Hunger Games 1. Prologue

**Finding Peace**

**Prologue**

Gale Hawthorn woke with a start from the nightmare he had been having. This was not uncommon, as he had been having nightmares since he was thirteen. Ever since has father had died in the mines of District 12, that most men from the Seam ended up working once they where past reaping age. The same mines he would be made to work in once he was able.

Gale had remained outside the mine entrance for hours, long after survivors had come up and weeping families had left. The snow that had reached his knee had chilled though his worn boots, but still he waited, hoping for a miracle that his father would come back. He could see the sky began to light up before he let a single tear fall down his cheek.

But at twenty years old this was not what woke him, but a girl. A girl with long dark hair that had been keep in a braid, who walked though the woods beside him so silently that sometimes he wondered if she floated rather then walked.

Yes, the Girl on Fire haunted his dream. She went through his memories like a ghost, looking exactly the same, never aging a day past sixteen in his mind, but always unreachable. He longed for the days before she was the Girl on Fire. When she was Catnip, when she was his and he was hers.

He wonderers if she even knew if she had his heart, that he could spend hours just being with her.

She had been gone two years now. Two years of loneliness even though he was surrounded by people, his family, coworkers, same that he might have gone as far as calling them friends. It was painful going into the woods now, every turn he found a memory of her as clear as if it had happened the day before. He could still hear her laughter ringing through the trees as if the mockingjays themselves where singing. Maybe they where, she had one of those voices that he couldn't help but fall in love with.

But she was gone and as much as it pained him to accept it she wasn't coming back to him. She braved the arena for her sister, fighting for her life only to eventually lose. She now lived only in his dreams, the family she had left behind had fallen to sickness only months after she had died at the hands of the Capitol.

He had tried to move on, make peace with the fact that she was gone. But he had failed, just like he had failed to take care of her family, to keep her sister safe. He had failed Catnip. He would do anything to go back in time and change everything, but he couldn't.

Because she was gone and he was broken.

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	2. Chapter 1 Trusting A Stranger

Chapter 1 Trusting A Stranger

Gale was walking home in the fading light after his shift in the mines. Even two years later he still wanted to stop by the Everdeen's house to see Katniss. Sometimes he was halfway there before he remembered that Katniss and her family didn't live there anymore. He wondered if another family had moved into the house, but couldn't bring himself to find out.

Gale felt as if he was being watched, the hunter instincts that he had since he was young where telling him so. He turned to see a man walking towards him, brown hair and green eyes that seemed to have gold in them. The man was dressed in expensive clothes that was not seen in District 12, even among the higher class.

"Are you Gale?" he asked, a hint of Capitol accent in his voice. Gale felt hatred rising in him, this man was from the Capitol, the place that he had taken everything from him, the place that had tried to change Catnip.

"I can't see way it would matter to you" Gale said walking away. The man continued to follow him, for somebody from the Capitol he had no trouble keeping up with Gale "Leave me alone"

"No" the man said firmly "not until you talk to me"

Gale turned to face the man for the first time, glaring at him with a much force as he could "So talk" he said sharply " and talk fast, who are you?"

"My name is Cinna" he said, staring at Gale with the same intensity as Gale was glaring at him "I was Katniss' stylist before the Games"

"Get out" Gale said harshly "out of the district. What make you think I want anything to do with you, with the Capitol! You took her from me, from her family, from people who needed her and you destroyed her, killed her!" Gale knew he he shouldn't be saying this, blaming the Capitol for something, even if they did it was taking to much of a risk. He could be killed for saying that to the wrong person, a Capitol person.

"Good" said Cinna calmly "put the blame where it belongs. We need that, we need fire to fuel the rebellion"

"What rebellion?" Gale asked still angry, but confused.

"Don't tell me you believed that story with the land mines" Cinna said and for the first time Gale could see anger in the other man's green eyes. The story with the land mines was that the land mines set up around the Cornucopia had been reactivated, thanks to the boy from District 3 messing with them before he was killed. They had killed everyone left in the arena. They had been set off during the feast with all the commotion around them.

"No" Gale admitted. He had not believed it, but he could see how the rest of Panem had. Why would the Capitol stop the Games when Katniss was about to die at the knife of the girl of District 2? It didn't make any sense why they would end it when they did, but Gale knew they did. Part of him was glad they ended it, so he didn't have to watch his best friend be tortured and killed. Another part of knew she would have fought to the end, escape death as she had since she was twelve years old.

He was not the only one who was hurt by this, Prim had cried into his shirt for hours until she couldn't cry anymore. Mrs. Everdeen had gone back into her depression and never came out of it. His own family had been unusually silent and sad over the next few weeks. Haymitch and Chaff, a mentor from District 11 had drank themselves to death after losing the most promising tributes they had ever had. Both Katniss and Thresh had high training scores, not only for there districts, but in general. Also lost was both tributes for District 2, the girl from District 5, and Peeta Mellark, the baker's son.

"She missed you" said Cinna, startling Gale out of his thoughts "she never said anything but I could tell, for her interview I told her to pretend that she was talking to her best friend and she asked what the point was when you already knew everything about her" Gale could tell Cinna was trying to comfort him, bring some sort of peace to Gale's life. He failed, nothing could bring him peace, but maybe he could find truth. Find what happend in that arena and why.

"How can I trust you?" Gale asked

Cinna looked surprised by that question, he paused for a moment as if to collect his thoughts before answering "Because things need to change, Panem can't survive like this much longer. Maybe we'll die fighting for it, Katniss did"

Thousands of images ran through Gale's mind, of what life could be like under the capitol's rule "Okay" he said "I'm in"

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	3. Chapter 2 Finding Fire

Chapter 2 Finding Fire

Cinna had told Gale to lay low until he got some sort of signal telling him to act. What this signal was or how he was suppose to act was beyond him. Gale hated waiting, he wanted to rebel. He had spent a good portion of his life trying to figure out how to escape the Capitol. Now he had someone who had told him it was possible and he was left waiting.

He knew his family thought something was going on. Hazelle had been watching him closely over the last few days. He didn't know how, he had gone through his actions the same as every other day, going to work in the mines, coming home, gone hunting with Rory if he could.

"Talk to me" said Hazelle one night, long after after anyone had gone to bed. She placed a chipped mug full of mint tea in front of him as she sat across from him at the old kitchen table "I know somethings on your mind"

Gale knew she did, she always knew when something was troubling the minds of her children. Even if he was twenty years old he was still her son and she was asking him what was going on. So he told her, everything that Cinna had told him and why he wanted to fight. After he had told her she looked at him, pride shining in her eyes.

"Ma, just say something" he asked several minutes later "yell at me, anything, just say something"

"I'm glad" she said surprisingly "and proud"

"Wait, what?" he asked

"I'm proud because you're going to fight for what you believe in even if you know the cost" Hazelle said, knowing the dangers of a rebellion as well as he did "you have always been a fighter, because you needed to be. I'm sorry for that"

"It couldn't be helped Ma" Gale said softly

"No" she agreed "but that doesn't make it right. You were only thirteen, now your twenty and that's still young"

"Don't you remember being twenty?" he asked

"I had just married your dad" she said with a small smile "and I thought I knew everything I needed to know, until I realized I didn't"

"What happened?" he asked

"You did" Hazelle said "I was so terrified that I wouldn't raise you right or that I would fail you"

"You did fine" Gale said softly "we are still here, for a Seam family we are doing well"

"I did" she agreed "but bringing you up right is not just keeping you alive. It's about teaching you how to live and giving you wings. Living is not about surviving Gale, it's about enjoying life when you can and finding someone you love"

She looked at him sadly "I know you don't want to talk about her, but I know you cared for her more then you let on. I'm sorry that we lost her, I miss her too" she smiled sadly rising slowly "Don't stay up too late, okay"

"Hey, Ma" he called before she could leave "Why are you relived I'm doing this?"

Hazelle looked at him for several moments as if she didn't know the answer herself. Finally she said "When you lost her, you seemed to lose everything. Your eyes lost any sign of life they ever had and you were quieter then you ever had been. It scared me, I thought we were going to lose you too" she shook her head tears in her eyes "This is the first time I've seen you look so alive since then, there's fire in your eyes. Don't get me wrong, I'm scared Gale this is going to be dangerous, but I know you need to do this, for Katniss and yourself. Just be careful, okay"

"Okay" he said, nodding "I promise"

Several days later Gale regretted ever trusting Cinna. It had to be a sick joke, there was no other way to put it, nothing had happened and changed, no signal had ever been seen of heard. The long walk to the mines seemed to stretch longer with each passing day. His work in the mines now seemed harder then ever after the false opportunity, for it had not been hope. Hope was only given to those who had not lost their chance at a happy life.

The early morning cold seemed to bite extra hard these days, a sure sign that autumn was coming to a close and it would soon be winter. Gale felt the familiar dread as the old crank elevator lowered him and the other men into the dark mines that had clamed the lives of so many others before them. Among the sounds of pick axes and hammers he could hear the younger men clearing their throats every few minutes and older men give hacking coughs that they would never be able to get rid of. A few times an hour he heard a small explosion that left a small ringing in his ears, this was all normal until a much larger explosion went off in another tunnel.

A tunnel no one was in, Gale wondered how it had gone off. That tunnel had been unsafe and the whole crew knew that, nobody had been down there in weeks.

Suddenly Gale knew, Cinna had come through at last he had been waiting for his signal and this was it. He hid in the shadows as all the other men had cleared out, thankful that they had left lamps in the mines. This was his chance to disappear and no one would think any differently, they would assume he had died in the mines. All he had to do was wait until dark and make his escape into the woods.

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	4. Chapter 3 Into The Woods

Chapter 3 Into The Woods

Gale crept out of the mines, stayed to the shadow, it was long past dark and the district was quiet, but he didn't want to take any chances. He hoped his family would figure out that he wasn't dead, that his conversation with Hazelle would clue them in. It was too late to do anything about it now, he couldn't go back, no matter how much he wanted to, they were safe at least for now. He had to get to the woods as fast as possible, if anyone caught him it would only danger his family more. He hoped they would be fine without him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and felt all the air leave his lungs, he was caught, might as well be dead until he heard a voice.

"About time" said Cinna in his slight Capitol accent "We were worried that you might not show up" Gale turned to Cinna, still trying to catch his breath. The other man still looked out of place, but from a distance you wouldn't be able to tell. He was wearing an worn out overcoat, patched pants and scratched leather boots, there was no sign of his expensive Capitol clothing.

"What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?" Gale questioned Cinna "and whose 'we'"

"We can't talk here" said Cinna, dragging Gale through the quiet district. As they passed through the town he couldn't help but think it might be the last time he would ever see his district again. He felt the slightest bit of hesitation, it was true he hated District 12, but there were some good memories around each corner. The old slag heap where he had taken countless girls, the bakery where he had traded squirrels for bread the last time the morning of the reaping of the 74th Hunger Games. He had not been able to go back to trade again, the baker had lost his youngest son, just like Gale had lost his best friend. Finally they passed the Hob, the black market that he and Catnip had go to for years. Thoughts of her reminded Gale of why he was leaving the only place he had every know. Part of him wondered what the point was, she was gone, nothing could bring her back. Another larger part of him knew that he wouldn't be able to let her go unless he found whatever he needed to find to make peace with losing her.

