Chapter 6

I'm greeted by Prim. Her shirt has come untucked in the back and I have to tuck it back in. She doesn't leave my side. Rue comes skipping to me next with Thresh following her. Finnick and Boggs come, and Finnick is carrying a whole bowl of sugar cubes and like old times, seductively offers me one. I didn't expect Cato, but he came to. Offering me his respect and apology. Cinna came and he started telling me how proud of me he was and how good I looked in my Mockingjay suit. Madge is next and she tells me how she always believed in me. Then the one I've been missing in my life since I was eleven comes.

"Dad." Prim and I run to him, hugging him. He smelled like the woods and coal mines. He embraced us and hugged us back tightly.

"My two little girls." I felt like crying at hearing his deep gentle voice. He kisses the top of Prim's head, then mine.

"Daddy, I've missed you so much." I say. He strokes my hair gently with a smile I'd only dreamed of ever seeing again.

"I know Katniss, I know. But you've done an excellent job in my absence taking care of the family." I look at Prim doubtfully.

"I wasn't your fault Katniss." Prim says giving me a stern look.

"And your friend Gale wasn't responsible either. It was that Hustler man." Dad shakes his head. "That friend Gale of yours, I wish I could thank him for helping you. And that boy Peeta," At the mention of Peeta I blush. "I met him for a little bit while he was up here. He's a good boy, and he loves you. I've seen that." Dad takes on a business voice, "I approve of him." Then it softens and he smiles and takes hold of my hands, encasing them in his massive rough hands that have seen many days in the mines and looks me in the eyes with his dark grey Seam eyes. "Though I don't think any boy can deserve my little girl." He stares at me, looking my face over, and then pulls me into a tight hug. "I love you Katniss, and I wish you could stay, but you can't. You have people to take care of. I'm very proud of you my Little Mockingjay. Say hi to your mother for me." I felt a pulling sensation then, like I was losing grip on reality. Everyone that had come to see me has made a straight line behind Prim and my Dad, starting with Cinna on his left and Finnick on the right. Prim hugs me tightly and I see the shirttail has come out again.

"Tuck your tail in little duck." I say tucking it in.

She giggles making me smile. "Say hi to Mom and Gale for me, and Peeta to. Love you Katniss."

My eyes are filling with tears, "I love you to Prim."

"Katniss, here's a sugar cube for your journey." I look up and catch the sugar cube Finnick tosses me.

"Katniss remember, I'm still betting on you." Cinna tells me. By now everyone has dissolved into mist except Prim and my father who are slowly disappearing now to. I reach out for my father.

"No Dad, don't leave again!"

He touches my face lightly, smiling, "I'm not far. Don't quit singing Little Mockingjay." Then he's gone leaving Prim.

I look at Prim through my blurry vision shaking my head, "Prim, no please don't go, not you to."

"Don't forget to feed Buttercup. I like your singing." She hugs me tightly and I hug her back, not wanting to let go. "Please be happy Katniss. I love you so much. I'll be able to hear your songs." I start to feel I'm losing her.

"No Prim, don't go!" I try to hold tighter.

"Peeta needs you, I've got Dad now. We'll be waiting for you and Mom, but don't hurry. Be happy Katniss, and for nothing else be happy for me." And then she's gone and I'm left standing clutching at empty air in the middle of nothingness.

"Catnip, Catnip?" Gale's voice sends me into a panic. Please tell me he's not dead to. The white around me grows brighter as I turn and search for him until it's finally blinding. His voice is loud as he repeats my name, alternating between Katniss and Catnip. I blink my eyes rapidly until I'm able to focus. When I do see Gale leaning over me, he's looking at me with a dirty tear stained, panic stricken, concerned face and when he sees my eyes open he smiles widely.

"Hey Catnip." He says trying to sound casual, but his voice is hoarse and full of relief.

"Hey." I say hoarsely and try to clear my throat, and when I do, I taste blood. I cough and the blood starts coming up, and Gale immediately helps me turn over to where there was a pan set just for that. Pain shoots up from my stomach. I finish coughing and roll back over onto my back and wince and try to breathe in small breaths.

"I died." I state.

