Work Text:
It had been a couple weeks since Gale exposed Brooke to the whole town. Since then, it has pretty much been the same. Her being a rookie, she always got the most mediocre jobs. Patrol this area or that area. Nothing too special. It was one day when Thread had called her in to talk to him. What was it this time? She entered the justice hall and headed to his office. When she got inside, he turned to face her.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” She said.
“Yes. I got an assignment for you”
Brooke raised her eyebrows and let him continue.
“You are aware we had to detain Hawthorne,”.
Brooke nodded. “Yes sir,”.
Thread continued, “You are going to be one of the ones escorting him to the capitol.”
—
What Thread didn’t expect was how easily Brooke would agree. She nodded. “Yes sir,”.
He mentally raised his eyebrows, a sense of satisfaction. This District 12 girl kept surprising him.
—
As Brooke held onto Gale’s shoulder as they led him to the train, she saw him glance at her, raising his eyebrows. She had a strong sense that he knew it was her. She was the smallest one out of the group. They loaded Gale into an empty train car. Next thing Brooke knew, she was standing guard at the front of the car door, looking at Gale.
“Brooke?” He said quietly.
She didn’t respond at all, looking straight ahead. She had watched as he turned away from her.
“Fine then”.
—
When Brooke had gotten back to District 12, she was in Thread’s office. She stood there; her hands clasped behind her, watching, her expression void of emotion despite the small bit of pride she felt.
“You surprised me,” Thread said, a bit of a smug expression on his face. He may be getting ahead of himself but this District 12 girl was turning out to be one of his best soldiers.
“You gave me an order and I followed through with it,”. Brooke answered.
“Yes. I did give you an order,”. He repeated.
Thread paused for a few moments, leaning over, resting his chin on his hands as if contemplating something. Brooke didn’t say anything as she waited patiently for him to finish his thoughts.
“In a couple of weeks, you will be going back to the Capitol. You will receive additional training and be evaluated for possible advancement.”
Brooke made sure it didn’t show in her expression as she was surprised, to say the least…it had only been a year and she was the latest soldier to join.
“Yes sir,”. She said, hoping she didn’t linger too long on her own thoughts.
After Thread told her to be at the platform before seven AM, he dismissed her. After the two weeks flying by, Brooke had packed a bag and made her way to the train platform. Along the way, she paused briefly, Gale had his back turned away from her as he was helping someone else. She let out a quiet sigh, something in the back of her mind glad he was alive. Before he could notice her, she continued to walk to the train.
When Brooke got onto the train, she took a seat in one of the cars, staring ahead, leaving District 12 behind, knowing she would probably never return.
—
There were two things that surprised Gale. That they had released him and hadn’t tortured him either while he was in prison at the Capitol. A couple weeks after he had gotten home, he was told that Thread had left. Good.
It was some time in the afternoon when something told him to stop by Brooke’s house. Why? What was he hoping to see? That she somehow pulled her head out of her ass and realized what she was doing was a mistake?? When he got there, he didn’t see her there. He hadn’t seen her around town either. He went to her dresser and opened it. He peered inside and saw the four dresses her mother had made her, carefully folded inside. As Gale took one of them out, brushing the coal dust off of it, he sat on her bed, rubbing his finger and thumb against the fabric as he couldn’t stop the tears from falling, quickly turning into louder uglier sobs as he soon realized she was never coming back. As he cried, he was vaguely aware of someone pulling him into a tight embrace. He buried his head in this mystery person’s arms not caring if they saw him in the state he was in. When Gale slowly stopped crying, he looked up at who was holding him and saw Katniss.
“She’s never coming back,”. He whispered.
“I know,”. Was all Katniss said.
Gale let out a shaky breath. Anger that the Capitol had manipulated and turned her into one of their own. Hurt that she had let it happen. And resignation knowing that she was never coming back.