"Wait" Gale said suddenly after they walked a few minute into the woods "I just need to get something" He walked off until he came to an old hollowed tree. Inside the alcove of the tree was a length of wire and rope, a few old hunting knives, two bows and two quivers of arrows. He took the slightly smaller bow and one of the quivers. Rory would know that he had been here, he had taken over most of the hunting since Gale had started working in the mines. He felt better that his family would know that he was at least still alive. For now.

Cinna looked like he wanted to ask but didn't Gale continued to follow him farther into the wood that Gale knew so well. They walked for what could of been hours through the woods. Gale was wondering again why he was trusting Cinna, he didn't even know the man he was following through the woods. If Cinna wasn't who Gale perceived him to be he was in serious trouble.

They finally stopped at a clearing much farther then Gale had ever been before. The sky was beginning to lighten to a dark blue from the black it had been all night, dawn was coming.

It wasn't long before Gale heard it. The deep hum of a small hovercraft as it appeared over the tree tops. Its shiny silver color stood out so Gale guessed that they were far away from the district to avoid being seen. It landed in the clearing, a door on the side opened and expelled a ladder as if it had a mind of its own.

Gale felt nerves well up in his chest, what was he getting into? Where was he going to end up? The only thing that kept him determined was that he didn't think he had anything left to lose.

"We have weapons where we're going, you know" Cinna said several minutes after they got on the hovercraft "You didn't have to bring your own"

Gale thought for a few moments before answering "They were her's" Understanding crossed over Cinna's face. Nether of them said another word as the minutes slowly passed. Eventually the hovercraft landed, Gale was rushed off by Cinna into a trapdoor right into the forest floor. He was led down stairs through a hallway until he was pushed into a room. At a desk in this room was a older woman with gray hair and eyes who stood when he entered.

"Gale Hawthorne" she asked, he nodded "I am President Alma Coin, welcome to District 13"

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	5. Chapter 4 District 13

**Ok heres the deal I have just started a new set of college classes and do not have the time to write as much as I would like to. I will try to get a new chapter of Finding Peace about once a week maybe twice (review will help make it twice). Since Melting Her Heart is cowritten this will be updated more often.**

Chapter 4 District 13

Gale was running through the woods, not away from something, but to something, to somebody. The person he was chasing was always just out of reach, she slipped out of his grasp several times. He heard her feminine laughter ringing through the trees as she escape him numerous times. Her dark brown hair tied in a braid was fanning out behind her as she flew through the woods gracefully.

Suddenly she stopped abruptly and turned to face him, her eyes sad and accusing. The olive tone of her skin was much too pale and bones to prominate.

"Why Gale?" She asked "Why did you let them starve?"

"No" Gale replied "They didn't starve, they were sick"

"Why didn't you save them" She asked "why?"

"I tried" he insisted "Catnip I tried"

"Liar!" she screamed

Gale woke with a start, breathing hard. He had been in district 13 for five days and had been through training, which had taken several hours each day. These days ended with him exhausted, but not enough to make him forget why he was here. If anything the exhaustion reminded him what he was fighting for, He spent his nights in his dreams, thinking of her, being haunted by her.

He remembered the lost time he spoke to her. _'Remember Katniss I-"_ He what? Gale didn't know how he had planned to finish that sentence. What did he want to tell her? That he loved her, believed in her, would take care of her family even if she didn't come back? Sometime he still needed to remind himself that she was gone because he had truly thought that she would come back. Every time he forgot only hurt him more because it brought back the painful reminder that she didn't.

If Gale knew one thing, it was that he was fighting for Catnip. He knew he wasn't getting her back, that she was long gone, but he could not forget her. He wondered if he would move on, assuming he would live through whatever he was going to do. Could he forget about Catnip? He didn't want to, but maybe he should, he couldn't go through life wishing he could have her back.

Gale looked around the room he was in. It had plain, white walls and was lit by an artificial light as it was underground, it was small just big enough for two beds and a chest of drawers. He had not yet met a room mate, he didn't even know if he had one. All he knew was that Coin had sent him to this room to spend his nights in until he was sent on some sort of mission or was killed. In his brief meeting with her, Coin had explained that District 13 had never been destroyed. It had simply been moved underground and continued to function.

District 13 had a pact with the Capitol that they would leave each other alone. After the first rebellion they had struck up a deal that District 13 would leave the Capitol, if the Capitol left them alone. Since District 13 specialized in mining graphite and designing nuclear weapons, the Capitol had agreed. _'Talk about a great bargaining tool'_ Gale thought dryly _'Agreed or we'll blow you up, any question?'_ Somehow the Capitol had managed to keep this secret extremely well hidden, no one had ever guessed that the destruction of District 13 was staged.

Gale finally got out of bed, District 13 was on a fairly strict schedule that Coin expected everyone to follow closely. Meaning he would have to get up now if he wanted to eat anything before another day of vigorous training. His body protested getting out of bed, but he pushed through it. He welcomed the pain, anything to prove that he was doing something to ultimately help this fight for freedom.

"Hawthorne! Step it up!" yelled York a middle aged woman who was in charge of training the group Gale was in "I've seen little girls do better"

"Little girls weight less" Gale mumbled under his breath as he was trying to climb a thirty foot rope anchored to the ceiling. This was one of the many exercises that he had to do in training, most of them he had been pretty good at. Gale was in excellent shape thanks to the hunting and mining he had always done, but any sort of climbing he had always been terrible at. He felt his grip slipping until he lost it completely, he fell the fifteen feet he had managed to climb onto the padded floor.

Air had completely left his lungs as he landed flat on his back, gasping for breath. York had came up to him and he could see her saying something to him that he couldn't hear. Slowly he started coming back to himself, breathing was becoming easier and he could now hear what York was saying "You okay Hawthorne?"

"Yeah" he said

"Do you need a medic?" she asked

"No"

"Then get back on that rope" she said, he groaned.

Gale was sore beyond reason when he returned to his room. There was another man in the room when he got there. He could have been familiar, with bronze hair and a cheeky grin as he introduced himself.

"Finnick Odair, I'm your new best friend"

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	6. Chapter 5 Time to Think

Chapter 5 Time to Think

The rebellion must have been bigger then Gale thought if they had recruits such as Finnick Odair. He remembered watching the 65th Hunger Games, when the fourteen year old boy had won. He had been deadly in the way that he used his trident as if it was his own arm. Gale never felt any respect for him for winning, for he did not respect killers, but it only worsen a few years later when he was seen in the Capitol with a new woman on his arm every other week. But now he was Gale's new roommate who often disappeared for days at a time.

He had met a few Victors over the last few weeks in District 13. Most of them he was fine with as they appeared dedicated to fighting the Capitol, but he hated Finnick. He was weak in Gale's opinion, giving into the Capitol and taking all the glory that he had only gotten by killing several other people in his Games. He had either changed because of his Games or he had always been like this. Gale knew that if Katniss had came home she would have been the same person she had always been, strong, protective, a fighter. She would be too stubborn to let the Capital lifestyle go to her head.

"What's eating you?" said a voice that had just brought him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Johanna Mason who had won the Hunger Games several years ago. Gale liked her well enough, she didn't sugarcoat things, if anything she gave the harsh truth wither anyone wanted it or not. He was however cautions of her, he remembered her Games also the girl who had cried through the reaping, tribute parade, training, interviews, even through out the first few days of the actual Games. With only a handful of tributes left, she had killed another tribute for his axe, killing the others and winning soon after. She was tough, there was no denying that. "Come on pretty boy I won't tell"

Gale glared at her for her comment, Johanna looked back at him with a smirk. She had found him in a corner in one of District 13's many training rooms. He often hid here, away from all the noise and chaos of this strange district. Thinking that no one had caught on to his hiding place when he needed time and space to think, he was mildly disappointed that Johanna had found him.

"Nothing you need to worry about" He finally replied. She looked annoyed for a few moments before shrugging it off. They sat in silence for several minutes before Johanna got up and started wailing on a nearby punching bag. Gale thought for perhaps the hundredth time that she would have gotten along with Katniss. He refrained himself from mentoring it, very few people here knew that he was once close to the Girl on Fire. As far as they knew he was just trying to free Panem in any way he could.

"Ready to talk yet?" Johanna asked several minutes later. Gale had hardly noticed that she had stopped working on the punching bag, he had been so far into his own thoughts.

"None of your business" he snapped "can't I just get some peace anywhere in this place?"

"So Finnick boy is getting on your nerves" said Johanna smirking "don't take it personally. He generally annoying, you'll get us to it" she paused, thinking "On second thought, it took me like two years to get used to him and I find him even more annoying then I did when I first met him"

Gale snorted, he could deal with Finnick if he was simply annoying. However he seemed to walk around with the air that he could do whatever he wanted and not worry about anything. And Gale resented him for it. He heard Johanna walk away from him as if giving up trying to talk to him.

"Hey" he turned to see her looking at him. Her short, brown hair fell into her eyes "I know it sounds crazy, but Finnick is the best chance we have right now. Unfortunatly he is also the hardest to hide without anyone knowing" she turned to leave before changing her mind again and shouting "he's on the same side as you are idiot, remember that."

He watched her go, without any desire to try to get her to explain. She didn't know none of them did, what he had gone through when she had been reaped. They were not the ones who spent hours trying to provide for there families. They hadn't spent nights wondering if their best friend would ever come home again. They had won, their worries were over.

So way couldn't he shake the feeling that there way more to the story then Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason was letting on?

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	7. Chapter 6 Finding Purpose

Chapter 6 Finding Purpose

Gale was called to Command and arrived to find that several other people had been called as well, the ,most noticeable being Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason. A few other people he might have recognized, including two young woman that looked so similar that they had to be sisters. After several moments Coin walked in followed by a man that Gale did not know, but guessed to he her second in command. He had not seen Coin since the initial talk they had when he had arrived in District 13.

"Thank you all for coming" she said as she took her place at the front of the room "I 've called you all here today because there has been an accident it District 7"

Gale saw Johanna stiffen from across the room. It took a moment for him to remember that she was from District 7 herself. There was a chance that she could know someone who was involved in the accident. Coin continued "We suspect that it wasn't an accident, so we are sending you on a mission to collect anyone who could benefit the rebellion. Boggs will go with you" she gestured to the man beside her "to lead your squad, are there any questions?"

"Yeah I do" said Johanna "How will you explain that two victors are in the middle of District 7, talking about a rebellion" Coin glared at her,obviously not expecting anyone to question her "everyone else is to be very discreet. No one will question you being in your own District so you will be making any arrangements if necessary. Is that clear Johanna?"

"Crystal" Johanna said through gritted teeth.

"When are we leaving?" Finnick asked.

"Be ready within two hours" Coin replied

The hovercraft ride took several hours, Gale felt nerves course through his body at the thought of an actual mission. He was eager to do something productive for the rebellion rather then hours of training. However he did not think they were as useful as they could be, if they were doing some actual fighting instead of finding new recruits and giving hope to the injured. Hope was a pointless thing that Gale no longer had use for, ever since Catnip was reaped he had only focused on what was real at the moment. The other members of the squad were in different states, the sisters looked scared beyond hope, Boggs looked calm and focused, Johanna looked indifferent, and Finnick seemed disappointed. He wondered what could happen when they land and how long they would be there.

