Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.

Gale was supposed to be with the Star Squad.

He was supposed to have been shipped out with Katniss, fought side to side with Finnick, taken orders from Boggs. But Coin was determined to break Katniss, Gale was sure, and sent him off with another unit instead. Unit 552, just another troop of men, most from District 13 with some refugees from District 12 as well.

Most of them were younger than him, even if only by a year or two, and overall they were a cohesive unit. They were bigger than Squad 451 would've been, and were actually doing things for the progression of the war rather than filming propos, but Gale still wished he could've stayed with Katniss.

She was fragile and needed his support, and Coin had sent him elsewhere. "It was in my terms and conditions," Katniss had argued, and Coin had shrugged. "Terms and conditions change," was Coin's response.

So there he was, camping outside with twenty eight other men and a squad leader on their way to the Capitol. Gale hadn't taken the time to get to know any of the yet besides a few names (Scooter, Yanek, and Rube were friendly) and he didn't really want to. Like the mines, keeping up friendships was exhausting when everyone knew someone was going to die anyway.

"Hawthorne," their leader Taz shouter. Gale turned his head from the fire he was sitting at and watched Taz motion for him. Gale stood, wondering what was happening, and marched over. "You got spare room in your tent?" Taz asked.

"Yes, sir," Gale nodded. "Why?"

"The one soldier we lost back at Maple? His tent mate's sleeping alone. Not good for a soldier." Gale nodded in understanding, pointing out where his tent was standing so Taz could show the other soldier, and then walked back to the fire.

Things were not going very well for Madge.

For starters, her entire district had been bombed killing basically everyone she knew and cared about. Including her parents. Then when everyone was surviving in the woods she got a rash, like, the worst rash ever possible from some poison ivy. Also she didn't have a lot of people to talk to, so it was horribly lonely.

Then, in District 13, she was forced to a singles dormitory and put on the night shift as a janitor. She had been reduced to a speck of dust in a matter of days.

To be fair, she hadn't been very fantastic before. Madge had always been quiet and kept to herself, but growing up in the mayor's house made her smart. And when her family was taken from her, when the Capitol fucked up Peeta's head and made Katniss suffer, not only was she smart but she was angry.

When Madge found out only sons were being drafted to fight in the war ("It's an old tradition," someone had told her. "If we run out, they'll start with the women.") she nearly exploded. She was doing basically nothing in District 13 as it was and she wanted to fight.

So before they drafted her Madge cut off her hair and wrapped up her breasts with some bandages from the hospital sector and joined Squad 552. And somehow, though she's not quite sure, it worked.

Martin. Not the best name but it was what she came up with on the top of her head. They didn't do body inspections, and because Madge had passed all her physicals and training tests she simply just had to switch the name. It was easy enough, and she wanted to fight, so there she was.

Only she'd just watched her tent-partner die (gunshot wound, it was quick but bloody and her hands were still stained) and was suddenly being reassigned. So all of a sudden Taz, her squad leader, had appeared was telling her that she needed to relocate because it wasn't good for her to sleep alone. Also she had to pee and it was a lot harder to do when there were men everywhere.

And then she got to the tent he'd sent her to only to find out it was Gale Hawthorne's tent.

No, things definitely weren't going too well for Madge.

She'd only started lying her things out when Gale pushed into the tent, grunting out a hello that she didn't respond to. "Gale," he said as he settled on his sleeping bag.

"Ma–rtin," she croaked out.

She and Gale had never been close. They weren't friends. They weren't friendly. If she stayed at an angle from him he'd never even figure out who she was. She was pretty good at the deepish raspy voice so she clung to that.

"Sorry about your tent partner," Gale said.

"Appreciate it," Madge responded gruffly. She settled onto her sleeping bag as their other tent mate (Scooter, Madge was pretty sure) came in as well. "Sorry for taking up space," Madge murmured.

"Don't worry about it," Scooter answered. They fell asleep fairly quickly, allowing Madge ample amount of time to sneak outside and pee.

Gale liked Martin enough. He mostly kept to himself which Gale appreciated and only talked when directly asked a question or spoken to. Martin wasn't someone who looked people in the eyes when he spoke to them though, and that sort of unnerved Gale. There was a sense of familiarity about him that made things weird too, but overall he was cool.

But soon enough Scooter set off a stray pod, leaving him dead, and Martin and Gale were the only two in the tent. Scooter was someone who made jokes, kept conversation going, but it was just too damn quiet with him gone.

