Chapter Three
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
8 years later…
It was always so dimly lit in the hallways, making it more difficult to navigate the sharp twists and turns that resulted from haphazard architecture, but she ran at full pelt nonetheless. She knew every slight bump and knot in the ground like the back of her hand, and she paused to leap over a particularly large dent in the concrete that could have tripped her otherwise.
She could hear the sound of voices further along the hall, undoubtedly coming from the command centre. A wide smile broke out across her face, creasing her grey eyes at the corners, as she recognised the loudest one of all. He was cracking some joke or other, and the resulting bout of laughter from the others occupying the room was so raucous that it boomed throughout the entire hallway. She picked up her pace a little more then, so eager to reach him that she hardly cared if she was about to careen around the corner and collide with another soldier, as she had done on more than one occasion already.
The door to the command centre was open and she launched herself through it so quickly that to those observing she was simply a blur of grey material and dark brown braids.
"Hey!" a young computer operative called out indignantly as she swept past his desk, her trailing arm sending the cup of coffee balanced on the edge tumbling to the ground. The thick, black liquid spilled out of the cup and began to pool on the floor, spreading dangerously close to a bundle of wires beneath the console that may or may not have been extremely important. She barely batted an eyelid, however.
Gale Hawthorne turned sharply on his heel at the sound of the disturbance, letting out a gasp as a small body flung itself against him, and two arms reached up in an unsuccessful attempt to encircle his waist.
"Daddy!" the excitable whirlwind of a child shrieked, throwing back her head and gazing up at her father with unchecked adoration blossoming across features that were so like Katniss'.
"Briar?!" Gale couldn't help the grin that tugged at his lips, despite the stern parental stance he knew he should be taking at that moment. Exasperated sighs and rolling eyes captured his attention, and so he hoisted the rambunctious four year old up into his arms and began to walk towards the door.
"What are you doing in here, huh?" he asked gently, pressing a kiss to her chubby cheek and smiling at her still baby-faced features. "Isn't Effie supposed to be taking care of you?"
The little girl bobbed her head solemnly.
"Yep," she replied, before instantly dismissing any accusation of wrong-doing with a heartfelt declaration, "but I miss you, Daddy!"
Gale couldn't help but chuckle; at only four years of age, Briar Hawthorne had her father wrapped entirely around her perfect little finger.
"Well I miss you too, sweetheart, but you know you're not supposed to be here when Daddy's working, right?" he jiggled her playfully in his arms as a pout formed on her rosebud lips.
"Sowwy, Daddy," she lisped, her eyebrows knitting together as she frowned.
"That's okay," Gale replied with a sigh and quickly kissed her cheek again, although his thoughts had now drifted to her designated babysitter, who would no doubt be in a fit of apoplexy at the idea of losing her charge, "I think maybe we should go and find Effie so you can tell her you're sorry for running off. Next time, you stay with Effie, okay?"
Briar only nodded, busying herself with running her fingertips over the buttons and badges positioned on her father's black military uniform. Any remorse at her actions was looking unlikely.
From the far end of the hall, Gale squinted to make out three figures hurrying toward him, and it wasn't long before the impossibly tall and comically shaped hair of Effie Trinket gave her away. Eight years away from the Capitol and her extensive wig collection had seen the former escort grow in a rather impressive head of brunette hair, which she insisted on styling in the most elaborate beehive she could manage, sans hairspray and styling products.
"Gale?" Katniss yelled, jogging down the corridor toward him, panic etched across her features. "Is she with you? Is she okay?"
"Right here, Catnip," Gale replied, waiting for his wife to reach them before he carefully passed their daughter into her waiting arms.
"Momma!" Briar squealed, throwing her arms around Katniss' neck and wriggling in delight as her mother returned the embrace.
"You scared me to death," Katniss chided, her tone firm despite the fact that she stroked the crown of her daughter's head and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "You can't keep doing this, Briar. You could get hurt wandering off on your own."
