A/N: Noticed a couple typos in the last two chapters, so I went ahead and fixed 'em. I was gonna update this yesterday, buuuut I was just too lazy- ER, preoccupied with something else XD

But anyway, here it is. Hope you like! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.

Chapter 19: Teams~

"Alright, listen up!"

Gale wanted nothing more than to run. Right now. Just run away. After Cato had so willingly joined 'the games', Gale had decided to do the same – and not because he wanted to show him up, either. Oh, no.

It was because Katniss, the girl he had all but adored his entire life, had decided to play, too. And if she was playing, he was playing. Simple as that. And not because he was afraid of her and Cato getting too close (oh, no!). He just wanted to be a good friend.

A friend-zoned friend, his conscience reminded him.

Gale rolled his eyes. At himself. How lame was he going to get today? ...Er, anyway, the reason he felt like running now, like walking away and taking back everything he'd done up to this point, was standing right in front of him, three measly feet away.

Johanna Mason smirked as she walked down the line of contestants for the first 'game' to be played, much the same way an army sergeant would do to a band of unfortunate new recruits.

"The first game we're going to play," she began, "is the sack race."

The younger members of the group cheered, while the older ones groaned.

"And for every game we play, you have to have a partner." Johanna glanced at Gale.

"And once you pick a partner, you cannot switch!" She shouted, looking pointedly at the person beside Gale.

"Choose wisely." She smirked at him.

Gale cringed.

"Dismissed!" She shouted, and everyone relaxed out of the pencil-straight line they had formed.

Johanna walked away, and Gale deflated with a sigh of relief. He spotted Katniss a ways down, immediately noticing Cato standing next to her. Upon seeing whom she was conversing with, Gale walked over, determined to break it up...whatever it was that was going on between them.

"Katniss, hey!" He greeted cheerily, purposefully stepping between the two.

Katniss blinked rapidly as she took a step back, something she often did when she was surprised or flabbergasted. It was silly, he knew, but he'd always found it...cute, whenever she did that.

"Um, Gale, hi."

They stood in awkward silence for a moment before Gale broke the ice.

"So who are you gonna partner with?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

She blinked. "Oh, well, I usually do the games with Prim," she explained. "But I was thinking about going with someone else-"

"Great, so that means we can go together!" He said a bit too happily.

The immediate guilt that swam to her eyes told him that wasn't happening.

"Oh, well...I-I'm sorry, Gale, but...Cato already asked me."

Gale was so shocked his smile remained sloppily plastered onto his face. "...What?"

"Yeah, he said he wanted to partner with me, so...I said yes."

Gale turned around, coming face to face with a very innocent-looking Cato. The blond said nothing, merely smiling down at him in an all-too-friendly manner. He couldn't prove it, but Gale could swear he saw a glint of smugness in those stupid blue eyes of his.

'Not interested' his ass!

"I'm really sorry, Gale. If I'd have known, I would have-"

"No, no. It's okay." he smiled through set teeth. "I've already got a partner, anyway."

She blinked again, once, twice, three, four times in befuddlement. She looked almost...disappointed? Hurt? No, that couldn't be. Katniss Everdeen was never disappointed by anything. She was the Iron Woman, unhurt and untouched by anything but sweet Prim. He must have been imagining things.

But to be honest, even if he wasn't, he really didn't care at the moment.

"O-oh. Really? Who?" She asked slowly, as though wary of the answer.

"Uh..." Gale coolly but frantically looked around him, desperately searching to make his lie a truth. His eyes landed on the most unlikely of people, the most unworthy of risks, the most worthy of foes, the most ridiculous of alliances.

Johanna Mason.

Gale waved a hand as she walked towards them. "Johanna!"

Even though it was obvious from the look on her face that she had no intention of walking up to them, she changed course and did so anyway. Why? Because Gale was Gale. And that, in his mind, was reason enough for any woman.

Except Katniss, his mind reminded him.

Johanna marched up to them, eyes squinting despite being shaded by her baseball cap. She blew a bubble. "What's up?"

Hoping to God she would play along, Gale went to stand beside her. "Oh, nothing, I just wanted make sure we were still doing this."

She shot him a look. "Doing what?"

He paused, and the pressure he felt as Katniss and Cato stood before him, one scrutinizing and the other amused, was unbelievable.

"Uhh, the games. I thought we were gonna be partners," He chuckled nervously, trying to jog a memory that wasn't there.

Johanna looked at him as though he had just done something disgusting, though in reality it was probably more as though he had just said something that made absolutely no sense, which he had. He stood there beside her for what felt like an eternity, the wind silently blowing as Cato and Katniss watched on, waiting for an answer from Johanna.

The girl in question looked at Gale, then at Cato, and finally at Katniss. A sudden look of understanding flooded her features, and, making an amused 'oh' of surprise with her lips, turned once again to Gale. He had the feeling he was going to regret this.

"Oh, right! I guess this means I'm gonna have to turn Finnick down now, haha!" she joked laughingly as she wrapped an arm around Gale's neck in a 'buddy' manner, and he did the same to her.

He was in deep now. No going back.