When they landed in a thick woods Boggs didn't seem to mind when Johanna took the lead to what he assumed was District 7. The woods themselves weren't what he was used to back in District 12, but still more natural then the underground of District 13. Oddly enough he was more relaxed here when he could very well be in danger, then he ever was in the underground district. Each tree looked the same to Gale, but Johanna seemed to know where she was going. She lead them through thick woods as the terrain became smoother as time went on. He guessed that they had been walking for about an hour before he saw several buildings outside the woods. To his surprise Johanna didn't lead them into the clearing but stayed out of sight. They walked about twenty yards into the woods until Johanna lead them into an neglected alley. They walked in a back door of an old building and down a hallway into a large room, Gale gasped at what he saw.

The room seemed to act as a makeshift hospital, several men were laying on cots that were lined up against one wall. Bandages covered wounds that were almost as bad as some he has seen in the mines. Families of the dying men were crowding around each cot, begging their loved ones to hang on just a little longer. Gale suddenly realized why they were there not fighting some war, these people needed hope and the opportunity to do something, anything to help.

"Foremen" Johanna addressed a large tough looking man. He scowled at her but she paid him no mind. Gale had learned that Johanna didn't let much affect her "may we speak to you for a moment"

"We are in the middle of a crisis Miss Mason" the man said gruffly "I'm sure you and your friends can understand that some people don't have it as easy as you do"

"May I ask what you are implying?" asked Finnick in a heated tone before Johanna could speak. There was a hint of anger in his eyes that reminded Gale that Finnick had won the Hunger Games years ago.

"I'm saying these are honest men and they didn't kill anyone to get what they got" the man said "we don't need you rubbing there faces in it that they are dying because of an honest days work" the man walked away. Gale didn't miss the look that passed between Johanna and Finnick, they looked exasperated, but unsurprised, as if this happened often. He wondered how often they heard things like this? If most people they met either hated them or worshiped them, not that he thought Finnick would mind that. The man didn't even seem willing to accept help from them. They had been cast aside so that they wouldn't get in the way.

Gale wondered how often this happened.

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	8. Chapter 7 Stories and Secrets

Chapter 7 Stories and Secrets

"Let me talk to him" Gale asked Boggs, they had left the makeshift hospital in District 7 and were standing outside in the alley. They had gone outside to discuss what to do, the foreman had not been happy that they had shown up and had asked them harshly to leave. Gale knew those men would not be able to work again, if they were even lucky enough to live. If this wasn't an accident their families had a right to know regardless of what the foreman said "Just for a minute"

"We don't have any other plan" said Finnick, Gale blinked in surprise. Finnick Odair was the last person he would expect to agree with him "It's either that or we go back to District 13 with nothing"

Boggs took a deep breath and sighed "Okay you get one shot and then if you screw it up, we are going back. Everyone got it?"

Everyone nodded except Johanna who looked straight at Gale and asked "what do you even know about lumber accidents Hawthorne?" She was glaring at him so intently that he fought the urge to take a step back. Johanna Mason was a killer, but she was also from District 7. If she had tried to take the slightest bit of control in District 12 he wouldn't have been to happy either.

"Not much about lumber" he admitted "but a whole lot about _accidents_" He stressed the last word and walked away from them. Johanna had push him too far she didn't understand that he had gone through so much, that he had stood in front of that destroyed mine for hours hoping by some miracle his father would dig himself out and come home. He had wished back then that there was something he could do, that was what had started his rebellious nature. Seeing the cold reality that life in the Seam without his father was tough, and he knew that life could be better.

"Hey!" he called to the man that Johanna had talked to earlier. Gale could tell that the foreman was trying to look intimidating, if he had been the kind of person who could be intimidated he would have backed down. However he looked the man straight in the eye as he spoke to him "Whether you like it or not, we are here to help, in any way we can. This was no accident and the families of the men hurt have a right to know that."

"And what proof do you have of that?" the man asked "If its not it will make everything worse, if it is not an accident you give them false information. They will want revenge, do you have any idea what that's like?"

"You have no idea" said Gale coldly "I grew up in District 12, lost my father in a mining accident when I was thirteen. I would have given anything to do something, anything to find out if it truly was an accident and to get justice. Let me ask you this, you know the men who are dying, are they not careful enough to take safety precautions?" By the look on the man's face Gale could tell he was right "these families will struggle with everything after this. Life will never be the same and it won't be easy, so just give them a chance to do something to help if they want to."

The foreman was quiet for several moments before he spoke "Not now" he said softly "wait until they come to grips with everything, until then they won't be able to think straight"

"That's reasonable" Boggs said, Gale didn't even know the squad was behind him. They had heard every thing he had said, he didn't turn to face them because he knew what he would see. Reactions of what he had just said: pity, sympathy, maybe even guilt.

"Hawthorne?" Finnick asked hours later. They were back at the hover craft trying to get some sleep before talking to the families of the dead lumber workers the next day.

"What?" Gale asked through gritted teeth, eyes still closed.

"Do you have a girl back home?" Gale opened his eyes in surprise. That was one of the last things he had expected to hear, from Finnick Odair none the less. He must have been silent for awhile because Finnick continued "If you don't want to talk-"

"No" Gale interrupted "I mean, no I don't"

"If one was, do you think she would wait for you?"

"No" without realizing it he felt himself smiling, trapped in memories of a strong minded girl in the woods " she would be here with me whether I liked it or not"

Finnick gave a small laugh "Sounds like a girl that would put up with you" his expression sobered slightly "I miss my girl, I just hope she's okay"

"You have a girlfriend?" Gale asked

"Don't sound so surprised" Finnick said, a note of disdain heard in his voice.

"Sorry" said Gale " but what about the women in the Capitol?"

"Not everything is what it appears Hawthorne" he said roughly "good night"

Gale was left to ponder his thoughts in silence. He wondered what Finnick's girlfriend thought of him being seen flaunting other women around the Capitol. Whatever was going on he knew there was more to the story the anyone was letting on, and he was determined to find out what it was.

**Please review any imput or opinon would be great**


	9. Chapter 8 Finnick's Reason

Chapter 8 Finnick's Reason

The mission had gone unsuccessful. The families that had even bothered to listen had told them that they were not interested in helping and to leave them alone. Some had even gone as far as to scream in their faces that they did not want to kill the rest of their family because they were fighting the Capitol. Gale couldn't understand, how could they just stand by and watch the world go on as the same place that took their loved ones from them? He understood the fear, but did their really expect everything to get magically better? Or that their could live the rest of their lives like this?  
Now they were back in District 13, waiting for further instructions. Things had been unusually quiet since they had gotten back. Ever since the brief conversation in the hovercraft Finnick had not spoken to him. Not that this mattered to Gale who had never found him that likeable to begin with, but considering that they were sharing a room it did become awkward after awhile. Gale had seen him talking to Johanna several times, each time she had look annoyed. He had to hand it to Finnick, he was a pretty brave guy. If Johanna Mason had given him that look he would have been running for the hills.  
So here he was pummeling a punching bag in the corner of one of the training rooms in District 13 wondering why people act like they do. He imagined that the punching bag was the face of everyone that was annoying him, Snow, Finnick, people from District 7, peacekeepers, and people in general. He leaned his forehead against the bag, taking deep breaths as he finally felt the exhaustion set into his body. He knew he couldn't go on like this, he was mad at everyone, tired of dealing with everything. How could he be mad at those not helping the rebellion if he couldn't even remember why he was?  
Finnick was pacing the small, shared room when Gale got back. He looked up when Gale entered and stopped. He took a breath and said sincerely "I'm sorry"  
Gale blinked in surprise, not only did he not expect for Finnick to apologize to him, he didn't even think Finnick had anything to apologize for. Finnick seemed to understand his confusion because he quickly elaborated "About what I said, that night in District 7"  
"Don't worry about it" Gale replied, still unsure of why Finnick felt the need to say he was sorry. He was under the impression that Finnick didn't care what he thought about him ether way. The thought of him and Finnick being friends was laughable at best. He was the poor coal miner from District 12, and Finnick was the pretty boy victor from District 4.  
"No, it was unfair" said Finnick as he resumed his pacing "you couldn't possibly know"  
The was the most confusing conversation that Gale ever had, if this could even be called a conversation. From what he remembered that night in District 7 was a short, civle talk after Finnick had woken him from him attempt at sleeping. Obviously Finnick remembered something different than he did.  
"Why do you fight?" Gale asked after several tense moments. Finnick looked at him as if seeing him for the first time, eyebrows raised in surprise "this rebellion, why do you fight?"  
"Because nobody else knows" Finnick said after a moment of thought. His eyes drifted to the anger Gale had seen on the mission to District 7, not the disdain towards Gale, this was the anger that had been directed at the lumber foreman. The kind of anger that turned Finnick into the killer he was when he had been when he had won the Hunger Games "what happens after the games. How your never yourself anymore, your not even yours anymore. You are Panem's, even worse your the Capitol's, they control you, using all that you love as leverage, as power. Nobody cares because you put on a happy front, and the whole world is to caught up in there own problems to notice that it's forced"  
Silence had returned once again, Finnick offered no more explanation. He was trying to level the playing field with Gale, who thought he might as well give the same effort "tell me about your girl"  
At once Finnick's dark expression lightened into a small, genuine smile "She is the most caring person I have ever met. I don't know what I would do without her, she's the reason I fight, she's the reason I'm living. For some reason she loves me back, I don't deserve it, but she does." Finnick smiled before asking "why do you fight?"  
Gale paused, should he tell Finnick? About Katniss, her games, their friendship and everything they had ever had together. She was sacred to him, private, someone who was gone now, but he was still trying to protect her. Part of him was scared that if he admitted that she was gone to someone who had never known her it would make it real, she would be completely gone. Before he could answer there was a knock on the door and Johanna's voice called "Finish your sissy talk later, we're needed in Command"  
Gale and the rest of the squad were wait for Coin to show up in Command. Most of the squad seemed confused as to why they were there, except Boggs. He was nervously pacing and ran his hand through his hair every few minutes. Johanna seemed almost bored, impatiently tapping her foot, Finnick looking tired, the twins were whispering to each other in hushed voices until Coin entered the room.  
"Thank you all for coming" she said in a stiff, almost cold voice "it appears that we have not been as cautious as we should have been. Under the unfortunate circumstances, we will be facing some actions that we are not yet ready to be responsible for"  
Silence hung heavy in the room, every single person stood shocked still "what are you saying?" Johanna asked in a tense, dramatic tone.  
"We have been discovered, the Capitol have found out our actions and intentions" Coin paused before continuing "We are now in a full fledged rebellion"

**If you review I will be happy and more likely to view you stories**


	10. Chapter 9 A Promise

Chapter 9: A Promise

Everyone had carried a more serious tone since Coin announcement about the rebellion. Laughter and smiles were few and far between as the realality of the situation became apparent. No longer were they plotting to overcome the Capitol, but in a fully fledged war, on edge and ready to attack at the slightest threat. Gale had not seen Finnick since the night of Coin's announcement, as one of the most loved people in Panem, he had to keep up his appearance. Several of the people on the mission to District 7 had been proven to be working for the rebellion, including Johanna.

Which is why the Capitol bombed District 7, the betrayal of one of their victors was inexcusable in the eyes of the Capitol. Gale was thankful most of Panem thought he was dead, he couldn't imagine what he would be if it had been District 12. Almost two hundred people had been rescued by District 13 after the disaster, a relatively small number for one of Panem's biggest districts. Gale wondered how long it would take the Capitol to panic because they now had no way of getting any lumber. A small squad was on their way to District 7, included on that squad where the twins that were now referred to as Leeg 1, and Leeg 2, Johanna and Gale himself.