The child gazed up at her mother silently for a few moments, however, her eyes then shifted sideways, signifying that she was quickly losing interest in the lecture. Briar had garnered somewhat of a reputation around 13 for managing to give her babysitters the slip, and Gale and Katniss had become hard pressed to find anyone brave enough to take on the challenge of their daughter when their presence was required elsewhere. The rebellion was ongoing, shifting through periods of success and loss, and Coin and the district still had great need for Katniss and her skills if they ever hoped to one day rally the survivors from the other districts into some form of an army. Both Katniss and Gale had assumed positions in the military following the second partial destruction of 13, although Katniss primarily worked at training new recruits in weapons handling and survival techniques, whilst Captain Gale Hawthorne was renowned to be the best strategist the district had seen in decades.
"Oh thank heaven," Effie wailed as she trotted towards the Hawthornes, her palm pressed dramatically to her breast as though to still the racing of her heart. "I thought for certain I had lost you this time, my little darling."
Gale affixed Briar with a pointed look that seemed to pass straight over the child's head. Sighing, he tapped her gently on the shoulder and pressed, "Do you have something to say to Effie?"
Briar considered her father's question for several seconds, her features scrunched up into a sober expression. Finally, she sucked in a deep breath and gave a vehement nod.
"Uh huh… can we get a cookie now?" the child demanded, her eyes trained questioningly on Effie's face even as she laced her chubby fingers through the bottom of Katniss' braid.
Katniss rolled her eyes, hoisting the little girl up in her arms as if the terror that had consumed her minutes earlier had not yet quite left her and she still could not bring herself to let go of her daughter. She pressed her cheek to Briar's baby soft skin, and held her close to her chest, wondering yet again how she could ever possibly love anything so much.
Whilst the arrival of her daughter had brought Katniss immense joy, it had also left her with a nagging fear that one day someone might target the child, and a strict embargo was in place that made it illegal for any resident or visitor to District 13 to mention Katniss' private life to the outside world. As far as the other districts were concerned, Katniss was a soldier of the rebellion, the face of their fight. They knew nothing of her other life as a wife and mother, and Coin had been uncharacteristically helpful in ensuring that news of Briar Hawthorne's arrival had not made it past the ears of their district.
"No, what else have you got to say to Effie?" Gale coaxed, trying to correct his daughter and also distract her from wanting a cookie; rations were after all still in effect and didn't often include cookies, even for the daughter of the Mockingjay.
Briar yawned, resting her cheek against her mother's shoulder as she regarded Effie with a sleepy smile that instantly made Effie bite back a grin of her own.
"I'm waiting, young lady," Effie said, arms folded across her chest as she tried her best to look annoyed.
"Sowwy, Effie," Briar finally murmured, grinning as she was rewarded with an affectionate kiss to the top of her head by her adoring father.
"I'm really sorry, Effie," Katniss echoed, wincing as she realised the degree of panic Effie must have suffered. Despite their shaky start, Effie had become a much loved, almost maternal presence in Katniss' life, and from the second Briar had made her appearance in the world, Effie had watched and fussed over the baby with a softness that had surprised all of those around her.
In an even more shocking turn of events, it had become apparent that despite his initial protestations, not only did Haymitch quite like children, he was also an incredibly competent diaper changer and performer of out of tune lullabies.
"Oh, no harm done I suppose," Effie swatted her hand in Katniss' direction, "children will be children."
Haymitch reached out and ruffled the child's dark hair, slinging an arm around Effie as he suggested, "Maybe we could get Beetee to fit her with some sort of tracking device."
"We'll look in to it," Katniss laughed, planting the little girl back on her feet and taking her hand as Gale moved to the child's other side and clasping her other hand in his. Katniss smiled at the sight, watching Briar's tiny fingers curl around Gale's much larger hand. "Okay, we need to get you back to our quarters, little duck."
"Can I play with Buttercup?" Briar asked, her eyes wide with excitement at the prospect.
"After your nap you can," Katniss countered, averting her gaze and grinning to herself as her daughter's face fell into a crestfallen pout.
"Awww! But I'm not tired, Momma!" she protested, her bottom lip sticking out in a well-practiced sulk that Katniss always claimed was a perfect replica of her father's most petulant expression.
"Uncanny," Katniss teased, shooting Gale a pointed glance which he deflected with a playful grin. The tip of her tongue pressed against her top lip as she watched him plead ignorance, and she couldn't help the smile she automatically bestowed upon her husband as he lifted Briar back into his arms and slid his free hand around her waist.
