Hello, everyone! Thank you for all the feedback, especially TheWomanWhoCodesandWrites! How many times have you guys watched the second Catching Fire trailer? I've already lost count. Finnick! Johanna! Gale! Gah. It's rather overwhelming. November can't get here fast enough.
Gale knew from the moment he walked into the room that this was not going according to plan. He felt all eyes on him, sizing him up, labeling him, and then almost shoving him back out the door. Settling his shoulders, Gale held his ground.
"Who are you supposed to be, stranger?" One man sat just two feet away from the door, who was old enough to have gray in his hair, but still young enough to put up a fight. However, he wasn't the one in charge.
As Gale took the only empty seat, in the middle of the table, he realized what that feeling was. District Two was the last district to fall before the Capitol, the last loyal district, the one destroyed from the inside out. Any stranger was considered an enemy.
"Must be the guy from the Capitol."
Gale sat with his elbows braced on the table. "District 12, actually."
"So basically, from the Capitol." The woman sitting across from him rolled her eyes.
"I'm here to help."
"We don't want your help." The old man on the other end of the table snapped.
"We need as much help as we can get. Even if it's from Twelve." Another woman, this one younger, but with nearly as many lines in her forehead, leaned forward as if to make her point.
"But he's one of them! I saw him on the television! For all we know, he's one of the ones who blew up our mountain!"
Gale sat back in his chair, keeping silent as the meeting dissolved into arguing. He'd never been one for drinking, but tonight sounded like a good time to start.
As Gale left the meeting, he realized why he felt so defeated. Helping District Two rise from the rubble would be so much harder than burning it to the ground. He could lead, sure, but he had never spent much time growing up building structures, healing wounds, or soothing hearts. Gale knew how to hunt, how to kill, how to destroy. What use was he after the war?
"Get him out of here, Gale, before he steals my mind away." Hazelle, normally so warm and inviting, looked particularly strained that morning. Gale wouldn't dare mention it, but he could see at least two fresh gray hairs poking out from her scalp. She pushed Gale's brother toward him with a sigh.
Despite wanting to look intimidating, Gale couldn't help the proud grin on his face. "Rory Hawthorne. Are you being a pain?"
"Nu uh." Rory, just barely old enough to collect his own tesserae looked up at Gale innocently.
Gale pulled his brother back. "Don't worry Mrs. Hawthorne, I'll show him those who don't follow the rules." He winked as he felt Rory stiffen. Poor kid had no idea.
Gale led them both through the streets, and they could hear the televisions blaring from the Square. Rory started to glance back, but Gale pushed him forward, walking faster.
"Don't you want to see how our tributes are doing?"
Gale swallowed hard, muttering, "Not really."
"Do you think they'll win this year?"
"I doubt it." Gale muttered, wishing the walk to the fence wasn't so long.
"We have to win sometime, don't we?" Rory stopped, and when Gale stopped to look at him, he was looking directly into his brother's eyes.
"As long as the Games still exist, we will never win." And with that, Gale started walking again. Soon though, he realized he couldn't hear his brother's inane jabber questions anymore. "Rory?" His brother wasn't even in sight.
Swearing, Gale searched for his brother's tracks. It didn't take long, but every second felt like an eternity. What if one or both of them got caught near the fence? It was one thing, when Gale was on the way home with something to bribe the peacekeepers with. But now, when he was empty handed? Caught or not, Rory was in for it.
Gale found him further down, far from the hole that Gale and Katniss normally used. His brother was crouched on the ground, staring at something Gale couldn't quite see. "Rory! I told you to stay with me."
Rory finally tore his eyes away from whatever it was, and looked at Gale. "I heard something."
Stopping, Gale heard it too. It came from some sort of small animal, one obviously in pain. It sounded like gravel on a chalkboard. Gale took a few more steps until he was next to his brother. If it weren't for the noise, Gale never would have noticed the animal, for its muddy yellow fur nearly matched the dry grass around it. The cat looked like someone had punched its face in at birth, and something had torn half off one of his ears. That however, wasn't what caught Gale's attention. Blood had pooled around its belly.
"Leave it, Rory. We can't save it." Let alone feed it, Gale thought.
"We can't. But Prim can."
"We don't have time, Rory. Come on." Gale sighed. "We need to get into the forest before it gets too late."
"You go. I'm taking him to Prim."
"You said you wanted to learn how to hunt!" Gale glanced at the cat, which thrashed in Rory's arms until he wrapped it in his jacket. "Besides, that thing is useless."
