Disclaimer: All stories are individuals of themselves and are unrelated to each other.
Gale paced the small hallway in front of the elevator with his hands balled into fists. He was being ridiculous, he knew that. All he had to do was press the button and get on the damned elevator.
His therapist was on the bottom floor, waiting for Gale to get off so they could walk to Gale's session together. It was called exposure therapy. Do the thing you're scared of to get over the fear. Gale hated it. He absolutely fucking hated it.
Finally with a deep breath he strode to the elevator and pressed the down button. District 13 was strange like that, where the lower floors seemed to be more important. Everything was underground, anyway. That's what Gale had to remind himself. That everything was already underground anyway.
Finally the elevator arrive and with another deep breath he entered the empty carrier. "Not the mines," he murmured to himself. "Not the mines. Just an elevator."
He pressed the button that would take him to where his therapist was waiting and the door clicked shut. Still with shaky breaths he reached out, gripping the railing that circled the metal box, and closed his eyes. The elevator stopped much sooner than expected, just one floor down, and when the doors open he found Madge Undersee standing on the other side.
She offered him a polite smile before getting on and pressing the button of the floor she was heading to, a stop above Gale's. "Afternoon," she said softly, and Gale grunted in response. Just a few more stops to go.
Madge had been over to the Hawthorne's compartment more often than not, lately. She lost both of her parents in the bombs that hit District 12 and Gale's mother had a deep love for her, though Gale wasn't sure why. It wasn't as though they knew each other before, but he didn't ever think to question his mother about her choices.
So Madge was over, and Gale was polite, but they weren't friends. And he was on an elevator. So he wasn't really looking to having a conversation.
"Did you hear that they're going to start rebuilding up north?" Madge asked, though Gale had resumed gripping the railing with all of his might. "Like an above ground District 13. It's a fresh start. I thought you might be interested." Still, Gale said nothing. "I heard you're going to 2, but I don't know. I think you'd–"
"Undersee," Gale muttered. "Shut up." Madge looked highly offended. He let out a short breath. Through clenched teeth he managed to say, "Just–not now, okay?"
Still, with a huff, she crossed her arms over chest. "I was just making conversation," she murmured.
Gale readjusted his grip on the railing and focused on his breathing. Not the mines, he thought to himself. Not the– the elevator jolted. His eyes sprung open. The elevator stopped moving. The lights flickered, and then the elevator was was plunged into darkness before a dull orange emergency light turned on.
With a deep sigh Madge strode across the elevator, pressing the buttons a few times as though it was going to make it move. "I think we're stuck," she said.
"Obviously," Gale snapped. He was gripping the railing so hard he was pretty sure it was going to break. "I should–I shouldn't be here," he said, shaking his head. "I shouldn't be here I–"
Madge spun to look at him, the worry lines on his face looking darker due to the shadows the orange light was causing. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he shook his head frantically. His eyes were roaming the small tin can, the corners, looking for any way he could possibly get out. "Gale," she said his name firmly. "Hey, it's–"
"I shouldn't be here," he rasped again. "My fucking–exposure therapy," he finally choked out.
Quickly Madge pressed the emergency button and stepped over beside him. She must've known what that meant because she stood at his side, holding out her hand. "Hey," she said softly. "Grab my hand." But he was gripping the railing, shaking his head. "Grab my hand," she said again, a little more insistent than the time before.
Gale's eyes found hers and she gestured to her hand another time. With a shuddering breath one of his hands flung from the railing to grab hers, a little more tighter than she must've been expecting.
"We're in District 13," Madge told him, and Gale jerked his head into a nod. "We're not in District 12, Gale." He tried nodding again but it felt like his throat was closing up. He didn't even have it in him to be frustrated that Madge Undersee was the only person here, that she was the one witnessing his breakdown like this. "You never need to go to the mines again," she told him softly.
Gale's eyes found hers at once. "How did you–"
"Why else would your therapist force you on an elevator for exposure therapy?" she asked, smiling just a little bit. He squeezed his eyes shut, almost thankful for Madge's gentle nature. "But, hey, look," she nudged him to get him to open his eyes again. "See that red light there?" she asked, pointing toward the elevator panel. "It means they know we're stuck here and they're sending help. Look." The pointed toward the button that read Help is on the way!