Rolling his eyes, Gale craned his neck and kissed her briefly on the lips, "You kidding me? This kid is all you. Wilful, stubborn, always getting herself into all kinds of trouble…"
Haymitch interjected, suddenly conscious that he and Effie were intruding on a private moment, "We'll see you three later at dinner. If you could refrain from putting us off it, that'd be great."
"Sweet dreams, little one," Effie added softly, reaching up to stroke Briar's cheek.
Haymitch and Effie disappeared down the corridor arm in arm, the latter maintaining a steady stream of chatter now that her charge had been located and all was well once again. Gale and Katniss moved in the opposite direction, heading towards their compartment, with Briar slowly growing limp in her father's arms as exhaustion began to overwhelm her.
Both parents remained silent, exchanging knowing looks as they realised that their daughter would likely be asleep before they had even laid her down on her bed. Sure enough, the child's eyes were closed and her mouth open whilst she snored by the time they had reached the threshold of the doorway to their quarter; what was in effect the Hawthorne family home. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen shared a compartment a short distance away, which was in turn just a stone's throw from the quarter occupied by Hazelle and the remaining Hawthorne children.
Gale moved stealthily towards Briar's bed and carefully laid her sleeping body down on the mattress, pausing to arrange a blanket over her. He brushed a stray strand of hair that had escaped her braids away from her cheek and watched as she let out a sigh in her slumber before curling up onto her side.
"Here," Katniss whispered, handing over a lumpy, grey cloth rabbit to Gale, which he examined with a smirk before tucking into the crook of Briar's arm. The toy had been made for her shortly before her birth by Hazelle, who had been so thrilled at the prospect of meeting her first grandchild that she had destroyed an entire bed sheet in order to produce the gift. Mrs. Everdeen had managed to acquire a needle and thread from medical, but the only available option for stuffing had been more odds and scraps that Hazelle had shredded off the blanket. The result was a pale grey animal with too-saggy ears, an absent cotton tail, and a body that was more bulky than cuddly, but Briar adored her bunny nonetheless.
Quietly and hand in hand, Gale and Katniss slipped into the living area of the quarter, Gale pausing to pull across the flimsy door that separated the two rooms.
"I blame you," Katniss stated, dropping down into a nearby chair and crossing her arms as she regarded Gale. "You encourage her."
"Do not." Gale simply narrowed his eyes and awarded her his most disbelieving expression, which she quickly deflected with a toss of her head.
Raising her arms, Katniss yawed wearily, watching as Gale settled himself on the small sofa and she quickly relocated to join him.
Settled in his arms, her head leaning against his chest, Katniss closed her eyes and sighed contentedly within his embrace. His lips ghosted across her cheek, jaw and finally the curve of her neck, and she reached up blindly to press her palm to his cheek. Gale curled his hand around hers and brushed his lips in the centre of her palm for good measure.
His voice was low and husky as his breath crested the shell of her ear and she shivered at the sensation.
"What about you?" he inquired, smiling against the warmth of her neck, "did you miss me, Catnip?"
"Always," she replied earnestly, despite the fact that Gale had only been gone since the previous evening, leading a team out to test the new electrified border fences they had erected weeks before.
He tried to be away as little as possible, preferring to spend his time with his family rather than leading missions. Gale had managed to secure a position that meant he spent the majority of his working hours in the control centre, and both he and Katniss had barely spent a day apart from Briar since her birth. Their family came above and beyond everything else – the districts, the ongoing war, and even the rebellion itself.
Gale Hawthorne had always longed for a family of his own and he intended to savour every second of their life together. He had learned as a teenager how fragile and unpredictable life could be, and he wanted Briar to have happy memories of her father, should anything ever happen to him. Gale was determined that his daughter would know just how deeply she was loved, and that her mother was quite literally the love of his life.
"Hey, stop thinking like that," Katniss interrupted his rather melancholy reverie, and Gale started suddenly at the intrusion.
"I wasn't…" Gale began, poised to deny the accusation that his thoughts had been anything other than positive, despite the fact that he knew his expression had likely betrayed him.
"Liar," Katniss accused, turning her head to regard her husband. Katniss reached up and pressed her palm against Gale's jaw, and two identical pairs of Seam eyes locked on each other as the couple craned their necks in order to kiss.
When they finally drew apart, Gale paused to smile down at his wife and tuck an errant piece of hair behind her ear. It still amazed him that they had managed to escape the district that had been their prison as well as their home, and he would never stop being grateful that some higher power had seen fit to allow them to remain together.
