Ricochet

Chapter 6: Evidence of motive

Author: Carla, aka cali-chan
Rating: Most likely PG-13. Nothing worse than what's in the books.
Genre: Adventure/suspense/drama/romance... again, pretty much what's in the books.
Pairings: Peeta/Katniss, Rory/Prim... and probably others. You'll see soon.
Canon/timeline: Same-context AU- this fic still happens in the same world as THG, but the actual events in the books never happened. I'm adding about five years to the characters from the age they were at the beginning of The Hunger Games. Katniss is 21.
Disclaimer:Yeah, just let me go get my transfer laser and switch bodies with Suzanne Collins.

Note: I've never really tried this before (and I'm sure it will eventually come back and bite me in the behind), but each chapter will be from the PoV of a different character. You should be able to tell whose PoV it is fairly easily, though.

Summary: "Primrose Everdeen." This can't be happening, Katniss thought. She desperately pushed through the crowd. I volunteer!, she wanted to scream. I volunteer as tribute! But she couldn't, because she wasn't eligible for the reaping anymore. There was nothing she could do.

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Gale took off his gloves as he and a few of his crewmates walked down the streets of the Seam. They were going home early for a change; they had filled their quota for the week one day ahead of time, and since the next scheduled tunnel still had to be prepped, they were sent home instead.

Of course, this meant less worked hours and as such, less money, so usually in these cases, the members of the crew would look for other areas of the mine to support in order to make up for the lost time. Gale currently had two other sources of income in his household apart from his salary, so those few hours wouldn't make much of a difference, and he'd rather not take a spot from someone who needed it more.

So he was making his way home at around four in the afternoon, tired from work and sweating from the afternoon sun, but laughing as his friend Thom related his misadventures in trying to convince his girlfriend of goodness knew how many years to marry him. Bristel, the third member of their little party, was laughing so hard he was actually crying. "She says she needs to think about it. Think about it, for Pete's sake! How many years have we been together?" Thom groaned loudly. "We're about to have a kid! And she says she's not sure. How does that make any sense?"

"That's women, man, I'm tellin' ya," Bristel, self-proclaimed perpetual bachelor, intervened. "They always do exactly the opposite of what you're expecting them to do. That's why I keep saying: save yourself the money, and the headache." He made a gesture with his hands, like what he was saying was nothing but proven fact. "Why do you need to get married? You guys are just fine the way you are. And what's she gonna do, run off with some other guy while carrying your baby?" He shook his head. "If she's been able to stand seeing your ugly mug every day for all these years, no way she's leaving you now."

Thom rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored the comment. "Gale, brother, you get me, don't you?"

Gale was about to reply in his friend's support when Bristel and his impertinence butted in again. "Yes, Hawthorne, commiserate with your pal here about what it feels to be ga-ga over some girl who won't give you the time of day except when she needs your help to get a dead deer across the fence." Once again he shook his head, as if disappointed in his fellow males. "Maybe you two should marry each other, you're obviously soul mates," he added, signaling his two companions.

Gale glared and took a swipe at him, figuring if the idiot wasn't going to grow the hell up on his own, a good knock to the back of the head might do the trick. Bristel sidestepped barely in time to avoid it. "Hey, maybe the asshole has a point," Gale started, sarcasm dripping from his words. "Why bother getting serious about anyone when you can just be forever alone? Wouldn't that be way better?"

Bristel flipped him off. Thom let out a loud bark of laughter. Gale smirked. "See ya tomorrow, guys," he said with a wave, turning toward his street at the intersection where they usually split up.

"Oh, you think you're so hot, Hawthorne!" Bristel yelled as Gale walked away from them, not caring one bit that he was standing right on the middle of the street, screaming for all of the Seam to hear. "Well, guess what: I'm never alone! I got more game than y'all combined! You-" Before he could bury himself further in his inappropriateness, Thom took advantage of the fact that his attention was focused on Gale to deliver the wallop he so rightfully deserved and that was enough to shut Bristel up. Gale laughed all the way up to his doorstep.