"You from 13?" Gale asked that night. Scooters absence was heavy. He heard Martin turn in his tent. "Just wondering."

"Yeah," Martin grunted. Gale could've figured as much, what with Martin's pale skin. "You're the Mockingjay's friend."

Gale snorted. "I guess so." Gale missed Katniss, he couldn't lie about that. But somewhere in this journey he knew he lost her. It hurt, but there was no use in fighting in. She didn't see him how he wanted her too, she didn't love him the way he loved her. She cared for him, she didn't want him in pain, so she kissed him and held his hand and made him feel important.

But it wasn't the same. Katniss didn't look at Gale the way she looked at Peeta. She longed for him. Gale could never compete.

"You got a girl?" Gale asked.

"Uh…. no."

Gale hesitated. "Boy?"

"No," Martin answered quickly.

"Family?"

"No." Martin rolled to face the side of the tent. "I've got no one."

Gale shifted slightly. "I heard about that small pox that went around District 13," he said. "I'm sorry." Martin didn't respond, and Gale wrinkled his nose in frustration before muttering out a goodnight.

Madge was lucky that District 13 was advanced enough to have pills that would stop her period. She couldn't have even imagined what she would've done if she started bleeding in the middle of a war and trying to explain that it wasn't from a wound. The only disadvantage to those pills were that they made her cramp about ten thousand times worse.

Taz was on a mission that day though and they were marching through the streets of the Capitol. Every fiber of Madge's being was aching, screaming at her to stop and sit down but she carried on. One foot after the other, one foot after the other. They'd only been out of District 13 for about three weeks now and she was exhausted. She wasn't built for this sort of work, but she was determined nonetheless.

"You're not looking so hot," Gale murmured from her side. She straightened her spine and readjusted her hat. "Have you been drinking enough water?"

"I'm fine," she bit out. Gale held up his hands in defeat.

And when they finally settled down for the night Madge curled into herself to stop her aching pains.

She tossed and turned for hours before a small tin of something hit the ground beside her. Madge rolled over and saw a jar of red cream. "For the aches," Gale said from his side of the tent. "I get back cramps all the time. If you spread it around it helps stop."

Madge wanted to look him in the eye then, thank him over and over again, but she simply grabbed the jar and rolled back on her side. "I appreciate it," she called. Quickly she spread the cream across her lower stomach and the pain almost instantly dissipated. She sighed in relief and called out her thanks again.

She fell asleep right away, the exhaustion from the day wearing her out.

Maybe it was because he was so quiet, but Gale trusted Martin. So at night when his thoughts got the best of him, Gale would speak. "I miss my family," he admitted. "I know it's shitty, because you don't have one, but I miss mine."

"That's not shitty," Martin said. "It's valid. I miss mine, too." As an afterthought Martin added, "They probably miss you too."

Gale thought of Posy and Rory and Vick, all so young and confused. He thought of his mother, taking care of them alone though he swore she would never have to.

And they talked about Katniss, though Martin always kept things brief. His opinions were always very well thought out, articulated. It made Gale think Martin came from a well-off family, someone with a lot of education.

They talked about a lot of things. The war. Their lives before. The lives they wanted after this was over.

And when things would get too heavy or too personal, Martin was great at changing the subject. "Describe your ideal girl," Martin said, causing Gale to laugh.

"Ideal girl?" he echoed.

"Yeah. And not your precious Mockingjay, just what you want."

It was nice of Martin to keep him distracted. "She has to want a family," Gale said. Because more than anything, he wanted a family. He wanted kids, a house with a yard, a wife that supported him. "Patient," he went on. "Thoughtful. Thinks before she speaks." Gale looked up at the ceiling of the tent and smiled a little. "Smart. I want someone smart."

Martin rolled across the tent to look at him but Gale was still staring at the roof of the tent. "Yeah? Why smart? What's that mean to you?"

"Not stupid," Gale answered, causing Martin to laugh. It was high pitched and light, and caught Gale off guard. He turned to look at his friend and Martin looked away. "I don't know," Gale admitted. "Has to be able to make her own decisions, explain why she's making them. If that makes sense."

Gale thought of Katniss and felt guilty. It wasn't necessarily Katniss's fault she couldn't make her own decisions, but he thought of her anyway.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Gale nodded, looking at the roof again. He sighed. "Pretty."

