits diagonally across from the Apothecary. Corky pushed a lever on the wall and the door opened."
"You gotta be kidding me?" Madge muttered.
Katniss grinned. Peeta was not going to believe this. Corky, the savior of the rebellion.
"I see someone headed toward the wall. I think it's the Citizen."
"Can you confirm visual on the Citizen?" Darius asked.
"The figure is dressed in all black. I cannot make out the face. They are wearing a knit black mask," Gale said.
"Gale, don't do anything stupid." Katniss knew Gale to be a hot head and was prone to do irrational things.
"Katniss is right. Don't do anything, stay put until we get there," Darius commented as he put his helmet back on.
Madge glanced at Darius and Katniss, then immediately put her helmet on. "Come on you two."
Katniss put her helmet back on too, then squared her shoulders to go back out into the cold.
"Haymitch, you're in charge until I get back," Madge ordered.
They ran to the area of the wall that Gale had indicated. The door was open, and Gale slipped inside just as they arrived. "That idiot," Katniss muttered as she ran toward him.
When she ran inside, she saw the knife imbed itself into Gale's chest. With speed and deadly accuracy, she nocked her arrow, aimed, and let it fly. The arrow sliced through the Citizen's chest.
"Gale," Katniss knelt on the floor, tearing off her helmet. He was unconscious and bleeding. Her limited first aid training kicked in as she tried to get the bleeding to stop. Gale was dying on her. "Darius," Katniss yelled, "Go get Mr. Mellark and my mom, quick."
Darius took off in the direction of the Apothecary.
Just then Madge ran into the lair, "Is he okay?"
"Gale is dying. I can't stop the blood," Katniss's hands shook.
"We need medical assistance," Madge growled. "Delly is going to be devastated."
"Help is on is the way," Darius said, winded.
Madge saw a body on the floor with a hole in his chest, his face distorted in fear. She recognized him as Jackson Sharpie. The Citizen had killed him as well, for what reason Madge didn't know. "Darius come in," she called. "Darius please come in."
The communication was silent. This wasn't good. If the people helping out couldn't hear their cry for help, they would sustain many more casualties. The weather would complicate the injuries.
"Darius come in," Madge said. "Someone needed to come and remove Jackson's body, and tell his parents of his death."
The movement across the floor caught her attention. Madge approached the figure with her weapon firmly in place. Kneeling by the figure she pulled off the mask. She wanted to know who the Citizen was. She screamed when she saw her mother's face behind the mask. She fell on her knees and cradled her mother's head. "Mom?"
Her mother's face was pale and a trickle of blood fell from her lips. "Warn the Capitol," she coughed.
Madge gasped, she didn't want to believe her mother was the Citizen.
Her mother looked her in the eyes and gasped, "Capitol, help, Capitol."
"Mom," Madge whispered. "The Capitol has killed many; they don't care about us."
"Warn the Capitol," her mother whispered as more blood bubbled from her lips. "Tell Snow, warn him, must complete...mission. Madge, you're the Citizen now…"
"No Mom," Madge whispered furiously questioning why her mother couldn't see the Capitol was the enemy.
"Tell Snow," her mother pleaded. "We're not like them, we…above them. We are Snow…"
Her mother stopped breathing and her dead eyes looked straight at her. Madge felt her heart was torn. Part of her did not want to believe her mother was the instrument of such destruction. Looking around, there on the floor sat a leather-bound notebook. Grabbing it, Madge saw all of the messages to and from the Capitol. Her mother was the one who was behind the deaths of Katniss's father and many others. Then they stopped for a long time. Then nothing until the Peacekeepers changed and things began to get strict again. Her hands shook as she came to the realization her mother was the spy, a traitor to her very own family. The truth stared her right in the face.
Madge closed her eyes as tears spilled down her cheeks, as she thought of all of those innocent people who died at the Hob. She looked around at the floor. Corky stood there with one of the sheets from the notebook. Madge took it and her hands shook at what the paper revealed. Her mother had even betrayed her own sister. She sent her to the Hunger Games because she sided with the miners. Her aunt Maysilee was the original Mockingjay.
Corky put his paw on Madge's hand, comforting her. "Thank you," Madge said to the squirrel.
Corky nodded his small head then offered her a nut.
Madge smiled. "No, you take it, I will be fine." It was a lie, her own mother was dead and she was the monster behind the attack on the hob. Madge didn't know how to process this information. She didn't know what to make of her mother. For so long her mother was a drunk, the woman she had to pick up off the floor because of her excessive drinking.
Did her mother use alcohol as a crutch or even as a disguise just like Haymitch? Haymitch was brilliant and he used his alcoholism to stay out of the Capitol's line of sight. Her mother did the same things, she used alcohol to remain hidden in plain sight.
Corky tugged on her sleeve and handed her a small cracker. Madge wiped her eyes and gasped. The cracker had the sign of the Mockingjay. Corky was telling her there was a job to do. She was the Mockingjay, the leader of a rebellion and although her mother's betrayal was hard, she still had a job to do.