"I hate to ruin the moment and talk shop," Katniss stated, chewing on her bottom lip as her thoughts drifted back to the latest piece of news buzzing around 13, "but, any news on the Capitol situation?"
Gale's jaw tensed immediately and his eyes hardened, but his arms remained locked gently around his wife, who pressed herself closer to his chest. Although Katniss had never been one to require a knight in shining armour of any kind, Gale's body pressed flush against her own rarely failed to make her feel safe. He was solid and real, her anchor to both sanity and happiness more times than she could recount. She listened to the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart beneath her ear and let out a contented hum, half forgetting the question she had broken the silence with in the first place.
"They buried Snow yesterday and swore in the new president this morning," Gale finally answered, his fingertips trailing up Katniss' arm and coming to rest lightly on her shoulder. "No word yet on who it is but we're working on it."
"Have we got a list of possible successors?" Katniss asked, wondering if this would be a case of 'better the devil you know', or whether the new president would actually prove beneficial to bringing the war to an end, either through political avenues or military inexperience – the districts would be happy to exploit either.
Gale shrugged, "We do, but the information's out of date. Half those guys could be dead by now. Nobody stayed in Snow's favour for long, you know that."
Katniss shuddered unbidden, reflecting on her own encounters with the recently deceased leader. She rested her cheek against Gale's shoulder and breathed in his familiar, comforting scent. Memories of her time as a tribute still caused her the odd sleepless night, but she instead tried to focus on the present and the happy life she had carved out in 13, despite the odds never having truly been in her favour. She certainly had once thought the idea impossible, having refused to contemplate allowing herself to focus on love; and yet it had turned out to be the very thing that had saved her. Gale had saved her and she had saved him – just as it had always been.
Changing the subject, at least temporarily, Gale allowed his chin to rest on the top of her head as he struggled to contain a yawn. "You sleep okay last night?"
Katniss closed her eyes and allowed herself to be lulled by the sensation of his fingertips drifting up and down her arm. She let out a murmur of affirmation in response.
"I came back to check on you both before we ran the test data. You and Briar looked pretty out of it," he smiled at the memory of having crept into their quarters to find his wife and daughter snuggled up together in the centre of their cot bed, both with their heads tilted back, lips parted, and arms wrapped tightly around each other.
The nightmares and resultant insomnia were now much rarer for Katniss, and she had begun to sleep again as she had as a child; carried away in a heavy, peaceful slumber, feeling safe and loved.
"You did?" She opened her eyes slowly to cast a dubious glance up at her husband.
"Well, I know you don't exactly need me to check up on you but I still like to every once in a while," Gale replied, his smile transforming into a smirk as he added, "someone's got to make sure you two stay out of trouble."
"And a fine job you did of that today," Katniss retorted, one eyebrow quirked as she glanced pointedly at her husband. "Seriously Gale, you have to stop letting her get away with things. That kid has practically got you hog tied. She needs to know that no means no, for her own safety."
Gale's expression sobered and he considered Katniss' words seriously for a few moments before nodding.
"I know, you're right," he assuaged, squeezing the top of his wife's arm and dropping a kiss onto the crown of her head, "no more letting her sneak into command, I promise."
Katniss nodded, her expression still troubled despite Gale's assurances. She knew their daughter was headstrong and wilful, two qualities that she ordinarily admired and recognised as having been inherited from her, but she could not help but worry that the little girl would eventually land herself into some kind of trouble that her parents would be incapable of digging her out of.
"I just worry about her," Katniss said, a shiver coursing involuntarily through her body as she continued, "the rebellion isn't over yet, Gale. We both know there's more to come, and if the Capitol knew about Briar…"
"They won't find out," he soothed, pressing his lips to her temple as he held her tightly, "I'll never let anything happen to our daughter, Katniss. You know I'd die before I allowed anyone to hurt her."
Katniss' fingers gripped tighter around his arm, and she tried to curl herself more snugly into his body, "I don't ever want it to come to that, Gale. If I lost you or Briar, I…"
Gale held her close, smiling despite the seriousness of their conversation as he replied through a chuckle.
"I waited six years for you, Catnip. If you think you're getting rid of me now…" his breath ghosted her ear as he whispered playfully, "you're crazy."