"Hm," Martin sounded sleepy.

"What about you?" Gale asked. He turned to look at his friend, waiting for a response, but there was none. Gale assumed that Martin had fallen asleep.

It was the most action they'd seen in days and Madge had perfect aim. They'd finally gotten to the streets of the Capitol and aimed directly for the throats of the Peacekeepers, knowing it was a place kept unguarded and would be easiest to hit. She took out seven men before she realized she was becoming a murderer.

She was surprised at how little it bothered her.

For my mother, she thought with one shot. For my father, with another. For Katniss. For Peeta. For everyone in District 12. For all the tributes forced to fight.

She'd stopped caring long ago how many Peacekeepers died at her hands.

Madge wasn't sure what happened. One minute she was on her post shooting down enemies and the next she was on the ground, having tackled Gale Hawthorne to the ground to make sure a stray bullet didn't hit him.

It hit her instead.

She'd insisted she didn't want anyone to patch it up and that night when they set up camp she'd disappeared into her tent to clean it up herself.

Madge swore she'd fixed the tent so it couldn't be opened, but halfway through stitching up her bullet wound (through and through, thankfully) Gale moseyed his way into the tent.

"You didn't have to do that for me," he was saying, but the second his eyes were on her he stopped. She'd taken her shirt off to get to the bullet wound, and even with the wrap around her breasts it was obvious she was a female. He blinked a few times, not exactly understanding what was happening. "What…"

"I can explain," Madge blurted in a very feminine voice.

Her hair had grown quickly and though it was still short it was starting to curve around her cheekbones. The cap she usually wore kept it up and away so others couldn't see. She finished the stitch of her wound and scrambled for her shirt.

"Gale–"

"Madge," he rasped. She could tell it took him a minute to place her, but Gale was smart. "What the–what the fuck are you–how the–"

"Stop!" she nearly shouted. She pulled her shirt on quickly. "Please don't, don't say anything Gale, I–"

"What the fuck," he hissed, striding further into the tent. "It's–you've been–the whole fucking time?"

"Don't tell Taz," Madge carried on. "I had to do this, they weren't letting girls into Squads and I needed to fight, Gale, and I–"

"I trusted you!" he shouted. "We've–you've been here for weeks, and you're not even…" he trailed off, looking her up and down once. Madge felt her heart beating in her throat. His eyes flickered to her wound and he stumbled backwards. "You took a bullet for me," he said.

"Because we're–we're friends–"

"No," Gale dragged his hand over his face. "Fuck. What the fuck did you do?" After scrubbing at his face for a minute and Madge waiting in silence, wondering if he'd run to their leader or not, he looked at her. "Let me sterilize it," he grit out. Madge wanted to protest but he shot her a look that would kill. "You're a fucking idiot, Undersee."

She pulled her shirt back off and Gale's eyes studied the wrapping around her breasts but quickly lifted back to her injury. He poured a healthy amount of sanitizer onto a cotton ball and dabbed at her wound, causing her to hiss. "Careful!"

"You deserve that," he muttered. Madge squeezed her eyes shut as he cleaned the cut. Silence was heavy again. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"Because my parents are dead," Madge forced out through clenched teeth. "And I wanted someone to suffer." Gale sighed, leaning backwards a little bit. "They bombed us, Gale," she said quietly.

He sighed another time. "You shouldn't have taken a fucking bullet for me."

"Why not?" Madge asked. He started bandaging what she already stitched. "You've said it before. You have a family to go back to, I don't." Gale grumbled under his breath. "Don't argue with me about–ah! This." He pressed firmly on her cut and she winced. "Think about Posy."

"Don't use her name," Gale snapped. "Fuck." He taped the last bit of her bandage down and stepped away. "Fuck, Undersee! You shouldn't be here!"

And with that he marched outside, leaving her alone in their tent.

Gale wasn't upset that Martin turned out to be a girl, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Martin was Madge fucking Undersee.

He'd spent a majority of his life disliking her. She was the mayor's daughter, she lived in the biggest house in the district, she had more than enough food. She worked for them.

But now she was fighting the Capitol, Gale watched her take out an entire fleet of Peacekeepers before she tackled him to the ground. And now he owed her, because she possibly just saved his life.

He paced around where they set up camp for a long time, his eyes lingering in Taz's direction for a long time before Gale finally just went back to his tent.