Johanna's normally bored, sarcastic exterior was all but gone. She was pacing the hovercraft, snapping harshly at anyone who had been brave enough to speak to her. Gale guessed that the attack on her home was hitting her harder then she was willing to let on. 'Even the strongest brake' Gale thought as he watched Johanna run her hand through he short hair for about the hundredth time. Also with them was a film crew, the decision had been made that whatever actions would be made on this mission, they would be filmed and broadcasted if possible.

"Landing in three minutes!" Boggs shouted, shocking Gale out of his thoughts "I want everyone armed, and ready. District 7 is a desaster zone, be cautious, be alert"

Gale was immediately assaulted by the strong scent of ash and smoke, the thick woods they had walked through only days ago had been reduced to nothing but ash and charred wood. Johanna took the lead as she had done when they had come to recruit family members of dying lumber workers. Gale guessed that she was hiding strong emotions and wished to remain in front so no one could see her face. But he could still hear her gasp as District 7 came into view.

He hadn't seen much of District 7 the last time they were there, but he knew it didn't look anything like this. What he assumed used to be buildings were now piles of ash and rubble. As far as he could see was nothing, but destruction. Only a few members of the squid were actively trying to find something worth salvaging, most of them where staring at the damage in shock. Leeg 1 screamed as soon as she stepped out of the woods, Johanna scoffed, clearly annoyed.

"Are you ready?" asked Cressida, the director of the film crew. Johanna nodded, straightened up and turn to face the camera.

"People of Panem, my name is Johanna Mason and I am the Victor of the 68th Hunger Games. Eight years ago I stood in this place as my name was drawn from the reaping bowl. Now because of the desire for freedom, the Capitol has destroyed my district. They have not only done this to prove there power, they have done this out of fear. Fear of losing their power because the districts of Panem finally have the guts to fight back. We are everything without the Capitol, the Capitol is nothing without us. Take a look Panem" Johanna turned to show the runed District 7 "this is what your Capitol did, what your so called leader President Snow did. Accept the truth, pick your side of this war, but if you fight with the Capitol, perpare to die. We will not stop, we will not give in, If we are destroyed, you will be taken down with us, this is a promise"

Hours later minimal relief work had been accomplished. There wasn't much to salvage in the destroyed district. Every so often Johanna's eyes would glaze over in hatred at the distruction, most people had learned the hard way that it was a bad idea to approach her. The only thing she seemed to hate more the the ruined remains of the district was the only part of it still standing; Victor Village. They were all empty now, but a few of them had been occupied not long ago. They had stayed in one for a night, the one that Gale assumed was Johanna's. She didn't seem to happy to be back amongst the fancy gadgets of the Capitol, not that any of them were.

The next morning Johanna was nowhere to be found. Boggs, annoyed because they were on a deadline and needed to return to District 13 in a few hours, insisted that they find her and drag her back to the hovercraft. After hours of searching Gale finally found her, in a field covered with not only ash, but chunks of what appered to be rock. She was sitting on the ground, staring at the plot of earth in front of her, he realized where they were, a cemetery.

"You want to talk about it?" Gale asked

"I can't imagine why it would matter to you" Johanna replied

"Maybe I'm not the one it should matter to" said Gale "It might help if you talk about it"

"It won't make any difference" said Johanna "he's dead either way nothing going to change that"

"Then why are you here?" asked Gale

Because I won't be coming back" Johanna said "even if I do make it out of this rebellion I'm not coming back. Nothing left for me here, nothing left for me anywhere actually. In the end it doesn't matter, we all end up dead at one point, if there is one thing Snow taught me its that" She got up and walked away, leaving Gale to realize that the rebellion was in the making for longer then he ever thought possible.

**Please review**


	11. Chapter 10 Memories that Hold His Heart

Chapter 10 Memories that Hold His Heart

'No!" Gale whispered to himself, watching the television. Katniss had risked her life to save the baker's son who was dying of blood poisoning. Gale wondered why, she didn't owe him anything. The girl from District 2 was holding a knife to Katniss' throat, words were exchanged, but Gale couldn't hear what they were saying. Katniss spat in the girl's face and Gale felt proud, she was not going down easy. He lowered his head so he would not have to see her die, Hazelle gently rubbed his back in a comforting manner. His whole family was unusually silent, the whole room was silent. He looked up to see the television had gone blank, the only thought that he had going through he mind was 'what just happened?'

The next memories flashed before his eyes. He could not hear who was talking, but always knew who they were talking about.

"Faulty land mines"

"No survivors"

"Their gone"

"She's can't be dead Gale, she promised"

He woke with a start, these memories had haunted his for years by recently the had become more vivid, like he was living them all over again. Accepting that he wasn't getting any more sleep tonight he dressed and crept to the training room as he often had since arriving at District 13. If anyone who had any power to stop him knew of this, they never did anything about it. Gale quickly fell into his usual rhythm using the punching bag, putting all of his effort into every punch or jab he could.

"It's not going to die Handsome, no matter how hard you hit it" he didn't have to look to see that Johanna had found him. No one else would approach him that why.

"Doesn't mean I can't try" he replied, not stopping his angry rampage on the unfortunate punching bag "Why are you here anyway?"

"Some reason you are" she said indifferently "memories seem to resurface when you nether need or want them" she said this in such a way that Gale turned to look at her. Johanna was leaning against the door frame, studying him with an almost sad expression. He normally hated to be pitied, but he didn't think she meant it that way. Gale thought for perhaps the hundredth time that she would have gotten along with Katniss. He also realized that the two women had a lot in common; both strong, capable, and almost completely independent. But at the same time they were so different; Johanna was abrasive when Katniss was quiet, more bold to Katniss' silent, standoffish demeanor.

"What make you think you knew why I'm here?" he asked

"Why else would you be here in the middle of the night" said Johanna "You lost someone"

She said it so matter of factly that he could not comprehend it for a few minutes, when he finally had control of his voice he replied "Meaning you did too"

"I did" she conformed

"And that's why you fight"

"No" she said "like i said before. It does not matter, he was the only person who believed in me and now he's gone. Killing Snow is not going to change that, I'm not here for him, I'm here for me, for my revenge" she looked at him for several moments before asking "Who was she?"

"Who was he" he parroted back at her, unwilling open up to her.

"Someone to stupid to stay away from me, remember Pretty Boy" Johanna said stepping closer to him, invading his personal space "We all have our secrets, just don't expect those to stay secret" She pressed her lips to his. Unlike the girls he had kissed back home, she dominated the kiss, taking control when he was to shocked to do anything.

"She broke you good" said Johanna as she broke the kiss

"What do you mean?" he asked, still completely shocked over what happened. They stood close, in an almost intimate way. Her wide set brown eyes looking into his Seam grey ones with an unexpected understanding.

"You are never going to look at another girl because she had your heart, still does. Until you get over her you're always going to be looking for some sort of revenge. You and I, we are more alike then you know, we will not be happy until someone pays" She walked away, leaving him thinking that she understood him better then anyone ever had.

Gale watched her leave, still completely in shock over what had happened. He had to admit that Johanna had a point, he was not able to move on until someone paid for Catnip's death. It was this unbelievable force that kept him from living his life and being happy, preventing him from moving on. He had tried several times over the past two years to forget, to move on telling himself that she was gone and that she wasn't coming back. He had even gone as far as wishing that he had never met her, that he had hunted alone all those years and watched he walk to the stage on reaping day feeling pity,but no sadness.

If the Rebellion was successful would he be able to move on? Would he be able to have a fulfilling, happy relationship with someone like Johanna? Or would she always be in the back of him mind, drifting around like a ghost. Not there, but never gone, always haunting him until the day he died. He prayed to a heaven he wasn't sure he believed in that she was safe and happy, but he was sure she was yelling at him some sort of advice on what to do. One thing he had always like about her was the fact that she knew what she thought and would never let anyone convince her otherwise.

With this thought he quickly rushed out of the training room and through the halls until he reached the trapdoor that he had passed through his first day in District 13. The smell of the woods brought back a million memories, some long forgotten. The clear night sky was filled with stars no one had every seen in District 12, he look up at them for several minutes before speaking.

"Anytime you wanna help Catnip, I'll take it" Gale felt childish for talking to someone who wasn't there, but turned and headed back inside feeling that for the first time the odds might be in his favor.

**What do you think? I love to hear opinons so please feel free to tell me about Gale/Johanna, guesses to what might happen, and if Cinna should come back, or any other people **


	12. Chapter 11 Finding Truth

Chapter 11 Finding Truth

It was an unusually early hour when Gale was awoken by pounding on the door of his assigned bedroom. When he finally answered, he came face to face with the man who had brought him to District 13, Cinna. He was perhaps the only person around who knew of Gale's relationship with Katniss. Gale had wanted to keep that fact to himself, he didn't want to explain it to anyone and found it easier to keep it to himself.

"Hurry! Get dressed and come with me to Command" Cinna said in a harsh whisper

"What's wrong? Gale asked

"All will be explained, just come with me!"

Several people where already in Command when Gale and Cinna arrived, Including Boggs, the film Crew and Johanna. Gale had avoided Johanna after the incident in the training room, he didn't know what to say or do around her. He often found himself wondering what she wanted with him, did she simply trying to prove a point or did she want something more. What he wondered about more was what would he did if she did want something more? Would he be able to move on and be happy with her, or would he disappoint her because he couldn't get past the death of his best friend? As much as he hated to admit it, he knew that he could not move on until some symbol of justice was brought. Johanna had been right when she said that he could not be happy until someone paid, but she was also right when she said that nothing could change what had happened.

"Thank you all for coming" said Coin as she entered the room followed surprisingly by Finnick Odair. He seemed to lack the confidence that he had only weeks ago, replaced by a worried, almost panicked expression "some new information has become available, thanks to Mr. Odair"

"But will you keep your end of the deal?" Finnick asked in a cold voice

"My 'end of the deal' is being taken care of as we speak" Coin replied " but we have more important things to deal with. This information could very well be our key to overcoming the Capitol and regaining power. This" she said holding up the video " is the full footage of the 74th Hunger Games that ended unexpectedly. If we find anything that could cause any disruption, Beetee will air this as soon as possible. I want this kept under full discretion, I have chosen some of my best men and women to trust that this is kept under control until it is made public, do not make me regret it."

"Why is stylist boy here?" asked Johanna

"He knew two of the last six tributes" Coin replied " Both he and Hawthorne, who is from District 12, could possible spot thing the rest of us have missed"  
Gale didn't like the look Coin was giving him, he felt as if he were being watched by a hawk. Until she snapped her attention to a screen where a small man with wire rimmed glasses, who Gale assumed was Beetee, played the video.

Gale saw his eighteen year old self hold Prim back at the reaping when Katniss volunteered. He caught several people look curiously at him and quickly look away, only Johanna kept her gaze on him. He ignored her and focused only on keeping his eyes on the screen as he watched Katniss in the Hunger Games. Even though he had seen it all before his heart still raced when she escaped the bloodbath, the wall of fire and the Careers. And it still ached when she was weak from thirst, in obvious pain and trying not to show it, and singing to young Rue. But it ached most of all when she was with Peeta Mellark: searching for him, finding him, kissing him it was almost to much for Gale to bare.

They watched hour after hour of the video, seeing everything from the reapings to the feast where everything went wrong. The girl from District 2, Clove, had Katniss pined under her, the scene playing out as it had in his dreams a thousand times. He closed his eyes not wanting to see her life end, even if he knew that the screen would go black before she could be killed.

But when he opened his eyes he saw that the screen had not gone black, nor was Clove holding a knife to Katniss' throat. Clove was now at the mercy of Thrush, a large, muscular boy from District 11, the same district as Katniss' former ally Rue. He was screaming at Clove, asking if she had killed the little girl, as she insisted she hadn't before Thresh caved her skull in with a rock. If she had not been threating Katniss only seconds before Gale would have felt sorry for her, that would be a terrible way to die. Thresh turned to Katniss, demanding to know what happened, she told of their brief partnership and Rue's tragic death. Gale almost cried when she was finishing her tale and asked "Do it fast, okay, Thresh". It almost broke his heart to hear the pleading in her voice, she had given up, accepting her death that would soon be upon her. But Thresh didn't kill her, he let her go telling her to run and that he didn't owe her anymore before the screen went black.

"What just happened?" Boggs asked what most where thinking, but Gale understood. The end of the 74th Hunger Games had been no accident. Suddenly, everything made sense: the abrupt ending of the games, the unexpected deaths of Haymitch and Chaff, all because of an understanding between two people. The Capitol must have taken that as a threat to their power over the districts, so decided to end the threating flame before it got out of control. A flame that had not been put out, simply passed on and would now grow into a wildfire.

Because they had found the truth.

**Please Review**


	13. Chapter 12 Reasons

**Okay so I'm not dead yet (But I do feel like it) just super busy. What would they do without me at work? But an all new chapter just for. . . anyone who wants to read it. **

Chapter 12 Reasons

His body was screaming in protest as he put every single morsel of energy into each punch, kick, or jab that went into the punching bag. He most have been here for hours, every since he had seen the video. The video that had changed everything, she was gone because of fear of an rebellion was too great, someone had been to scared to lose power that they had taken the lives of those left in the arena,and he knew who that was. President Snow.

"Looks like this is our spot Hawthorne" said Johanna, leaning against the doorframe and looking bored "by all means keep ignoring me and continue to kill the punching bag" Johanna kept talking but Gale paid her no attention. The fire that had ran through his veins when watching the video was still coursing throughout his body as fits of rage ran within his mind. He did not stop his rampage until the punching bag, which had been previously hung from the ceiling, slammed against the wall and slid to the floor. His hand gripped his hair trying to keep himself together as he fell to his knees, trying to stop the tears threatening to spill over his face. He felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off not wanting to talk to or see anybody.

"Damn it Hawthorne" Johanna said harshly "it won't bring her back"

"Why do you care?" he spat "Why do you even care? How would you feel if you had just found out someone you had loved was killed because of a cover-up?"

"It's hard I won't argue with that" said Johanna in a low, deadly voice "But coming down here and pounding on the punching bag every time something upsets you? That's going to end up killing you. Do something useful for once because this is not helping anyone. She is gone, not coming back, kicked the bucket, or whatever you want to say"

Gale rounded on her "How dare you?" he whispered "How dare you!" he shouted "Don't talk about her like that you don't know her. What gives you the right to talk like that? I am here because of her, I'm fighting for her, not because I'm some screwed up victor that's here because she likes violence a little too much" He knew he was going too far and the look of anger on Johanna's face all but confirmed it, but his own anger kept raging "So if your going to say it doesn't matter, that it's pointless or whatever, keep your thoughts to yourself for once"

He barely had time to think before he was pushed to the ground, Johanna kneeling over him with anger seething in her eyes. If Gale had not been so shocked and angry, he would have been impressed. When she was not small like Katniss had been she didn't look nearly as powerful as she obviously was. He couldn't remember many details about her games except that she seemed to kill without mercy. The small weakling from District 7 had won the Hunger Games and now she was looking at him with pure anger in her eyes.

"Is that what you think?" she said in a deadly whisper " that I enjoyed killing every tribute? That it was fun? That they don't haunt my dreams every night of my life? Victors are not pure killers Hawthorne, some of us are the invisible victims of the Hunger Games. We came out of the arena to be prided around, forced to face the family members of every fallen tribute. Our lives as we knew them were gone, our families ripped apart by Snow's demand, and somewhere along the line we lose ourselves completely. Torn to pieces by our own lives that don't even belong to us anymore and one day we realize that we wish we were that idiot that started that fire or crossed the path of a Career. Don't you dare say that we don't understand Hawthorne, we may not understand your pain, but we understand pain well enough. So don't try to walk in my shoes and I won't try to walk in yours, just know that she is gone, you can fight for her all you want, but she is not coming back."

Johanna had tears in her eyes by the time she finished her rant "We are all fighting for a reason, Hawthorne" She said "But we're all fighting and every single one of us is only human. It means not all of us will live through this, some of us will die, maybe we see it coming, maybe we won't expect it. But it will happen, don't doubt that for a second" Johanna got off of him and began to pace the room, hands gripping her short hair as if she were moments away from an angry outburst. Gale stood and eyed her cautiously

"Why do you fight than" Gale replied "if there's a reason what's yours? After all we're all 'fighting for a reason' and on some level you're human too. As strange of a notion that may be to you. So, what are you fighting for? Somebody you love? A friend?"

"Shut up" Johanna said through her teeth "Hawthorne you just need to stop talking"

"Why are you fighting!" Gale demanded before Johanna lunged at him again. He was ready for her this time and caught her before she could take him down again "There has to be a reason"

You said it yourself Hawthorne" she spat "I'm just some screwed up victor who doesn't care about anybody and likes violence a little too much" She pulled herself out of her arms "I've learned the hard way Hawthorne,feeling sorry for yourself doesn't help anyone. If you want to wallow in self pity and cry for your dead girlfriend, go ahead"

Johanna gave him one last glare, stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Gale with his thoughts. Maybe she had a point, he should let her go. But that was impossible for he could still feel her at his side when he was hunting. He should let her go, but he couldn't let go of the other half of himself, they had been partners so long that he truly couldn't let go.

**Please Review. . . and Happy New Year!**


	14. Chapter 13 Questions

Chapter 13 Questions

"Finnick!" a voice cried out at dinner several days later. Gale turned his head to see a young, unkempt woman with long, dark hair running through District 13's dining hall. Finnick rose from his place at a table in the opposite side of the room, ran towards her and embraced her in his arms. Soon they pulled away, enough to look each other in the eyes but not enough to be completely out of each others arms.

"Annie" Gale turned to see that it had been Beetee who had spoken. The middle aged victor was looking at the young couple with a small, fond smile. At Gale's confused look he replied "Annie Cresta, Finnick's girl, won the games a few years back"

Gale vaguely remembered a girl from District 4 who had gone insane after she had won the Hunger Games. She had started screaming in the middle of her speech in District 12 and was quickly rushed off the stage by Finnick, who had been her mentor. Now Finnick and Annie were talking in what looked like frantic, hushed tones. Concern crossed Finnick's face as panic flinted across Annie's tear stained one as they spoke. Finnick turned, arm still around Annie's shoulders as he guided her out of the room.

"What was that about" Gale wondered out loud, forgetting he was not alone.

"Probably some thing important" Replied Beetee, startling Gale "Annie is not nearly as unstable as most people believe, she seemed really upset"

"Why?" Gale couldn't help but asking

"Part of the story" said Beetee, suddenly bitter "the Capitol loves stories, any kind of story. That's why those two kids from your district did so well regarding getting sponsors a few years back. They loved the whole 'Star Crossed Lovers' bit, it was new, flashy, what they called a real love story. It must have been tough, watching her pretending to be in love with him"

It took Gale several moments before remembering the video that showed him holding Prim back. He asked Beetee "What make you think she was pretending?"

"The fact that she tried to kill him after his interview" Beetee smiled "if Haymitch had not stepped between them the poor kid would have had a bloody face"

Gale smiled "That sounds like her"

"It probably would be easier for you to deal with if they were in love" said Beetee sadly "because then the only way for them to be together..."

"Would be for them to die together" Gale finished

"Exactly" said Beetee

Hours later Gale lay in bed trying to sleep, Finnick had not returned to the room after dinner. Gale lay wondering what life would have been like had the Hunger Games had never existed. Part of him wondered if Katniss would have married the baker's son for he was not sure that she had not loved him. An even bigger part of him wondered if she would have married him, if she would have been his Catnip forever. It would have been the two of them, facing everything that was thrown at them together like they always had. They would have stayed as long as their families needed them to, then they would have ran. Ran away from District 12 forever, leaving everything behind except each other. Perhaps they would have grown apart like childhood friendships often did and she would have been a sweet memory that he would remember and wonder if she ever thought about him. Questions pledged his thoughts until he fell asleep thinking about bows, snares, and the Girl on Fire.

The next day Gale was called out of training and told to report to command. When he arrived he saw that many people were already there, including Boggs, Beetee, Finnick, Annie, and Johanna. Ignoring the glare Johanna was sending him, he nodded in greeting to the rest of the squid. Oddly enough, Boggs didn't seem to know what was going on. Finnick seemed unusually tense and kept Annie close to him. Annie herself appeared to be struggling to keep her emotions in check and was close to tears.

"Thank you all for coming" said Coin walking into the room "I assure you this will not take long. We would not be here at all if Mr. Odair had not insisted"

"I insisted for a good reason" said Finnick harshly "as I have informed you of many times before. Annie said..."

"Mr. Odair" Coin Interrupted "with all due respect, you are taking the word of an insane woman to go on an unneassary and dangerous mission"

"And you refuse to see reason if it is not covenant for you!" Finnick yelled, Annie was still holding onto his arm trying to calm him down.

"SHUT IT!" Johanna screamed "Now, somebody tell the rest of us, what happened"

Annie quietly spoke up "When I was being held captive, there were others in the Capitol's prison"

"And you assume that the squid that rescued you didn't look around" said Coin "Do you really believe that we would leave Capitol prisoners there?"

Gale stepped forward "What if they missed somebody?"

Coin glared at him "Mr. Hawthorne, I suggest that you tread very carefully in regards to my rebellion"

"It's not your rebellion" said Johanna, coming to standing next to Gale "It's Panem's rebellion"

"Look" said Boggs, before Coin could speak "Annie was there much longer than the squid was and she obviously saw something. The prisons are large and they couldn't possibly search the whole area, let alone the whole prison, it would be best to check it out"

Coin looked like she wanted to refuse, but didn't have an good reason or excuse to "Fine" she agreed "everyone one of you on the squad better be ready in the morning" with that she stomped out of the room, clearly furious.

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	15. Chapter 14 Finding His Reason

Chapter 14

Finding His Reason

The next day they arrived at the Capitol's prison. Large heavy looking doors kept the squid from District 13 outside the thick prison walls. Gale felt dread thinking of the dangers they would face getting past whatever was guarding the prisoners from them once they got through them.

"Everybody ready?" Boggs asked the squid

"Depends, what's your definition of ready?" Finnick asked, looking unusually pale under his confident grin that was starting to slip "It's not exactly a simple plan"

"Plans simple Finnick" said Johanna, rolling her eyes " We get in, find whoever your crazy girlfriend insist is trapped in here, and get out. Oh, one more thing, don't die"

"Enough" said Boggs irritably "we have enough to worry about without you two arguing the whole time. Beetee" he addressed the older victor "are we ready?"

"Almost" Beetee confirmed, Gale looked over his shoulder to see several complicated webs and charts overlapping each other "whoever set this up knew what they were doing, and they probably increased security after they found Annie missing"

"But that guy's not a genius" said Johanna with her trademark smirk "ain't that right Volts"

"Unfortunately he must be" Beetee replied frustrated, staring at the computer screen "Most electrical protection shouldn't be this hard, even a high security prison in the Capitol. It has extra layers of security measures that's too much even for the Capitol"

"What does that mean?" asked Finnick after a silent moment.

"It means Annie was right" Gale found himself saying "They're have something or someone in there that they don't want us to find or know about" No one knew how to respond to Gale, the hovercraft was silent except for Beetee's quiet work. A heavy silence hung in the air as they all thought about the dangers they will face once Beetee got past the technical force field. For a moment Gale wished that Beetee couldn't get past it, that they would have to go back to District 13 and tell Coin that it was too difficult to brake in a second time.

The thought was quickly erased from his mind as Beetee announced "We're in"

Gale was armed with a belt of knives, a simple bow, and explosive arrows designed by Beetee, when he, Boggs, Johanna, Finnick,and the half of the squid approached the thick solid walls of the Capitol's prison. The rest of the squid and some District 13 medics were back in the hovercraft waiting to go in after them incase of an emergency, Gale hoped they were not needed. The solid, heavy doors were bolted shut, physically impossible to open.

"Hawthorne" Boggs breathed as if scared to speak much louder.

"Yes" Gale answered in a whisper

"How much do you know about mining explosives?"

The blast from the explosive were successful, but deafing. The solid prison door was now damaged enough to allow the squad through, but if there was any sort of guard they were defiantly alerted.

Sure enough within moments of entering the dark prison howls sounded, nether animals or humans had ever made a noise that was even comparable to it, Mutts. They looked like what Gale assumed was suppost to be a cat, but even Prim's old cat could not be that ugly. Long, slender bodies that slithered rather than walked, unnatural, grey wire-like hair, and eyes that glowed blood red in the dark hallway. The most dangerous aspect of these strange creature was their razor sharp teeth that extended past their jaws and talons that left marks on the floor. Gale heard Johanna swore under her breath as the Mutts approached them, snarling and hissing at the intruders.

Leeg 2 screamed as the Mutts pounced towards them, their heavy bodies fighting to protect the contents of the prison. Gale was lost in a world of trying to avoid teeth and talons that ripped whatever skin they could reach, hearing the struggles and the gasps of pain from his fellow squid members. He couldn't tell if they were making any sort of progress defeating the Mutts, It was impossible to tell.

"NO!" Leeg 1 screamed

Out of the corner of his eye Gale saw Leeg 2 fall, throat ripped open with glassy, blank eyes she crumpled lifelessly to the ground and remained motionless. Gale froze, he had never seen someone die before.

"Hawthorne!" Gale heard Johanna scream just before he felt a blinding pain in his shoulder. The moment of hesitation had cost him, one of the Mutts had ripped through his shoulder. He turned, now fighting with a new determination. It had never seemed possible until now, they could die on this mission, one of them just did.

Eventually all the Mutts were killed, the squid, injured and bloodied gathered around the body of Leeg 2, laying in her sister's arms, Leeg 1 was sobbing for her dead sister. After several minutes Boggs ordered the squid to continue the mission, sending a report of soldier down back to the hovercraft. As they traveled deeper and deeper into the prison it got colder and darker, torches lit the hallways. Once a human guard wondered into their path, before he could do anything Johanna had her axe through his chest.

"Split up, search each room" Boggs ordered hours later when they came to a series of rooms.

"These aren't opening Boggs" said Johanna banging her axe against the door frame.

Finnick went to help Johanna and the rest of the squid searched the other rooms finding nothing. Gale heard Leeg 1 sniffling once or twice otherwise they worked in silence.

"Help!" Johanna's voice echoed through the prison, if there had been any guards in the area they would have been awarded. Gale raced over to the room where she had been, ready to face whatever was there.

But he was still not ready for what he saw.

Gale was sitting in the hovercraft waiting impatiently to arrive back in District 13, holding a former prisoner of the Capitol in his arms. Four prisoners had been held in the capitol for years, starved and beaten without anybody knowing about them. One of them a red haired girl, around the age of seventeen was fighting unconsciousness in the unknown surroundings. A dark skinned boy who looked like he once possessed a large amount of muscle, lay unresponsive as several medics trying to tend to him. Another boy was slumped against the wall being tended to by a medic, he was in just as unresponsive as the other boy despite having far less injuries. Gale was not expecting to live after running to Johanna's aid, figuring she had challenged more mutts or something equally dangerous.

'Than again' he thought as he looked down at the girl in his arms. Her long dark hair was now matted, her slight body was horribly skinny, and her sun tanned olive skin was now pale and gaunt, showing an excessive amount of bruises. However it was unmistakably her 'I never though I would hold Catnip in my arms again'

**Please review and tell me what you think! Also thank you to everyone who already reviewed! You guys are the best!**


	16. Chapter 15 Waiting, Watching and Wonder

**So... I know it's been like forever since I posted the last chapter, I have had MAJOR writer's block. However, I AM BACK!**

**Just one question: was anybody surprised by the last chapter...anybody?**

**Chapter 15: Waiting, Watching, and Wondering **

Four people were rescued from the Capitol after years of imprisonment and identified. The young, red haired girl around the age of seventeen, formerly came from District 5, woke several hours after arriving in District 13 said she was called Voss. One of the boys, Cato, was still largely unresponsive despite being in better shape than the rest of them. District 13's doctor claimed it was because he had been used to a comfortable lifestyle in District 2 before his imprisonment, unlike the others. The dark skinned boy, Thresh, was recovering nicely as the medics had said but his injuries had been severe. Gale remembered what he had looked like before the Games had ended. All muscle and dangerous, now her was barely strong enough to stay awake longer than a few minutes.

And then there was Katniss, the medics had tried everything they could to get her to respond to any type of treatment to no avail. They were assuming that she would wake when she was strong enough to, which could be any time. Gale had kept a silent watch on her every spare moment of his time, waiting for her to wake. She had been cleaned up, making the paleness of her skin and her bruises more apparent then they had been and her matted hair had been shorn off. He carefully slipped her hand into both of his, feeling every bone through the dry, chapped skin. If Gale had not known that she was now eighteen he would have guessed much younger, so young that she could have been the girl that he had once accused of stealing. That day may as well have been forever ago, judging by how much had happened since than. However he still remembered every second of their first meeting in the wood.

They had been so young, both of them, struggling under the weight of the world on their shoulders. The first time he had met her she had been so small, several inches shorter than most girls her age, but she more than made up for it in her determination. She had always been small, but she had never been so fragile. He felt as if simply touching her would cause her to break, to fall apart and he would lose her all over again.

Part of him wondered if it would be better if she would never wake up. If she were to just slip away back into nonexistence she would never have to face the horrors on the world again. Never have to learn how to live without her family or deal with the pain of everything she had been through. Another part of him wondered what would have happened if he had never met her, if she had never stopped to look at his snare. He would have never spent the last two years missing her, she would have been a shadow in the woods, another victim of the Games, and the brave volunteer that he would have felt a moment of sympathy for. She would have been respected by Gale, but before long she would have been forgotten like the rest of them. Like the rest of the District 12 tribute, she would have been missed, mourned, and than she would have faded away with the rest of them.

'But she wasn't' He reminded himself, she was right there in front of him, she wasn't truly gone and she never had been. She had been hidden from the rest of the world, locked away because she was too dangerous to live, but why had she been to important to kill? Why had the Capitol bothered to keep her alive? Surely they didn't keep her and the other three alive by accident, they must have had some unknown motive 'Than again' Gale thought 'this is the Capitol'.

The fact that it was the Capitol was what brought the worst questions to Gale's mind, what had happened in the past two years? She was not simply in bad shape because she hadn't been cared for in two years, someone or something had hurt her. Had she been beaten? Tortured? They was no telling what she and the others had been through. All possible worst case scenarios flashed through his mind before he could stop them.

He still had a hard time believing that she was alive, he had after all been grieving her for the past two years. Two years of her crossing his thoughts when he was trying to forget her, haunting his dreams and causing his nightmares. Hunting was never the same, even when he remembered she wasn't there he would turn to talk to her, hoping that she would be there this time. Being inside the districts boundaries was difficult as well, people would give him pitying looks and look away when he caught them watching him. While being in the district was difficult, it was not nearly as hard as being in the woods where she followed him like a ghost, silent and unseen but there, reminding him that he had lost her. Even after the pity-filled looks ended and he stopped looking for her in the woods, he still could not forget her. No matter how hard he tried to move on and find any sort of happiness with different girls, but nothing could ever come close to what he and Catnip did.

He found it ironic that he had never realized how much he had loved her until he had lost her.

Gale must have fallen asleep at one point because what must have been hours later he felt slight movement in his hands. It took him several moments before he realized the significence of this. When it did he jerked awake, suddenly aware of his surroundings. Katniss' eye were open, unfocused and blinking against the dim light that had crept into the room. He tightened his grip on her hand, causing her to look at him with shocked grey eyes.

"Hey Catnip" Gale said, not even trying to hide his tears "Welcome back"

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	17. Chapter 16 Katniss and Coin

Chapter 16 Katniss and Coin

He had imagined similar moments thousands of times, when they would finally be reunited. What he would say, what he would do, and what would happen. However, it had never been possible until now when she was really, truly alive instead of a distant memory and an impossible hope.

"Gale?" she whispered, voice hoarse from lack of use.

"I'm here Catnip" he assured her "You're safe now, you're not in the Capitol anymore"

Gale could not take his eyes off of her, nor could he think of anything to say, for a long while they just stared at each other, unable and unwilling to look away. Finally Katniss broke the silence asking "What happened?"

"We rescued you" he said, still holding her hand "I should go get a doctor"

"NO!" she said as loud as she could as he began to pull away "don't leave"

"Catnip, if you're hurt-" Gale trailed off when he saw the tears in her eyes. He would never be able to deny her anything now, when she was asking for something so simple and innocent as waiting someone she know beside her. She had to be scared in this new place when she didn't know what was going on, who was he to leave her alone when she needed him. However, he would never forgive himself if anything else happened to her "I'll be right back Catnip"

"Promise?" she asked, tears still shining in her eyes.

"Promise" he confirmed squeezing her hand one last time before leaving the room.

An hour later he watched as the doctor finished his examination,she was in no worse shape than he would have guessed, bruises, cuts, malnutrition, but nothing that was life threating at the moment. The doctor excused himself with a promise of having something sent up from the kitchens for her. When it finally arrived Gale almost shouted at the poor girl who had brought it up, a weak soup for a girl who was almost starved. But he understood when he helped Katniss sit up to drink it, her stomach was not strong enough to handle much and she shook her head after a few shallow sips. He set the cup on the bedside table and lowered her back onto her pillows "Are you comfortable?"

She nodded, grasping her blankets weakly as silent tears ran down her face "Hey" he whispered, gently wiping away her tears "don't cry"

As soon as the words left his lips her tears began falling thick and fast. He gathered her small frame into his arms as she sobbed weakly against his chest. The strongest person he had ever known was reduced to someone braking down right in front of him. It scared him, what could possibly have happen in the Capitol that she had been so broken.

"Gale?" Katniss asked when her tears slowed "where are we?"

"District 13" he replied "when the rebellion ended they made a deal with the Capitol. District 13 would be allowed disappear only if they left the Capitol alone. They moved underground so nobody would know and have been planning another rebellion for several years. When the Capitol found out they started a war and bombed District 7. We rescued Annie Cresta who told us there were more prisoners, we didn't know it was you"

He had not realized he had been crying until she reached her frail hand up to wipe away his tears. It had been years since he had cried, not wanting anybody else to see that he was not as strong as he would like to be. He never cried over her when she was in the games trying to be strong for everyone else, ignoring the looks he got at the Hob. He hadn't cried when she 'died' he had been unable to, he couldn't understand how she would just be gone, he would never meet her in the woods again, never see her again.

"I thought I lost you" he whispered, leaning his forehead to hers as they both savored the comfort from each other.

Gale must have fallen asleep in the chair at Katniss' bedside because what seemed to be hours later he woke to someone entering the room loudly. Katniss' breathing quickened and her hand tightened around his. He looked to see that Coin and Boggs had entered the room, Coin, straight backed and serious as usual and Boggs looking like he was there against his better judgment.

"Miss Everdeen" Coin began impatiently "As I am sure that by now you are well aware by now that the place you have been rescued from was the Capitol and you are now in District 13. I am President Alma Coin, I am in charge here, what I need is for you to tell me everything that happened to you in the Capitol to aid the rebellion. This includes who you saw, what happened to you, and where you were"

Katniss was shaking badly now, Gale could see tears welling up in her eyes as Coin questioned her "Can't this wait?" he asked coldly.

"No Hawthorne, I'm afraid it can not" said Coin, looking at Gale with cold grey eyes "and may I remind you I am in charge here" Coin Turned her attention back to Katniss "Now, Miss Everdeen tell me everything"

Katniss stared at her lap for several moments before speaking "We were trapped in rooms with stone walls, it was cold, men in peacekeeper uniforms would come in and ask questions"

"What questions?" Coin asked harshly

"Something about some sort of plan, I don't know" Katniss cried "I don't remember much"

"How do you not remember?" Coin snapped "You were there two years! They killed your family and tortured you!"

If Gale had not been holding Katniss so tight in an attempt to comfort her, he would have attacked Coin. Katniss was sobbing now, holding onto Gale and burying her face in his chest as if trying to shut Coin out.

"Madame President" said Boggs suddenly stern "Miss Everdeen has made it clear that she knows nothing, perhaps we should let her rest"

Coin raised her eyes her eyes at Boggs before looking at Katniss again "Perhaps you're correct" she admitted "Miss Everdeen does seem rather..._unstable_, doesn't she"

Gale's jaw tightened as he watched Coin and Boggs walk out of the room, Katniss still in his arms. He held her as her sobs quieted and tears ran out, she fell asleep against him and several minutes later he followed.

Gale crept out of the room early the next morning, hoping that Katniss wouldn't need him when he was in training. He had slept beside her the rest of the night after Coin's visit, trying to keep her nightmares at bay, never asking her to talk about them but being ready to listen when she was ready to talk. He was forced out of his thoughts when he was pulled sharply into a room off the hallway

"Forget about me Hawthorne?"

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	18. Chapter 17 The Truth

**Ok so I'm really sorry but i will not be finishing this story and this will be the last chapter I will explan at the end of the chapter as to why**

**So Sorry**

**Chapter 17: The Truth**

"Johanna" Gale snapped, heart racing "what the hell are you thinking?"

"Keep it down" Johanna hissed " they'll hear us"

Gale glared at Johanna, she was wasting his time the later he was for training the later he would there. Johanna had not talked to him beyond necessary since their shouting match in the training room. He had assumed that he had hit a nerve and she no longer wanted anything to do with him, which was fine with him as he wanted nothing to do with her "What do you want"

Johanna glared back at him "Coin's getting too power hungry, she's going way too far overboard. She has been trying to bully everyone for information, information they don't have. Finnick was telling me last night that she was questioning Annie and insisting that Annie was hiding something" Johanna studied him with raised eyes "And judging by your face this is not the first time you've heard of her doing this"

"She was doing it to Katniss too, but wanting information does not mean someones power hungry Johanna" Gale snapped, he may not like Coin, but he was in no mood to put up with Johanna "It could be good for her to have this information"

But trying to force it out of tortured people who don't know" Johanna hissed "Come on Pretty Boy, even you're not that stupid. She wants to be in Snow's place, every idiot can see that, Panem will be just as bad off or worse if she wins this war. How many times can she verbally abuse your little girlfriend until your satisfied she has enough information"

"Information's a good thing" Gale snapped back, losing his temper "Like if people knew they were going into the arena with a psychopath they might still be alive"

Gale suspected that he might have hit a nerve, especially when Johanna's fist connected with his nose. He felt warm blood flow from his nose and down his face as Johanna stomped out of the small room, down the hallway and out of sight.

The sleeve he was holding to his nose was quickly being coated with blood, but he didn't think it was broken. Gale stared at the open doorway that Johanna had disappeared through. Was the woman insane? Crazy? He realized that Coin wasn't the most friendly person, but power hungry? He would deal with Johanna later if he had too, but right now he had to get to training and back to Katniss.

However, when Gale arrived at Training he was surprised to see Coin, Boggs and the film crew that had accompanied them to District 7. Finnick, Johanna, Beetee, and Cinna were also there, Finnick looking just as confused as Gale was, Johanna looked annoyed and angry, Beetee and Cinna waiting patently for whatever reason they were here.

"Thank you for coming" Coin began "As you may have noticed there is no training today. Instead, we are filming propos, videos to be shown on the Capitol's broadcast. Beetee will brake into their broadcast and air the propos instead. Any questions?"

"What exactly will be filmed for these...propos?" Johanna asked cautiously.

"Anything that we could use against the Capitol" Coin said "Mainly information that could be used against the Capitol, stories of hardship, betrayal, or blackmail" she looked pointedly at Johanna and Finnick.

Realization dawned on both of their faces "No" said Johanna "No way where not doing it"

Finnick remained silent for several moments "If it will help Jo"

"NO!" Johanna shouted at him

"Miss Mason" Coin addressed Johanna "with all due respect, I am not asking you to do this"

"So you're demanding it" Johanna snarled "but I'm done taking orders" she marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her in anger.

But the rest of them continued, filming tales of hardship in the districts and the dictatorship of the Capitol. Cinna told stories of the children he had dressed only for them to die and Beetee about the dozens of lives he had seen cut short by the Games. Gale didn't know what he expected from Finnick Odair, but it wasn't the story Finnick told. A young boy, only slightly older than Gale had been when his father passed, reaped out of a Career district, won at the expense of his innocence, and sold. Capitol lovers that he didn't care for and endless parties that he hated were forced on him as blackmail for the safety of the ones he loved. A fate, Finnick had said, was not only his but several other victors as well, a fate that would have been Katniss' if she had not 'died'.

Gale was sick at the very thought, living through the Seam life, nearly starving, fighting to survive everyday of her life and winning the Hunger Games just to be sold for the Capitol's gain. This rebellion was bigger than he could have ever imagined, they would never be free without it. The Capitol had power over them all: children, adults, even victors were never free, slaves until the day they died.

"Why am I here?" Gale asked Coin "I'm suppost to be dead, I can't be seen, meaning you have a different reason for having me here"

"I think you know what I want Hawthorne" said Coin without looking at him

"You want Katniss to do one of these" He wasn't asking but Coin nodded anyway

"It will benefit the people of Panem, they will see the truth" said Coin "and If you encourage her" she shrugged and walked away before Gale could say anything. He wouldn't say anything to Katniss, she had enough to get used to, maybe when she could handle it he would bring it up, but for now he would just be there for her.

"You doing okay?" Gale asked later, he felt Katniss nod against his chest. They were slowly walking down the hallway outside Katniss' hospital room. The medics had suggested that Katniss get a small amount of exercise to help her regain strength. However, she was still weak so Gale had his arms around her shoulders and she was clinging to him for support. Their slow, steady steps echoed through the empty hallway as they made there way back to her room. He felt a small wetness seep through her shirt, looking down he saw that Katniss had started to cry.

"What's wrong Catnip? Are you hurt?" she shook her head as she buried her face in his shirt, sobbing. He carried her back to her room, settling her on her bed. She soon cried herself out, tears staining her face "You're shaking" he said, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders "Are you okay?"

She nodded, leaning on his shoulder and closing her eyes "Get some sleep Catnip, I'll be here if you need me"

She fell asleep against his shoulder, he tucked the blankets around her and moved to the chair, pulling his jacket around him tighter, holding her hand as he fell asleep.

But she wasn't there when he woke up.

**Please Review**

**In regards to the note at the beginning...April Fools!**


	19. Chapter 18 Broken

**Thank you to all who review :) you guys always make my day**

**I would say I'm sorry for the April Fools day joke...but i'm not**

**Anyway...**

Chapter 18 Broken

Gale fought hard to keep his panic at bay, what could have happened to her while he was asleep? Vivid images ran wild through his mind thinking of all possible reasons and explanation of why she would be gone, none of which where good. He had to find her, but how? He didn't know how long she had been gone or even how long he had been asleep.

He jumped up from his chair and ran into the hall, not another person in sight. Running through the halls without any thought of where he was going, seeing no signs of life anywhere. Katniss wouldn't have left to go somewhere else in District 13 in the middle of the night, someone had to have taken her. He changed his path, heading to Coin's office where he had been brought to when he had first arrived in District 13. Gake thought for a moment that it may as well have been a million years before considering all that had happened since then. He was almost to Coin's office when he felt cold, it took him several moments to realized that someone had left the hatch to the outside world open. Rushing outside he knew that while it had not been a million years since he had entered District 13, time had passed, snow covered the ground and a winter chill bit his skin. One set of footprints led a short way into the woods.

"Catnip" He sighed in relief when he found her curled against a tree "I'm so glad I found you, come on we have to get back"

"I can't" she said without looking at him.

"I'll carry you" he said trying to wrap his arms around her shoulders.

"No" she said pushing him away "I want to stay here"

Gale stared at her "It's to cold to stay out here Catnip"

"I don't care" she said "I want to see the sunrise"

"What?" Gale asked

"I miss it" She admitted "I miss seeing the sun, feeling rain, being in the woods. I miss hunting and trading. I miss walking my sister to school, the Hob, everywhere"

Gale stood there for several minutes trying to decide what to do, he could easily force her back into the District but he couldn't do that to her, she had been through too much already. Instead he took off the coat he had fallen asleep in and wrapped it around her shoulders, before sitting next to her.

"Thank you" Katniss whispered

They sat in silence, both of them seemed unable to find anything to say. Gale had never felt to need to fill the the silence with pointless talk, but now the quiet was deafening.

"We should have ran" said Katniss quietly, tears slowly running down her face "on reaping day, when you asked me, we should have ran and never looked back"

Gale stared at her, he didn't know what to think. Katniss had always done everything to protect her family, she never would have left them to suffer without her "You don't mean that" he said

Yes I do" she said "we should have ran so far that even if we wanted to we couldn't turn back, nobody could find us, no matter how long they looked. It would just be us, nobody to take care of, nobody to stop us, nobody to control us, just us being free"

"But you would never have been able to forgive yourself" said Gale softly taking her hand "leaving Prim, letting her go into the Games, you never would be able to live with yourself"

"But it's the same result isn't it" Katniss laughed bitterly "either ways she's dead"

"But-"Gale was at a loss of what to say, he had never seen her like this before. For the first time he realized that she was not the same person she was two years before. He wondered why it had taken him so long to realize that, she had been torture, beaten, and broken at the Capitols hands. Thinking that as soon as she recovered that they would go back to what they had been was pure fantasy "you never would have been able to forgive yourself, thinking that you could have done something"

"Doesn't matter does it" she said wiping angrily at her tear-filled eyes "we can't change it, we could think about how we could have prevented it but it happened two years ago" Katniss looked at him for the first time that night, tears staining her face. Without thinking he brought his hand to her face to wipe away her tears as if it would take away her pain. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes before pulling herself into his arms. Gale was shocked for a moment at her need of affection before wrapping his arms around her.

"I thought it would be the hardest thing I would ever do" Gale whispered, his face pressed into her hair "holding Prim back, letting you go, staying behind, it seemed impossible. Then I knew that the hardest thing I would ever have to do was live without you" Tears were running down his face now "I tried so hard to take care of them, but I failed and I am so sorry"

"It's not your fault" Kaniss said "They told me they woulld kill them, and there would be nothing anyone could do"

"The Capitol did that?" She nodded againset his chest "I'm sorry, I am so sorry Catnip, for everything that happened"

"I am so tired of fighting" she whispered

He held her tighter "When was the last time someone took care of you?" he asked dreading the answer.

"My dad" she said crying "before he died"

He felt his heart cry for her, seven years without a caring touch taking care of her. She was the strongest person he had ever known and now she was broken. Broken by the cruel world that had taken everything from her until she became this fragile being that he held in his arms. He whispered to her so softly that he was doubted that she had even heard it "I'll take care of you"

Dawn was braking, the first few rays of sun were beginning to shine through the trees. He realized that he had missed the sunlight too, not as much as Katniss had be he had. He knew that both of them were broken and would never be the same, but given the chance they would heal. Put themselves back together and find a way to continue living.

All they needed was each other.

"Don't leave me" Katniss asked through her tears

He looked at her, grey eyes met grey in a silent promise "I'll never let you go again"


	20. Chapter 19 Finding Fight

Chapter 19 Finding Fight

Gale lay awake that night, despite the fact that it had been an exhausting day he could not manage to turn off his mind. Perhaps he was scared that if he fell asleep Katniss would be gone again when he woke up. However, she was fast asleep, laying her head on his chest over his heart. He smiled gently at her, her short hair was beginning to grow back and the bruises that covered her body were fading. Nevertheless, he knew she was in pain, not physically, but emotionally she was broken. Her words from that morning in the woods kept running through his mind 'I am so tried of fighting'. He didn't blame her for feeling that way, he would too. She had been through so much, not just in the past two years but her whole life, he had his family when his father had died, but she was forced to take care of her's when her mother became too depressed.

She had to have been scared, taking on the burden of a family when she was still a child. He had never considered then being children back then, taken offence to it even if someone had called them children. But that's what they were, if life had not been what it was they would still be children on some level, they would still be dreaming of the life they could have and would never have been responsible for anyone else. Most people around the ages of eighteen and twenty were at the prime of their lives in District 12, despite being forced to work in the mines. They were old enough not to fearing the reaping for themselves and but not yet old enough to fear for their children. But Katniss was forced to be a parent when she was still a child, caring not only for herself but for her little sister, for Prim, who she would do anything for.

Then Prim was reaped, Gale often thought that Prim really didn't have any slips in the reaping bowl, rather Katniss had twenty-one and Prim's name was on a single one. He had known from the moment that Effie Trinket had announced that Primrose Everdeen was that years tribute, Katniss would volunteer. Before he could even think he was running forward to hold Prim back like Katniss would do for him had their places been reversed. No matter how much he had wanted to he couldn't ask her to change her mind, nor could she if she had wanted to. She would never be able to live with herself if she had let Prim go and Gale knew it. So she volunteered and as much as it killed Gale he watched her go without a fight, holding her sister back as if both their lives depended on it. He knew that if he had only known what the next two years would bring he would have skipped Prim and pulled Katniss into his arms. He would take her into his arms and run, run deep into the woods where nobody could find them, like she had wished he had, like both of them wished he had.

Gale mush have fallen asleep at some point because he awoke to someone knocking insistantly at the door to Katniss' hospital room. Katniss herself was still fast asleep, he gently eased himself out of bed before the knocking woke her. He was shocked to see that it had been Coin who had been knocking at the door, partly because she rarely visited anyone rather than sending a message to meet her. However, most of Gale's surprise was the fact that Coin had knocked, she was the type of woman who entered the room without asking, instead of waiting for permission.

"Soldier Hawthorne" Coin addressed him, unusually polite "I am here to speak with Miss Everdeen"

"She's asleep" Gale said trying to keep his voice light.

"I'm awake" A quiet voice said behind him, Katniss had slipped out of bed as quietly as she had walked beside him in the woods years before. She looked exhausted to Gale, but stood with her arms over her chest as she stared at Coin. For a moment he could see the girl he had lost two years before: strong, stubborn, unafraid. Gale slipped an arm around her, not yet trusting her weak frame to hold her up for long, especially after the late night trip to the woods that he hoped Coin didn't know about.

"Miss Everdeen" Coin addressed, attempting to smile "I understand that it has been...difficult, to cope with everything but the rebellion could largely benefit from your assistance"

Gale expected Katniss to shake her head, retreat into him, say no, start crying, anything but what happened.

"What kind of assistance?" Katniss asked, Gale looked at her in shock, this was the last thing he had expected was for Katniss to even consider helping Coin, especially after seeing her brake down last night.

Coin's forced smile grew larger "The type of assistance we require involves your experiences in the arena, as well as the Capitol. I assume Soldier Hawthorne has mentioned the propos to you" Katniss shook her head "No, we had talked about it. What I will need you to do is allow yourself to be filmed telling anything you can about the Games, life in District 12, the Capitol, anything that could aid in the Rebellion"

"I can do It" Katniss said, shocking both Gale and Coin.

"Excellent" said Coin after several moments of shocked silence, a wide grin spreading over her face "Excellent, Miss Everdeen Please report to my office later today during usual training hours. Soldier Hawthorne" she addressed Gale "you are expected to report to training as usual"

Gale nodded even though he knew Coin wasn't asking before she turned and walked off. Katniss shrugged his arm off of her, turned away from him, and ran a hand through her short hair.

"You don't have to do this" Gale said "I can go and tell her you changed your mind"

Katniss looked at him, anger flaring in her eyes "Why didn't you tell me about the propos?" she asked her voice raising.

Gale blinked, not expecting her to round on him like that "You said you were tried of fighting"

"But I want to help" Katniss cried "I want this to end"

"At what cost?" Gale asked harshly "driving yourself over the edge by talking about stuff that you can't even think about it without bursting into tears, with Coin of all people?"

"I just" Katniss began, tears slipping down her face "I just want it to be over, I want to go home"

"Then you better find one" Gale said marching out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

**Please Reveiw**


	21. Chapter 20 Allies

**Ok So i didn't expect my co worker to quit (ok i kinda did), I wasn't expecting my sister to move across the country (Ok I knew it was possible), and I didn't expect to take this long in updating (true) but I am so sorry for the long wait and I hope it was worth it. **

Chapter 20 Allies

Gale's anger raged as he pounded into the punching bag, he was in training and the rest of the people in the large room were either smart enough or scared enough not to bother him. He showed no signs of stopping even though his body was covered in sweat and he had obviously been there for hours. Instead of calming him down each punch increased his rage, a small part of his brain knew that his fist would hurt later but he didn't care at the moment. He was so focused on the punching bag that he didn't notice someone behind him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He was so shocked to be brought out of his rampage that he had been bent on for several hours, that he turned without thinking, ready to take a swing at whoever had snuck up on him.

But he didn't, he froze as soon as he saw that it had been Johanna who had approached him. In only the few days since he had last seen her she had gone from a healthy young woman to what he could only describe as broken. Her face was gaunt and pale, dark circles under her eyes gave away how tired she was. But when she spotted his fist still ready to strike she raised hers to match his, resuming a fighters stance "Go ahead" she said it as if it was a dare. He remembered several years ago when the exact same person that was in front of him pulled a similar ploy: looking hopeless, but ready to fight, broken, but not yet beaten.

He lowered his fist, anger was still raging throughout his body but he was unwilling to take it out on Johanna, no matter how much he wanted to. It wasn't Johanna's fault that... whatever happened, happened. However, he was not ready to give up on his anger, he turned back to his punching bag and continued to take his rage out on it until it separated from the chain from it hung. This only fueled Gale's temper as he turned to the wall, kicking as well as punching it as he had done to the punching bag, it took several minutes and bleeding hands before he realized that the wall was harder than the punching bag.

"Well that was productive" said Johanna leaning against the wall, eyebrows raised "not that I care or anything Hawthorne, but whats got you so worked up?"

Gale glared at her before looking at his hands again, he was trying to stop the bleeding when he answered "I can't see why it would matter to you"

He heard her walk away but didn't look up to see where she had gone, a few moments later she heard her return and the next thing he knew someone was holding a clean cloth to his bleeding hands. He looked up to see unbreakable Johanna Mason, eyes guarded but softer and kinder than he had ever seen them "Try me"

Their faces were mere inches from each other, so close, Gale knew that if he wanted to kiss her that she wouldn't push him away. In that moment everything could change and he had the power to change it, take charge, decide his own fate, but he let that moment pass. Nothing good could come from a moment of mutual need. He lowered his head as he watched Johanna carefully wrap his hand, she didn't say anything but he could tell that she was still waiting for his answer. So Gale told her of District 12, of the mines, his family, his past, his fathers death, his illegal hunting. He told her everything he could think to tell, when he finished she was unusually silent. Her eyes stared at the bandage on his hand without seeing it, she was quiet for several moments before she began to speak.

"Before I was a victor, I was a tribute" she said her voice catching in her throat "and before that I was a person. Remember Hawthorne, all of us, victors, killers, murderers, whatever you want to call us, we were innocent once, we were someone's child. But the moment we were reaped we were doomed, we would either die or be destroyed in whatever arena they stuck us in. The whole world thinks we are the lucky ones, we made it out of the arena to be bathed in riches and glory, but those who died, they are the lucky ones" she stood, tears leaking out of her eyes and down her face "If dying is the worst thing that could ever happen to us than it mush be pretty damn bad. Losing everyone I cared about, living with the constant nightmares, being haunted because I escaped the arena, its a wonder why i didn't die years ago. It destroyed me, I was strong enough and smart enough to get out of the arena but weak and stupid enough to never consider what would happen after I did"

She met his eyes, anger shining through her tears for the life she could have had. Gale wondered what sort of life she could have had if she would have stayed in District 7 for the rest of her life. Would she have a family by now? Children? He knew the she couldn't be that much older than him but at the current moment she looked years older than she could possible be "All of us are screwed up Hawthorne" Johanna said walking toward the door "no matter what we do, no matter what happens in this country we never have a chance at a normal or peaceful life. Maybe if we win this thing, children will never fear the reaping, your children will never fear the reaping" She turned back to smile at him, a true smile showed the young girl she once was "because lets face it, Handsome you will have yourself a family one day, You're too pretty not to. But if a few of us die to get that, is that really to much of a cost?"

"What are we?" Gale asked

Johanna looked at him for a few moments before shrugging her shoulders "We're allies"


End file.