He watched as Katniss crossed her arms and looked at the ground, something she only did when she was uncomfortable. Immediately he felt like the worst piece of scum on the planet, but that feeling quickly slowed when Cato moved to wrap an arm around her, and it was completely squashed when he saw her smile up at him in appreciation (or was that adoration?).

Gale wrapped his arm tighter around Johanna, and he could tell by her sudden stiffness that she was uncomfortable. At the moment, however, he didn't care.

Forcing another smile to his lips, he said, "So, I'll see you on the battlefield, 'kay, Katniss?"

It was meant to be construed as a joke, but Katniss didn't laugh. Instead she looked up at him, brow slightly furrowed in confusion, surprise and...hurt. Gale looked at her strangely before realizing his mistake. He'd called her Katniss. He never did that. Ever. It was always Catnip, as it had been almost since their very first meeting. Unless he was extremely upset or depressed (which was hardly ever) she was always Catnip.

They stood in their places for a few long moments, and Gale thought that she was going to call him out on it, as she had done all those other times - after all, she certainly didn't seem to have a problem pointing out his seemingly sudden mood changes in broad daylight, especially if it meant getting him to spill his guts to her – but she didn't. Instead, she flashed a brief smile, nodded, and walked off with Cato to go collect their sacks for the race. He was glad that she hadn't said anything. Really, he was. But he also knew that she was going to keep that little shred of knowledge with her until the day she died.

Or until he explained and apologized. Whichever came first, he supposed.

As he watched her retreating figure, Gale became instantly annoyed. She knew he hated it when she kept things to herself. No matter how small or ridiculous. They were the best of friends, they always shared everything together. Always. It was almost laughable to think that a family reunion would tear them apart.

Ironic, indeed.

Johanna dropped her smile and wrenched Gale's arm from around her shoulder, ripping him away from his thoughts. She dug inside her pocket for another stick of gum.

"I know what you're doing, you know. And it's not gonna work." She said as she popped the piece of gum into her mouth, adding to the already large wad.

Gale froze. She wasn't going to say anything, was she?

"Uh, look, I'm really sorry for-"

"Don't," she said, blowing another bubble. He wasn't sure why, but the way she chewed gum made it seem as bad as smoking. "Look, I'm not into being used just to make another person jealous."

Gale looked down, feeling slightly ashamed. Was it that obvious?

"But," she said, smirking as she watched his head shoot back up in hope. "This is Katniss we're talking about. My cousin. And, even though I don't really like the idea of you two together, I really don't like the idea of her and Cato together." She blew another bubble.

He sighed, relieved that she was on his side. But that didn't curb his piqued curiosity. "Wait, what do you have against Cato?" He asked.

The bubble popped.

"I don't like him." Was all she said.

Gale waited for her to continue, even though it was clear that she was done sharing.

...

...

...

"...He stole my tater-tots." She admitted finally, angrily blowing another bubble.

He wasn't sure whether to laugh at the ridiculousness of her reasoning, or to be afraid of how long she held grudges.

"But you're still gonna have to make it worth my while." She said, drawing the gum back into her mouth.

Gale's mouth dropped open, and he scoffed. "W-what? You just said you were on my side!"

She smiled ruefully. "What's in it for me?"

He scoffed again. "A-are you being serious right now? I figured just being with me would be enough for you!"

She shrugged. "You figured wrong. Now what's in it for me?"

Gale wracked his mind for ideas – well, ones that she would actually be interested in, anyway. Needless to say, his genius brain came up with nothing. Not thinking, he quickly replied, "I don't know, whatever you want."

Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and he could practically see all of the twisted things going on inside those orbs. He instantly regretted his words.

"Really? You sure about that?"

Normally he would have said no. Normally he wouldn't have even dreamed of making a deal with Johanna Mason. But this wasn't a normal day, and these weren't normal circumstances. And in reality, he didn't care about being sure. All he cared about was beating Cato and showing Katniss that he was better than she gave him credit for.

And so, in a moment of desperation, Gale agreed.

"Yes, anything you want. Just...help me!"

Great. He had just made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

And he was only 20 years old.

His head was going to explode before this was all over.

Johanna smirked.

"Super."

A/N: Uh-oh, I think Gale just made a deal with the Devil. Will it work out? D: Well, what am I saying? That never works out, haha! XD It also looks like Cato wasn't being completely honest when he said he wasn't interested in Katniss, hmm? *eyebrow wriggle*

I've realized that, up to this point, I've been having Gale refer to Katniss as...well, Katniss XD And that's not right! So I'm fixing that here, as well as going back and fixing that MAJOR minor mistake in the previous chapters, haha.

Anyway, next chapter's gonna be the sack race! I'm gonna focus on a different game for each chapter, here's a preview (in no particular order) of what games there will be:

three-legged race

balloon toss

pinata

duck, duck, goose

sack race (duh)

Watermelon eating contest

I'll try to make them as funny as possible, which, judging from some of my own personal experiences with these games, won't be too hard XD

If you spot any typos, TELL me! They MUST BE FIXED! (0-0)

'Til next time!