She consented to smile, resentfully dissolving into laughter as he planted clumsy kisses across her cheeks and walked his fingers up her sides, making her shiver and recoil.
"Gale! Would you stop?!" she panted, laughing out loud even as she glanced to the screen door toward where Briar slept.
"Not until you lighten up!" he replied, rolling them over until his body rested carefully on top of hers, their fingers interwoven as their hands rested on either side of her head.
"Gale!" she protested half-heartedly, watching as he lifted their joined hands and brushed his lips reverently over the thin silver band on her finger. Precious metals of any kind were a rarity in the districts, and jewellery was a luxury generally reserved for those in the Capitol. But Effie had insisted on it, and had had one of her own brooches melted down to fashion two thin yet perfectly fitting wedding bands – one for Katniss, one for Gale. The ceremony itself had been simple and secret, with only those in President Coin's most trusted circle privy to the details. However, the marriage it had founded far belied its humble start.
"Gale…" but this time his name left her lips in a breath, and the smile that graced her features was telling of only intense love and devotion.
He silenced her finally with a toe-curling kiss and, for once, the Mockingjay willingly surrendered.
x-x-x
From the now deserted balcony, he watched as all remnants of the lavish ceremony were swept and cleared away. Coloured streamers were pushed into piles by Avoxes wielding brushes, whilst young children on bended knee scrubbed at the steps of the presidential palace with small brushes and buckets of cleaning fluid. Overhead, the sun began to dip below the horizon, punctuating the end of the day that would be forever marked in his memory. He smiled as he watched it all.
Certainly it had been a long time coming, but he knew beyond all reasonable doubt that the wait would prove worthwhile. He had wheedled his way into Snow's good graces, pranced around the Capitol with a kind of ease that had surprised even himself, and thrown everything he had into truly learning the politics of Panem. He had been there the day Snow had ordered those districts that stood with the Mockingjay to be firebombed, standing by the President's side and watching with baited breath as the hovercrafts rained destruction down on the masses, who he had come to realise truly deserved what was coming to them. Snow would indeed be a tough act to follow, but there was no doubt in his mind that he would be up to the challenge. After all, the President himself had selected his own successor on his deathbed just a month beforehand. The Capitol had been careful to keep everything hush-hush until the very last minute, for fear that the Mockingjay may still have useful contacts. Whilst little had been heard from Katniss Everdeen for the past five years, he was certain that she was still alive, out there somewhere, playing the role of victim as well as she ever had.
Over the years, he had come to realise that every single bad thing that had ever happened to Katniss had been brought down upon her own head by her foolish, deliberately disobedient actions. Life in the districts had never been so bad, if you knew how to play the game and make nice with the Peacekeepers, but Katniss and her ilk had never been known for that. It had taken him a while, but he had finally seen the Mockingjay for what she really was; an anarchist, who cared little for the safety of those in the districts whom she professed to fight for, and everything for making the residents of the Capitol suffer for simply having chosen the right side.
It had been a little over six months since the last broadcast from the adored Mockingjay had hijacked their screens. Though her message remained as strong and determined as ever, in her general demeanour he had noticed a strange softness. He could not guess what had triggered this change, and in all other manners the woman had remained much the same.
The smile that sometimes graced his lips when he saw her would need to be contained – he would not let his former life betray him. None of that had been real anyway, but this- this was real. And everything was now his for the taking.
Running his hands down the edges of his starched white collar, the man stared over the partial ruins of his city with a snarl of defiance. Though construction teams worked tirelessly to restore the buildings and ornate gardens to their former glory, the black smoke marks marred the marble and white stone like the battle scars they were.
Almost a year before, the rebellion had found a way to disable the Capitol's defence systems, and so had begun a night of constant air strikes- an attack the likes of which the city had never seen before. Morale was low, and the incoming president knew that winning over his people was key if they were to finally end the war; public speaking had of course always been a certain skill of his, and where he could not charm he had been taught to destroy.
The rebellion would be quashed and the Capitol would rise again, of that he was certain. Whilst he would rule with the same iron fist that his mentor had favoured, he felt a little public relations work wouldn't go amiss to gain the trust and following of his disillusioned populace.
It shouldn't take much convincing; after all, Peeta Mellark had always been a master at winning over the crowd.
Authors' Note - May the reviews be ever in our favour.