Darius came in, followed by Mr. Mellark and Mrs. Everdeen. Katniss stood up from Gale and walked to her friend. "Madge," Katniss said, "I'm sorry."
Madge looked up.
"My mom, she betrayed us all. It's hard to cope with. I think she used her alcoholism as a way to cope. But it does explain how she knew of Arabella and Cray, she probably heard Arabella talk about Cray."
"She knew everything because she was married to your dad."
Madge held the leather-bound scrapbook, "And she would have continued killing people had it not been for Corky."
Katniss bent down on one knee, "You are truly the savior of the rebellion. I swear anyone who dares touch you will get an arrow through the eye."
"He deserves all of the nuts in the bakery," Mr. Mellark said.
Madge took a look behind her. "How's Gale?"
"Not good." Eugene shook his head. "But you can't dwell on that. You both have to get out of here."
"Mr. Mellark is right Madge, there's a big fight starting now out there, and we need you," Darius said.
Madge took a minute to take a look around her. Her mother was the Citizen and she was a rebel fighting against something far greater than the pain she felt at this moment. Madge stood, determined. The Capitol had brainwashed her mother, but she had an opportunity to stop their oppression and to stop them from doing it to anyone else.
"Let's go."
Katniss slipped on her helmet.
"We have to get him to the Apothecary," Lavender said.
Just as they were leaving Katniss heard her mother say a vulgar word. She only did that when she was about to lose a patient. As they left, Delly ran past them. Katniss looked back.
"GALE!" Delly cried when she saw his body.
Mr. Mellark caught her. "You have to be strong, Delly."
Delly nodded as Mr. Mellark carefully put Gale's inert body on a stretcher.
Darius turned to Madge. "Are we going to finish what we started?"
Madge turned to Darius. Her heart was broken, but seeing Delly was a confirmation that sacrifices needed to be made. She looked up at Darius. "Like Romeo and Juliet."
"Yes and we need to do what's best for the nation," Darius said.
"Okay," Madge nodded and she stood on shaking legs.
Katniss turned around her chin set. Gale's death wouldn't be in vain. Things were up in the air, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could protect Peeta. "I should get going."
"We'll be right behind you," Darius said. "There is something faulty with the communicators, they didn't hear me when I radioed for help. I want to make sure they can hear our distress calls."
"I'll meet you in command." Katniss left, moving quietly until she reached the railroad tracks and followed the fence until she arrived at rebel command, the train station. The station was chosen because it was supposed to be open during the storm and the lights coming from inside of the building could be explained. It also had several stoves and stockpiled with coal and wood so that it could survive the next few days. People in need of shelter were to head there if they couldn't make it back to the apothecary.
Its location was a bonus. It was only a few meters away from the Peacekeeper's encampment. A little further down was the mines and in the opposite direction the Justice Building. Thread had a fence put around the Peacekeepers encampment. Tonight, team one cut a hole in the fence. They snuck in slowly. Rebel command was using Beetee's technology to jam the security system. Somewhere in the middle of that trackerjacker's nest was Peeta. She wanted to go find him, but she couldn't. She had to focus on getting the message to command that Madge was on her way.
The plans that were made were moving forward even if Madge weren't there, this was bigger than what just went down. Katniss arrived first, they were late and she tore off her helmet.
"Where's Madge and Darius?" Haymitch asked.
"They're coming, but we have to get into positions." Katniss was still shaky.
Haymitch took her to the side, "Well sweetheart, is the Citizen dead?"
Katniss looked down at the floor. "Yes. I shot the Citizen." She gripped her bow tighter to stop her hands from shaking. She'd killed Mrs. Undersee. She couldn't believe she was the Citizen, the Capitol spy who aligned herself with the killing of innocent children.
"It's someone we knew," Haymitch guessed.
Katniss nodded, she couldn't look at the people in the room, they were all trained by Madge.
"Someone close to Madge," Haymitch said in a low voice. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his face. Then he surprised Katniss by saying, "It was her mom."
Katniss's eyes flew to Haymitch, "How'd you know?"
"Her sister suspected. She told me on the train ride to the Capitol," Haymitch put his handkerchief away. "When I came back I didn't want to believe it. She was so fragile after Maysilee's death. But then again, she fooled us all. Damn that poor kid."
"Sir, the districts are ready," one of Cressida's film crew members said.
Katniss could see Haymitch was lost in thought. Katniss glanced at the monitor recalling Peeta was out there, and unlike Gale, she could save him, but only with the old mentor's help. "Haymitch, you beat the Capitol once, you can do it again."
Haymitch took the command headset and nodded.
"I'm going to take my place as a sharpshooter." Katniss donned her helmet once more.
"Okay sweetheart operation freedom is underway. Get District Five on the wire," He shouted. The time for rebellion had finally come.
Profound apologies, I lost close family due to the pandemic, and it was difficult to write. I hope you are all safe and sound. Thank you for your patience. Special thanks to norbertsmom for being my bestie and awesome beta