Broken Pawns

e i g h t

"I need information Hawthorne and you are going to get it for me." Kara smiles at me before walking over to a computer.

The words a knifes in my brain, in my heart, in my chest. I walk from command down to the prison trying to figure how the hell I was going to do this without destroying the small dose of sanity I have left.

------------------------------ Katniss's POV ---------------------------

   I open my eyes and groan as I have an aching pain in my head. As I sit up slowly everything that happened before I fell unconscious comes to me at once. His voice, his grey eyes locking with mine, those hands I once let roam my body locking onto my arms, the harsh movements. Peeta's not so sweet face, his barking of orders, the cloth, the talk about mutts.

"Thank god, you awake!" I feel hands on my shoulders. A person's presence is in front of me. I slowly, carefully lift my head to see Hazelle Hawthorne. Her dark hair with streaks of grey hair, her tired brown eyes. 

"Hazelle." For some reason as soon as the word falls from my lips more pain explodes in my head. 

"She thought you were dead." A new voice says. 

I look over Hazelle's shoulder. Vicky was sitting on the floor with a small figure tucked into his body. I knew it was Posy, I could see her dirty blonde hair. It was only Vicky and Posy. Prim . . . Rory . . . Despite the pain, I jump t my feet looking around frantically. Prim and Rory weren't here. They weren't here! 

"Katniss!" Hazelle's voice is frantic.

"Katniss!!" I hear Gale's voice as I start to wake, "Katniss, please! Wake up damn it!"

   As if on his command my eyes flutter open. I am sitting, I am sitting up in a chair of some sort and Gale Hawthorne is across the room from me. Two peacekeepers in their shiny white suits are holding him by the arms. Bloodstains one side of his face. My surroundings are ones I do not know. I am in a room, a room that is made of glass, only the floor was concrete.

"Katniss! Honey!" My eyes meet Hazelle's again. The memory keeps playing in my head. It takes me seconds to notice that my hands are shaking as my heart races.

"I'm okay," I whisper. "I'm okay."

The woman only nods, bust stands in front of me as if she is scared to move away from me. I can't stop the memories from flowing back into the front of my brain as if they were fresh.

"I'm sorry, Gale." I look at him as he sits in the cell across me, bruised and bloody. He smiles lightly at me.

"You've done nothing wrong Katniss." He whispers.

"I pulled out the berries, I shot the arrow."  My voice shakes horribly.

Gale shakes his head, "You've done nothing wrong."

"Listen to me!" I snap

"I am!" He shouts. I watch him stand. I am shocked at the anger in his voice. I had never heard him like this, not in the six years i've known him.

"I am." This time his voice is quieter as he rests his forehead against the bars. He sounded weak and broken. 

"This is my doing Gale," I say.

"No." His voice is quiet. "It's mine. I should have eaten the berries nor matter what. I should have let you go home."

"Gale."

His grey eyes meet mine, regret. Pure pain and regret. "If I ate those berries after Claudius told us to stop this wouldn't have happened. I should have stopped you and ate the berries."

Though it takes me a second to realize what's happen, what's wrong with Gale. I realize what's happened.

"He's in your head." I scramble to my feet, my hands grip the metal bars. "He's in your head."

"This is my fault Katniss." He whispers.

"Snow's in your head," I say, my voice raises. "He's in your head, Gale!"

   I slam my hands against the bars as the tears form. This was my punishment. I was going to watch Snow pick Gale's brain apart piece by piece as I rotted in this cell. I was going to watch the boy I love break. He was going to break and it was going to break me. This was Snow's perfect plan to break me.

"I shouldn't have fought with you." Gale contiues.

"Stay with me." The words are quiet and broken. "Don't let him take you from me."

"I should have eaten the berries" The words make me sob. "This would have never happened if I ate them."

"You promised." I slowly slide down the bars until I am on my knees, the tears fall, the sobs come. "You promised me."

   I let out a frustrated scream as I kick the wall. They were painful, each and every damn memory was painful. It was a knife in my chest. That one especially. I remember it perfectly. It was the day they kidnapped me. It was the last time I saw Gale before he was hijacked. He's alive. My brain reminds me as if I didn't know. He's alive. I kick the wall again, this time I curse loudly not caring that the kids could hear me.

"Katniss, please," Hazelle begs, her hands grab my arm pulling me back from the wall. 

   I rip my arm from her grip and turn to face her. My grey eyes meet hers.  I wanted to yell at her, I wanted to tell her Gale was alive. I wanted to scream that her son was alive and was gone. He was the same Gale that was hijacked. But she knew, she had seen it for herself and she hated what she saw. 

"I . . . I . . .he . . ." I am so angry that I can only stumble over my words. I wanted to say so much, but I couldn't. 

"You need to take a breath dear." She whispers, her hand slowly letting go of my arm that was surely red from her grip. I took a deep, long breath.

"Why is Catnip mad?" I hear Posy ask.

"She's just tired honey."  I look at both of the children. Posy was sitting on the floor criss-cross applesauce looking up at me. Vicky was looking out the cell door as if he was waiting for something. 

"He's Hijacked," Vicky says, his eyes don't leave the door. "Gale is hijacked again."

   I don't deny the statement, Hazelle doesn't deny the statement. We are all quiet, I watch poor Posy try to put together the pieces in her head. Vick only glances at me before looking back at the door. In the silence, I can hear the footsteps against the concrete floor. Hazelle moves to Posy and Vicky, sitting down next to the six-year-old who is still thinking. I watch as she pulls the little girl tightly against her and grabs Vick's arm. I move farther away from the wall as the footsteps get louder. It was two sets, not just one. You can take two. I think. It's only two. 

"Katniss." Hazelle whispers.

    The footsteps get louder, closer, I make a fist. It was two people, two people I could take on easily. I was in the hunger games, I've fought worse people than a few guards. I hear the jingle of keys and the footsteps are gone. 

"Katniss." Hazelle hisses at me as the door opens. 

   I tighten my fists. I can see Vicky bury his face in his hands and Hazelle pull Posy closer to her. I stay standing, my eyes on the door as one, only one person walks through the door. Posy's face, oh god her small face. She looks at the person and tried to get out of Hazelles grip, Vick makes a noise in his hand. I let myself lookup. His grey eyes lock him mine.

"Gale."