He had just walked in when he was almost trampled by a stampede of Rory. "Outtathewaybro! I'mlateforwork!" the boy barely managed to wheeze out as he roughly pushed past him on his way out the door. Gale frowned. "What's up with him?" he asked as he tried to get some of the soot from the soles of his work boots before he entered the house. The question was directed at Posy, who was sitting at their kitchen table, doing homework.

"He's late for work," Posy replied ever-so-helpfully, without even looking up at him.

"Huh. Never would've guessed," he said drily as he walked in, deciding not to point out how talented his baby sister was when it came to pointing out the obvious. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vick stretched out on their mangy couch. Posy was always more the type to diligently finish all her work fresh out of school so she'd have the rest of the weekend free for play. Vick, on the other hand, was more a last-minute kind of student, not unlike his two older brothers. So it wasn't really surprising to find him snoring loudly on a Friday afternoon; sleeping was his preferred method to avoid doing homework. "He's going to get himself fired after only two weeks," he added, keeping to the topic of Rory.

Posy continued focused on her notebook while she spoke. "Oh, Peeta's not gonna fire him. He's nice."

Gale frowned, as he dropped his gloves on the coffee table in front of Vick. "Peeta? Getting friendly with the Baker, are we?"

The girl shrugged. "He gave me cupcakes once." She scribbled a couple more things on the paper in front of her and then paused, a thoughtful look crossing her features. "Gale, do you remember anything about fractions?" she asked, looking up at her older brother for the first time.

"I remember they suck," he replied quickly, taking a seat on the armrest of the couch. He wasn't really careful about it, but Vick didn't even stir. Posy pouted, but it wasn't going to work on him this time; he really wasn't in the mood to help her with schoolwork. "So why would Mellark give you cupcakes?" he asked instead, mostly to steer the topic away from fractions but also because he simply wanted to know.

Posy gave him a frustrated look. "Because he's nice," she repeated, in a tone like she was speaking to a particularly slow five-year-old. Sometimes he thought his little sister was the oldest person in the house.

She didn't need to say it twice, as the Baker's virtues had been all but hammered into his head through the whole two weeks. All Rory could talk about was how awesome his new boss was, as did Prim whenever she came over. His mother's new favorite topic of conversation was how grateful she was that someone had hired Rory. Vick and Posy kept asking Rory questions about anything and everything, like baking was suddenly the most interesting thing ever.

He wasn't being petty. He was genuinely proud of his brother for getting a job; he knew how much Rory wanted it. Still, after a couple of days anyone with more patience than him would be a bit sick of that being the only thing everybody talked about.

It didn't start to rub him the wrong way until the previous Sunday, when he'd been hunting with Katniss. After so many years of hunting together, he knew her thought process almost as well as he knew his own. She was a hunter of opportunity. She hunted to feed her family, so any prey that was in her range she would try to capture. If she could sell it or trade it in town, all the better, but she never went out specifically with that purpose.

Last Sunday, she had been specifically hunting for squirrels. Oh, she caught a fox and a rabbit, and a couple more critters were caught in their snares. She wasn't being overt, but Gale knew her well enough to notice. When he asked, she explained she'd come to an agreement with the new town Baker that he would give her three loaves of bread for each squirrel instead of two. And that's when the little seed of suspicion that was always in him when it came to dealing with merchants started to grow roots.

And now the guy was giving his sister cupcakes.

He stood up abruptly, turned on his heel and gave Vick a hard shake. That was enough to get the kid back to the land of the living, hair sticking up in every direction and gray eyes cloudy as he glared at his brother for waking him up. Without pausing for a second to entertain Vick's complaints, Gale huffed: "Help Posy with fractions," and made his way toward the door again.

"You're leaving again? But you just got here!" he could hear his sister's voice as he crossed the threshold. He let out a gruff: "There's something I gotta do!" in the general direction of his house as he made his way out their crooked gate and set foot on the packed dirt that was his street, taking the direction that would lead him to town.

When he made it to the bakery, it was the youngest Mellark- Peeta, apparently- who was tending the store. He was handing what looked like raisin bread to a woman he recognized as the cobbler's wife. Gale had never really had a conversation with him; his older brother, Crispen, had been in his grade at school, but Gale had never really been one to hang out with the town crowd, so they'd barely ever talked. He'd interacted with the youngest of the three was even less than that.