Gale studied the button before jerking his head to the side another time, squeezing Madge's hand just a little too tightly. "Fuck," he muttered under his breath. He pressed himself against the back wall and tipped his head backwards, closing his eyes another time. "Fuck."
"Hey," she whispered. "It's okay. I'm here."
"That's not really helpful," he muttered. Gale was surprised to hear her laugh. "Sorry," he added.
"No, I get it," Madge said. She was rubbing her thumb across his knuckles gently. "You never did like me very much." Gale's head was still tipped back. "But I'm just going to keep talking to you until you don't look so pale, because your mom would hate it if you died on me." Gale might've laughed if his throat didn't feel so tight. "I wouldn't be a big fan of that either, just so you know."
"Just shut up," he muttered again, and Madge rolled her eyes.
"I won't. In fact I'm going to bring up that new settlement they're building above ground, again. I think you should go there instead of District 2." Gale tilted his head in her direction with a pained look on his face. "I know, I know, the war's over and you want to help rebuild Panem. But Gale you can't even get on an elevator without having a panic attack and–"
"I'm not having a panic attack," he snapped.
She arched an eyebrow. "Oh really? Shortness of breath, shaking, sweating, rapid heartbeat." Gale nearly growled at her. "Sounds like a panic attack to me."
"Undersee," he warned.
"Anyway," Madge continued. "There are a lot of elevators in District 2, and you'd probably be working in one of those fancy high rise buildings with twenty floors, and you definitely would not be able to take the stairs all the time." Gale lightly tipped his head, backwards against the metal wall, hitting in gently just a few times. How long had they been on the elevator now, and hour? Two hours? Would he ever get off? "And in the new settlement they're going to have like, cabins, and no elevators at all, and it's going to be in the woods which I'm sure you'd love, and–"
"Shut up," he nearly pleaded. Gale turned to look at her again. "Please? Just, please shut up."
Madge gave him a sympathetic look before reaching around and resting her other hand on his that was still gripping the railing. It took her a moment to peel it off but soon she was holding both of his callused shaking hands in her soft small ones.
"You're not in District 12," she said another time. "Look at me, Gale." It took some effort, but his eyes found hers. "You're not in District 12."
But he knew that. That was what made this awful. Because he knew he wasn't in 12 and he knew he wasn't on his way to the mines and he still couldn't handle this tin can of death.
Before he realized what was happening Madge had pressed herself forward, wrapping herself around him tightly. Gale was so startled that just for a moment he was frozen, and just for a moment he forgot where he was. His shaking seemed to ease up slightly and the next thing Gale knew he was holding her back, tugging her warm body closer to her. She rested her cheek against his chest and sighed, squeezing once to silently remind him that she was here with him.
"What are you…" he trailed off, his voice catching in his throat for a reason other than the elevator. The smell of her shampoo caught him off guard.
And then suddenly, the lights flickered back on, and the elevator was moving again, slowly but surely. Madge peeled away from him, her arms still wrapped around his middle, and looked up with a smile.
"Not so bad," she whispered.
He wanted to echo the sentiment but couldn't find the words. Instead he simply nodded.
Soon the elevator stopped on Madge's floor and before she could leave without another word Gale caught her wrist, stopping her from going. She looked up at him and it took him a moment to speak.
"You should come over tonight," he murmured, his voice thick as though he was still afraid to speak.
A smile lit up her face. "Sure, okay." He let go of her wrist and watched as she started toward the door. "I still have to convince you about that settlement." With a wink Madge strode out of the elevator, leaving Gale alone again.
By the time he stopped on his own floor his therapist was surprised to see him. "I heard about the malfunction," he said quickly, "are you alright? That must have been awful."
Could've been worse, Gale thought to himself. "I think I'll stick to the stairs for a bit longer," Gale muttered, following his therapist to his office. But yeah, it certainly could have been a lot worse.