Madge was lying down then, curled on her good shoulder and facing the wall. She rolled over when she heard the flaps open.

"I won't tell Taz," Gale said. Because though he might not like her, she had good aim and deserved to fight just like he did. Her face filled with relief. "But we're not friends. Is that clear?"

"Gale–"

"Those are my conditions," he snapped, settling down onto his own sleeping bag. "You stay, but we aren't friends."

With a deep breath she nodded and rolled onto her back again.

For the first time in weeks, Gale missed Scooter.

Things definitely changed between her and Gale. He wouldn't look at her, he wouldn't talk to her, but at least she was still fighting. She was still there to do what she wanted to do. And she was good at it.

With every day they got closer and closer to the President's Mansion. They had less time to set up tents, less time to sleep, less time to do everything. But they were getting closer, taking out units of Peacekeepers one by one.

The only time Gale spoke to her was when she nearly got hit by an exploding pod. "You okay?" he asked, and she nodded, and then he was gone again.

It wasn't how Madge wished it was, but it wasn't horrible either.

In the end, they fought no epic battle. Their task as Squad 552 was to take out as many Peacekeepers as they could, and that's what they did.

They'd just finished taking out another entire unit outside the President's Mansion when Taz got the call that Snow had been captured, that the Star Squad had made it to the mansion with most everyone (including the Mockingjay) still alive.

And since it was over and there was no where left for Madge to go, she took off her hat unwrapped her breasts so they could breathe again and talked to Taz.

He wasn't very surprised when she told him she was female. "You hold your gun a little different than how we teach the men," he told her. "And you took out more than anyone else in the squad. We were lucky you joined us, Soldier."

In fact, the only person still upset that Madge was female turned out to be Gale. He disappeared when they got to the Capitol, off to find Katniss, and Madge couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

Over the weeks they spent together she saw a different side of Gale, a new person that sheenjoyed and wanted to know better. She saw someone who deserved happiness, not the limited range of love that Katniss would give him. Gale was a good soldier and and good man, and Madge wished she had his respect.

They didn't see each other for a few more weeks, not until things had settled and the new and in charge President Paylor was holding a celebration for all who fought in the war.

Madge was invited – not Martin – because it turned out it didn't matter if she was a boy or a girl but rather that she'd made a difference. It was after the awards, after the food, after the music had started and everyone was invited to dance.

He sought her out, another surprise, and asked for a dance.

They moved slowly in time with the song, their hands clasped together, one at her waist on the other on his shoulder. They held each other's gaze for a long time.

"You're a good soldier," Gale finally said. She tried not to smile and failed. "I miss your long hair," he added a beat later.

"They're not mutually exclusive," Madge said with a little laugh. She shrugged. "I miss it a little too." It was at her shoulders now, curling inwards at her cheeks. "You're a good soldier, too."

"Yeah, I knew that."

Madge laughed again as Gale graced her with his first smile. Still, they danced slowly. "I'm sorry I lied to you. But you know why I did it, don't you?"

"Yeah," Gale said with a nod. "I do." He shrugged. "And I understand." Gale looked out across the dance floor with a little sigh. "I'm sorry about how I treated you."

"Wasn't any different than how you treated me before," Madge murmured. "So no hard feelings." Gale shifted his gaze back to her and she, too, shrugged. "You weren't nice to me in the district," she reminded him. causing him to look away another time. "It's okay," she said. "Well, I mean, it's not, but whatever."

"No, you're–you're right." Gale sighed. "I was an ass."

"On more than one occasion," she agreed. "But it's in the past, I guess is what I'm saying. I mean now we've won a war."

"Together," Gale added.

Madge nodded with a soft smile. "Together."

They were quiet for a long time as Gale pulled her slightly closer. "I don't have a lot of friends," he murmured into her ear, something he found much easier to do when he wasn't looking directly at her. "But Martin…" Gale struggled with what he wanted to say. "I want to know Madge better."

Madge pulled away and reached up to cup his cheek. "Good thing I'm Madge, then," she responded. The song ended and her hand stayed where it was. Madge pressed herself onto her toes to kiss his cheek and pulled away with a smile. "You know where to find me," she told him, smiling even wider when he nodded.

Hesitantly he released his hold on her and she stepped away, off to find someone else to dance with.

Gale watched Madge step up to Taz and bit back his smile. It turned out that there was a part of him that was happy he hadn't gone off with the Star Squad.