He stepped to the side to let the woman pass by him on the way out, and then he stepped into the bakery. Mellark caught sight of him immediately. "Hi, can I help you with anything?" It took him a few seconds to recognize him. "Hey, you're Rory's brother, right? He's in the back, let me go get him-"

"Actually, I was looking for you," Gale said, crossing his arms as he stood in front of the counter. His gaze swept over the Baker. The guy wasn't really very tall, was he? Stocky, wide in the shoulders, but not a stand-out by any means. He remembered the Mellarks were involved in wrestling back in their school days.

That seemed to surprise him. "Oh. Well, you found me," he said, apparently open to whatever it was Gale had come by to talk to him about.

Gale went straight to the point. "Why did you hire Rory?"

Mellark frowned, as if confused by the question. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Gale didn't have the patience to play around, so he didn't waste any time to make himself clear. "Why would you hire a kid from the Seam? Why not take an apprentice from town?"

Realization dawned on Mellark's face. He took a couple seconds to reply, seemingly to think of a good way to phrase his answer. Gale didn't blame him; his resentment toward merchants had never exactly been a secret. Katniss would say it made him infamous around the district. But Mellark then shook his head. "I don't see how there's a difference."

If Dough Boy thought that was a good way to phrase his answer, he was sorely mistaken, because all it did was start a spark of anger in Gale's mind. Of course there was a difference; there was an entire world of difference and people who pretended otherwise were just fooling themselves. "Listen, just cut the crap. What do you really want?"

"Why do I have to have an agenda?" Mellark asked, sounding resigned, like he'd had this argument before. He leaned against the wall that separated the storefront from the back room. It seemed like he was starting to get frustrated with Gale's questioning. Good, maybe that way he'd give him a straight answer and they could be done with this.

Gale leaned his weight on his arms against the counter. "Because in my experience, people from town don't give people from the Seam breaks for no reason."

Mellark crossed his arms, his gaze never faltering for a second. Gale had to give it to him: he didn't intimidate easily. "Well, maybe you need to get to know more people from town, then," he sentenced. Gale clenched his teeth. Then Mellark let out a sigh and took a hand to the bridge of his nose, like he was getting a headache. "You could just say thanks, you know."

"Don't make it sound like you did us a favor," Gale snapped, now really starting to get incensed.

"I know I didn't," Mellark said, very frank. He didn't sound like he was backing off, but it did seem like he just didn't see any point to getting into a confrontation. "Look, there's really nothing to it. Honest. I needed cheap help and your brother needed a job. It's win-win for both of us."

It sounded like simple logic, and he sounded sincere, but Gale knew better than to buy it. Mellark might like to think so, but the world just didn't work like that; not in District Twelve. "If it's just business," he added, "then why are you giving my sister cupcakes? That can't be good business."

"It was just two cupcakes," the blond man let out, almost in a groan. "And they were leftover anyway; no one was going to buy them the next day. Might as well give them to someone who would enjoy them instead of just throwing them to the pigs." His tone got a little harsher as he finished the sentence, in his frustration. "Or if you want, you can take it as a supplement to Rory's pay," he suggested, with a wide sweep of his arms. "He does good work, I appreciate it. And I know I don't pay him enough, so giving his little sister a cupcake every once in a while is the least I can do."

"My sister doesn't need you to feed her," Gale reminded him pointedly.

"Hey, I'm not trying to take your place or anything," Mellark said, raising his hands in front of him. Gale wasn't sure if it was supposed to tell him that he meant what he was saying, or if it was a barrier should Gale suddenly feel the need to punch him. He hadn't come here for a fight, but he might not be too far off, as the mere suggestion that he was jealous of Mellark over his sister's affection had made him bristle. "I was just trying to be nice to a sweet kid. I don't see what's so wrong about that, but you're her older brother and if you don't like it, then fine, I won't give Posy anymore cupcakes."

Gale studied him for a moment. He wanted nothing more than to tell him that's exactly what he wanted him to do, but then Posy might get upset. She was only nine but she was smart; she would notice if this guy suddenly stopped being "nice," as she had described him. He didn't want to hurt his sister. "Just don't make it a habit," he concluded, reluctantly.