"You did." He says frowning. "You gave me a heart attack Catnip, and if you ever-"

"I saw Prim." I say interrupting him. "And my father." Gale looks at me concerned.

"Katniss are you in pain right now?" Of course I was, each breath I was taking pained me, but I shook my head. "Liar. " He looks away from me. "Hey give her something will you?" I try and look to but I'm too weak. But I feel the needle enter and leave my arm.

"Dad met Peeta when he died." I pause, thoughtful a moment. "How long was I dead?" Gale looks away. "Gale, how long?"

"An hour and a half."

"I don't believe it."

"Neither do we. Haymitch already sent word to your mother, she was taking care of Peeta when someone told her, and I guess that hit a nerve of Peeta's, he flexed his hand."

"He's awake?" I ask hope growing.
"No, but he moved his hand, that's a good sign." Gale says gently.

"How ya doin' sweetheart?" I glance around Gale who backs up to let a hazardous looking Haymitch closer, bottle in hand. When he reaches the bed he stumbles a little and Gale reaches out and steadies him. "Thanks." He says nodding to Gale. "So how you feeling?" He asks looking at me and his eyes are bloodshot.

"Haymitch? How much have you drank?" I ask concerned.

"No more 'an usual." He says defensively. I can smell the liquor all the way on my bed and it's strong enough I'd say to knock out an elephant. I look up at Gale who moves cautiously towards the drunk mentor and takes hold of his arm to keep him upright. "Hey watch it trapper boy, my arms aren't game."

"Haymitch, I think you should go lie down, or sit down before you fall." I say.

He smiles and stands up puffing out his chest and spreads his arms out drunkenly, "I'm fine sweetheart." But he lets Gale direct him to a chair where he plops down and slumps almost halfway off of it. "Well I'll tell ya one thin', the son of Snow got all the violence, and I'll be glad when ya kill 'im." And just like that Haymitch's eyes closed, his head rolled to the side and he started snoring like a room of generators. I stare at him shocked then look up at Gale.

"What does he mean 'when I kill him'?"

"Katniss, you should rest." Gale responds dodging the question.

"I feel fine." I protest.

"You just died! You need rest." He reaches to a machine beside the bed, ignoring my protests and pushes a red button. "Sleep well Katniss."

"Gale!" I say incredulously. I can feel a liquid go through a tube into an IV in my arm. I reach for it, maybe to late but I'm about to rip it out when Gale's hand firmly clasps over my own. "Gale." I whine.

"Sorry Catnip, this'll do you good, trust me." And before I could protest anymore the drug was already dragging me under into a heavy sleep.

It took me a few seconds before I realized I was awake and I lazily opened my eyes. I registered Haymitch's loud snoring first, then I registered the heavy mass on my arm. Gale's head rested there, his sleeping face toward me. Part of his head rested on his own arm, and I realized he was holding my hand. I reached out with my right hand which I soon found was the one connected to the IV, and gently ruffled his hair. He grunted and lifted his head sleepily.

"Wha'?" I almost felt bad for waking him up, but then I would've missed his genuine smile, and genuine "Hey Catnip." No matter how sleepy it sounded or looked.

"Hey." I said smiling back. I felt happy Gale was right here, it's like nothing bad between us had ever happened.

"Sleep well?"

I was about to answer when the realization hit, he was the reason for the sleep. I frowned deeply at him, "I can't believe you did that to me."

He looked at me with innocence, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Gale Andrew Hawthorne, you know exactly what you did."

"Uh oh, not the full name, please no, I'm shaking in my boots."

"You better be." I say giving him an icy glare.
"I think you should be the one in trouble, Katniss McKenna Everdeen." I make a disgusted face at my middle name only Gale and now my mother knows about.

"Ugh, I will still never understand that name."

"It suits you." He says and I give him a disbelieving look. "As for Andrew well-"

"Andrew was your grandfather's name, and sort of you father's name, of course it suits you."

"Well your name is-" he starts but right at that time the medics come in carrying a stretcher.

"Sorry, but could you stand off to the side, we need to prep her to leave." Gale nods and gets up. He gives my hand a squeeze before letting go and going to stand by Haymitch out of the way. Poor Haymitch, I've noticed has during the night let the bottle tip and spill on him making it look like he's peed himself, or at least, I hope that was liquor. Gale has seen the bottle and tips it up. While the medics work on unhooking me, one glances over at Haymitch warily.

"Is he going to need a stretcher?"

Gale shakes his head, "I'll get him down there."

By the time they're lifting me on the stretcher, I'm wide awake and I can feel the morphling start to wear off. They carry me down to the hangar gently, and Gale follows with a hungover Haymitch grumbling and leaning on Gale as he drinks the remainder of the bottle. When we get there, two official Capitol Peacekeeper's have hold of a cuffed Mr. Hustler who when sees me grins. The Peacekeepers start pushing him towards the ladder.

"Beware Mockingjay, I will not give up easily, and you are not out of the woods yet." They push him roughly onto the ladder where he becomes frozen and they each grab on. The ladder begins to slowly descend. "Remember Katniss," he calls to me just as he's about to clear the hangar. "There are much worse games to play." Then his head disappeared. If Gale hadn't been holding Haymitch, and if Haymitch hadn't been so drunk to be coordinated, and Hustler was still on board, they probably would have both grabbed him and beat him by the looks on their faces.

The hangar closed as the ladder returned and there was a slight shift as the hovercraft started moving again. But my mind was stuck on the words of Hustler. It was obvious right now he was playing with me, but worse games?

A thousand different things flashed through my mind until finally the medics interrupted it by moving to the hangar door, the hovercraft had landed.

The medics are met by doctors and they are immediately directed down to the end of the hall and into an elevator where we ride all the way up to the top, then down to the end of a hall and into a large room with only one other person, head bandaged, hooked up to a bunch of machines. Peeta. I could've jumped off the stretcher and ran to him, but as soon as I moved I felt pain in my stomach so I decided lying on the stretcher was fine to. There was an empty bed set up close to Peeta's and that's where the medics took and laid me and left me to the doctors who began hooking me up immediately. Soon I felt the sweet sensation of morphling running through my veins, relieving me of pain. I watched Gale move around the doctors to a chair where he dumped Haymitch who looked right now like a grouchy sleepy homeless person. Gale stayed back until the doctors where finished, then he walked up to the bed with a small smile. The morphling hadn't been the only medicine they'd just injected apparently and I was beginning to feel drowsy.

"I'm gonna let you rest now Catnip, I'm gonna take Haymitch out and talk to your mother." Gale takes my hand, gives it a squeeze and starts to turn and let go.

"Gale wait," I say sleepily, grabbing his hand. He stops and turns raising an eyebrow. "Stay?" In response he grabs a nearby chair and puts it close to the bed and sits in it. "Thank you." I say, my eyelids closing slowly halfway. He nods. I try to stay awake, because I've really just woken up, but the drug is powerful. I see Gale smile as my eyelids are closing and then see his shirt, smell the woods on him and feel his lips as he presses them gently against my forehead. "Sleep Katniss." I hear him whisper. I can't say or do anything, and I can no longer fight the sleep and I give in. My mind conjuring up dreams of the kiss Gale and I shared, could have shared.

CHAPTER 7 PREVIEW

When I wake up, it seems Gale's switched sides but when I open my eyes to see the hand holder, it isn't Gale, it's Peeta, stretched out almost ready to fall out of his bed, talking and laughing quietly with Gale. Gale glances up and nudges Peeta with a smile, "He she's awake. I'm gonna go check on Haymitch." He slaps Peeta's arm, not hard, but not gentle and Peeta smiles. "Take it easy man, don't let her give you too much of a headache. I know she is one." Peeta laughs and Gale turns with a smile and lifts a hand as he walks away, "Talk to you later Baker."

"Yeah, we really need to finish this later man." Peeta calls with a mischievous grin. I stare at Peeta, unsure if this is him. Unsure if that knock to the back of the head messed with Peeta's memories someway that affects his relationship with Gale. Gale and Peeta, laughing and talking and having a conversation they enjoy, unthinkable. Peeta looks at me now that Gale's gone.

"What was that?" I ask him.

"Gale was just sharing some interesting things with me." He says grinning. Then it dims and he stares at my hand, "I heard about your death."-