"He isn't useless!" Rory snapped, holding the cat protectively. "He'll make Prim happy. That's all he needs to do."
Gale ended up hunting alone that day, and Rory took the cat to Prim, without ever learning how to hunt. Somehow, in the days and years ahead, Rory never had that chance again.
Though Gale didn't live far from the Justice Building where the committee met, the walk seemed too long. He just wanted to rest, to sit on the couch with a drink in one hand and his dinner in the other. Maybe he'd even shower. The more Gale thought about it, the more tempting a cold shower sounded. However, when Gale stepped inside his apartment, the water was already running.
Oh right, I have a guest. Then again, "guest" might not be the right word. It wasn't like he invited her over. Well, he did, but that didn't mean he expected her to stick around. "Johanna?"
"Go away!" Johanna snapped, though it was kind of muffled in the shower. Gale also heard her swear colorfully as he made his way over to the bedroom at the back of the apartment, against his better judgment.
As Gale opened the bedroom door, he heard a crash.
"Fuck!" Johanna whimpered from inside the bathroom. "Damn it all to hell."
Gale grasped the doorknob to the bathroom door, and hesitated. "You okay?"
"I said go away, you son of a bitch!"
Turning the knob, Gale asked, "Is that a yes or a no?"
"Open that door and I swear I'll—" Johanna shut her mouth as Gale stepped inside.
She reminded him of Buttercup when after he got stuck out in the rain. Johanna huddled at the far corner of the shower, soaked, and folded into one of the tightest positions Gale had ever seen. The water cascaded against the opposite wall. Even as Gale closed the door behind him, Johanna kept staring at the water like it would lash out at her.
"What happened?"
Johanna swallowed hard, closing her eyes tightly. "I slipped." She added quickly, "I'm fine."
Gale stepped towards the shower, sighing. "Sure you are."
Her head jerked up as he came closer, her eyes widening. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Drying you off." Gale turned off the water, and Johanna uncoiled a little, only to bristle when he grabbed her elbow.
"Let go, asshole." Johanna stood up shakily with his help. "I said I'm fine."
"I know you did." Gale pulled off his jacket, wrapping it around her. "Here."
She gave him a look that would probably kill him under other circumstances, but accepted the jacket anyway. Holding it around her, she watched him closely as he searched for a towel. "What happened to Finnick?"
Gale took his gaze away from the cupboard, and glanced at her. "What?"
Even though she was still shaking, Johanna's eyes boiled. "You heard me."
He eyed her carefully as he held out a towel. "You heard the same as everyone else."
Johanna eyed the towel, briefly, and then glanced up at Gale. "Yeah, I know." She didn't take it. "But I want to know what really happened." The look in her eyes said it all. I want to know why he died on your watch.
Damn, Gale thought as he sat down next to her, trying to collect his thoughts, pulling up images he had tried so hard to forget. He fingered the towel as he related the story, from the tunnels that seemed to close in on them with each step, Peeta's frenzied whispers, the half reptile, half-human mutts who took out nearly half their group, Finnick included. Gale swallowed, gently replacing the jacket with the towel, and for once Johanna didn't flinch. "He was climbing the ladder, well, trying to, as three mutts tore him apart."
Johanna wrapped her arms tightly around her middle, as if she had been kicked. "Fuck."
Gale founded himself mouthing an apology, but Sorry didn't seem like enough. "What was it with you two, anyway?"
Johanna's head snapped back up as she glared at him. "What's it to you?"
"Nothing" Gale said quickly, pulling himself out of range.
Swallowing, as she wiped her face off with a towel, Johanna muttered. "I need a fucking drink."
Gale rubbed his neck. "Me too. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out."
Johanna rolled her eyes as she curled up underneath the sheets. "Of course."
Gale considered going back to the living room and spending yet another night on the couch, but something held him back. Maybe it was the way Johanna had rolled so that she faced him. Or it could be the way she had curled up so tightly that she barely took up any space. Not being able to help himself, Gale scooted closer to Johanna as her breathing slowed. Then, he knew why he stayed. He saw a line of wetness around Johanna's eyes, stubbornly held there by her eyelashes.
"You know I would've saved him if I could." Gale whispered.
Johanna's eyes snapped open, and she held his gaze for several moments. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she closed them without reply. Gale sank back into the sheets, his limbs feeling heavier than lead. He didn't sleep much that night, one thought ringing through his brain over and over: She knows about Prim.
I'm pleased to announce that the Hunger Games Adventures confirmed my theory on District 7. It's located in my native Pacific Northwest, just north of District 4. Also, it's my birthday, so send me some cake in the reviews!