Mellark's eyebrows rose under his fringe, as if he was surprised by Gale's concession. "Anything else you need? You want me to let Rory go? Maybe when my business goes down you'll finally accept that I had no ulterior motive when I hired him," he added.

Gale did not appreciate the sarcasm- at least not when he wasn't the one dishing it out. "Your business would not go down," he scoffed, dismissive. "Everybody needs bread."

Mellark gave an equally dismissive shrug. "Yeah, well, they're not going to get it if I can't make enough," he said, pulling lightly at his apron so he could get his hands inside his pants' pockets. He sounded so dejected about his chances without Rory, it was hard not to believe him. Even for Gale.

Alright, so maybe he did need the help that desperately. Still, the fact that his business would do better with Rory helping didn't imply he had to become the new best friend of the entire Hawthorne clan, or soon-to-be Hawthornes, or sisters of soon-to-be Hawthornes. It was still hard to swallow that a merchant could be so comfortable around so many Seam brats. Tolerant? Perhaps. But altruistically nice was a stretch. And there was only one reason Gale could think of for anyone to be that nice to an entire Seam family. "Is it Katniss?" he asked, point-blank.

There was no outward reaction to the question from the Baker, not even surprise. If anything, it seemed he had no idea what Gale meant by the question. He moved a hand up to his left cheek, wiping a smudge of flour away, and then it was back inside his pocket. "What about Katniss?" he inquired, sounding perfectly casual.

He was good. But Gale was an observant guy, and he noticed the slightly too long pause before he asked the question. That smudge had been there since before Gale came in and only now did he feel the need to wipe it away. He wasn't as unaffected by the question as he meant to appear, and that was enough to confirm Gale's suspicions.

It hadn't taken him long to come to the idea that Mellark's sudden involvement with his family and friends came to be because he was trying to impress one of them. Initially he had thought it was Prim. She was the one that had interacted the most with Mellark up to that point, when selling him cheese, and Gale knew she liked the cake decorations from the bakery so she was always happy to talk to the guy.

It was kind of weird for him, because in his mind Prim was still a child and he could never really see her as anything else regardless of how much she grew, but he wasn't a fool to think everybody else saw her that way. She was pretty, with her delicate build, her town-girl looks and a sunny disposition to match. She was the type to catch men's attention unwittingly. And Mellark was only, what, four years older than her? He'd heard worse. Obviously Gale would rather all men stay the hell away from Prim, period; both for his brother and simply because he was protective of her. But even so, he understood why men would be drawn to her.

Except Rory seemed to like Mellark just fine, which certainly wouldn't happen if Mellark were trying to steal his girl. So it had to be someone else he was interested in. More than that, it had to be Katniss. Which obviously sat even worse with Gale than the former option had.

He took a step back, and crossed his arms again. "You want her. That's fine. You're not the first and you won't be the last." Despite her aloof nature, it wasn't hard to find yourself attracted to Katniss. She may not be the best-looking girl out there, but she was strong. She had spirit. That left a lasting impression. She was different from the rest, and you didn't have to know her all that well to figure that out.

But Gale did know her. He knew her better than anyone else. And he knew getting behind those walls of hers took more than just fleeting attraction; he was still fighting his way through them himself. And not just any guy was brave enough to do that, or deserved the chance. "But she's not stupid," he added, his tone leaving no room for ambiguity. "You're not gonna win her over by giving her bread, or hiring Prim's boyfriend. She's smarter than that," he affirmed.

Mellark's lips drew into a thin line for about a second. "That's not why I hired Rory," he said.

"Fine." Gale could buy the idea that the bakery really needed help that desperately. The guy's father had just died, after all. But Gale didn't miss the fact that he hadn't denied he had a thing for Katniss. "I'm just saying you should keep that in mind."

That slightly frustrated edge slipped out once again in a sigh. "Look, I like Katniss," he admitted, stretching his hands out to his sides as if saying there was nothing to it. "Talking to her is interesting and I look forward to the times she stops by to trade. But this isn't some kind of plan. I'm just being friendly."

"She doesn't need anymore friends," Gale quickly retorted, eyes narrowing.

"I'd prefer to let her decide that," Mellark replied, though there was no bite in his tone. He was looking back at him calmly, without waver. There was no hardness in his gaze, no defiance; he clearly didn't want this to turn into a pissing contest, but he wasn't exactly backing down either. He looked like someone who understood Gale's position, but would not renounce his own, and expected Gale to accept that. For his part, Gale could admit to a grudging respect for that.

But either way, he'd come to the bakery to make one thing crystal clear. One thing only. "She's not alone," he sentenced, expecting his meaning to come across in that loaded sentence. Katniss was her own person; she could take care of herself and make her own decisions, but she was not to be toyed with, and Gale was there to make sure of it.

"I'm glad she's not," the other man replied with a light nod, and Gale knew that he understood. "Listen, you don't need to give me any warnings," he added. "I'm not doing anything wrong." And there it was again, that non-confrontational but steady determination.

They would never be friends; that was for sure. And even if they could be, Gale wasn't interested. Grudging respect was as far as it went. Still, there was more to Peeta Mellark than just a typical merchant-class guy. Definitely more than he had originally given him credit for. He didn't know if that made him feel better, or urged him to raise his guard even more. "You better not be." He just got the last word in when the door to the back room opened.

Rory poked his head out, his dark hair covered in flour. "Hey, Peeta, how do I know when I'm supposed to put the berries in? The dough's still-" He cut himself off when he noticed Mellark wasn't alone. "Gale?" He looked between the two men, a curious frown in his brow. "What's going on?"

Trying to come up with something on the fly, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Posy needs help with fractions." He shrugged. "I don't remember much about third grade Math," he added, as an afterthought. At least that much was true.

Rory was still suspicious. Not surprisingly. "You came all the way here to tell me that?" he asked, framing the question with a raised eyebrow.

Gale put his hands in his pockets, nonchalantly. "Was wondering if she should try to work it out with Vick, or if she'd be better off waiting for you." That made a lot of sense. Gale had all but ordered Vick to help Posy on his way out of the house, but they both knew the little weasel would find any excuse not to follow that command. He was probably back to sleeping already.

"I'll be here until eight, though," Rory reminded him. "Doubt she'll wanna wait that long."

"Actually, I don't mind if you go home a little early today," Mellark intervened and Rory turned to look at him. "Go help your sister. If you want you can help a couple hours tomorrow." Rory didn't usually have to work on Saturdays, but Gale knew he wouldn't mind, especially if Mellark let him bring Prim along.

Rory seemed satisfied with that. "Awesome. Thanks, Peeta." He turned to Gale again. "Tell Posy I'll be there before dinner."

Gale's response barely counted as more than a grunt, but it got his affirmative across. He turned to leave, with the knowledge that all the cards had been laid down on the table, in full view. Rory went on to ask whatever he'd been about to ask before, and as Gale pushed the main door to go outside, he saw Mellark nod to him; maybe a polite farewell, maybe an acknowledgement of everything that had been said between them. He didn't correspond the gesture, but he didn't feel he needed to.

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Author's notes!-

MY BOYS! -glomps Peeta & Gale- You know, I wasn't originally going to include this chapter, but I just love my boys, and in all three books they only had like one direct conversation. And while that conversation was nothing short of the holy grail for my fangirly sensibilities, I want them to interact a bit more in this fic. So this chapter is sort of setting the tone for their interaction in the rest of the fic.

Major props to Medea Smyke, whose Gale/Madge series was, I believe, where I first came across "Dough Boy" as a nickname for our dearest Peeta. It's absolutely priceless and of COURSE Gale would use it, there's no taking that out of my headcanon now. xD If you like Gale & Madge, and haven't read her stories, you should absolutely go and do that now! They're amazing!

Also, I probably should've mentioned this a long while ago (sorree!), but I do post excerpts from the upcoming chapters of this fic on my tumblr and my LJ. If you're interested in knowing a little bit of what's coming up in the next few chapters, check those out! The links to both blogs are in my profile.

PS: Next chapter's the reaping! THE REAPING, YOU GUYS! -flails- D: