Disclaimer: SC owns it all!

Summary: There is no more District 12, the scant number of survivors have been rescued by District 13. While Gale is working with the inner group to bring Katniss alive from the area, an unexpected prisoner tugs at his heartstrings.

Lost and Found

Gale Hawthorne listened attentively as Commander Boggs as went on about the details of their rescue attempt. This was his third meeting with them, and from what he gathered, there had been too much debate on which members to rescue, Katniss Everdeen being one of them. Finally, they had chosen to include her in the group. He wouldn't have been sitting there idle if she hadn't, he was sure.

The amount of detailing and work the team in front of him had put was highly impressive. And to impress him – that was something. Ever since the survivors of District 12 had been helped by the district which none of them had even anticipated existed, he had learnt things about the Capitol and its people which shocked him even more than existence of District 13.

This new possibility of an underground rebellion had taken him by complete surprise, but also had instilled in his mind that his thoughts (which no one except Katniss had heard) would finally come true. Yes, he had always thought of rebelling and yes, they had always been extremely dangerous to even think let alone talk about. But he had started to see them as something possible, and what with the districts rebelling, it seemed like they could finally get rid of the Capitol. But he didn't expect the whole rebellion to get so organized . . . well, as organized as it could get.

With District 13's help, getting rid of the corrupt officials of the Capitol didn't seem like an impossible dream.

They were almost done with the detailing; Boggs was closing up his speech, when they were interrupted by a knock. One of the soldiers led by the door guard came in and looked at President Coin. "What is it?" She asked, her eye-brows pulled close in irritation.

"We found a girl lurking in the woods around the outer perimeter. We don't believe it was an accident." He stated.

Gale's eyes and ears perked up in interest, he couldn't help but feel suspicious at the tone which the soldier was using.

President Coin stared at him for a moment, and then dismissed the present group of members. She asked a few people to stay behind, and Gale was surprised to hear his name.

"It might be a citizen of your district," she simply said when he looked at her questioningly.

He nodded and stayed behind. The thought of the girl being a part of his district hadn't crossed his mind, especially when he for sure knew that everyone else had been killed in the bombing and the only survivors were safe doing their assigned chores. Now that he thought of it, it was stupid of course. There could be a possibility that someone had managed to survive, and he just didn't know about it.

After few moments, the doors opened again, and a weak looking girl was dragged in by the soldiers. Gale studied her for a moment – her dirty blonde hair fell over her face; her dress was ragged probably because of her attempt at living in the Forest, and what visible part of her skin was covered in bruises and cuts. He almost scoffed at the soldier's logic. Did that man really think that this poor weak looking girl was actually a spy?

She could be, though. You have seen what the Capitol is capable of.

Yes, she could be too. The Capitol might have gotten the drift of District 13's active involvement in the rebellion and decided to spy on them in this way – obviously a broken looking refugee would be accepted with open arms. They would give her shelter, they would include her in their plans and she would help them but in turn (and truly) she would be helping the monsters in the Capitol.

Then the rebellion would die . . . the Capitol would win, again.

He felt a sudden hatred for this girl in front of him.

But every other emotion seemed to vanish and was replaced with shock and horror when he saw her being manhandled – pulled by her hair – to reveal her face.

Gale froze. The girl in front of him was very much familiar to him. She was the one he sold wild strawberries to . . . Madge Undersee, the Mayor's daughter.

"Did they really think that they'll gain sympathy from us by sending the Mayor's daughter?" He heard the President say.

"That's what we assumed too." The soldier who brought Madge in replied. "What do we do?"

"Take her in custody. We might be able to find out more about them."

Gale ran the words in his mind, the moment he realized what the President's 'take her in custody' meant – torture of the girl in front of him until she revealed all her secrets (which would be none). He felt nausea creep up as he imagined her screams and visualized her bloody form writhing in pain.

"NO!" he exclaimed.

Everyone turned to him in surprised. "She's not – she's not a spy." He managed to choke out.

"She is the Mayor's daughter, obviously she is! I bet it's their ruse to bring her–"

"It's not! She is not one of them. I know her!" Gale spoke up defensively, sounding rather breathless. He hardly knew her, but he knew enough that Madge would never stoop so low to help the Capitol. She was the girl who brought him medicine so that he could survive – even if he had been nothing but horrible to her.

"Trust me . . ." he pleaded when the President stared at him, looking relentless.

"First sign of betrayal, she'll be shot dead." She stated. Then with a sigh, she added, "Take her to the hospital, make sure they take care of her."

The soldiers nodded and began to carry her. "I'll go too," Gale said, not trusting the soldiers with her care – not after he saw them handle her with harshness which was totally unnecessary.

He took her from their hold, and spoke to her gently. "Can you walk, Madge?" he asked her as gently as he could, ignoring the stares focused on them.

She didn't answer, simply choosing to stare at the floor. "She can walk." One of the soldiers answered for him.

Gale nodded stiffly, but he slipped his arm around her waist. For some reason, he wanted to hold onto her and not let go.

In the hospital, the doctors took over Madge. A couple of the soldiers stayed behind at the entrance while the other left to continue with their assigned jobs. Gale chose to enter with her, and see to it that the doctors handled her well enough instead of treating her like a criminal like the soldiers.

Despite his want to be with her throughout, he was asked to wait outside while she was taken in for lab tests. Reluctantly, he stayed behind knowing that he had no controls over the doctors. Unable to sit down still, Gale paced around the room – comprising mostly of empty hospital bed on either of his side; most of the District 12's injured citizens had been discharged, only a couple remained (sleeping in their beds).

He guessed that almost an hour had passed when he saw any movement other than his impatient pacing. He stopped in his tracks when he saw them bring Madge. She had been changed out of her original clothes (given a bath too) and dressed in the uniform hospital gown. She was accompanied by a doctor and a nurse. Despite looking cleaner than before, she didn't look very healthy. Her blonde hair had lost all its shine, her cheeks were hollow and devoid of the rosy blush, and she seemed to have lost several pounds as well.

"How is she?" Gale prompted as they helped her onto the bed.

He got an answer only when the doctor had inserted a needle in her arm and connected to a transparent liquid. Gale observed that Madge didn't cringe a little at the prick and was staring right ahead into emptiness. "She's going to be fine. There's nothing very serious about her. A few bruises and cuts, but nothing terrible. She just needs some rest; we'll put her to sleep."

Put her to sleep . . . It sounded very sinister to Gale.

"She – she hasn't spoken, she hasn't spoken at all," he said, panicking.

"She was found in the forest, right?"

"Yes," Gale answered, suddenly wishing that he had asked the soldiers about the condition they had found her in.

"Is any of her family here?" He asked, his eyes softening at the mention of the word family.

"No, we thought they might have escaped the bombing – being Mayor and all. But since she's here, I'm pretty sure that they aren't alive," he whispered.

"Its shock . . . It is a common condition. I believe she's experienced something very traumatic, but she'll be fine. Her mind will deal with it, and when it's ready, she'll respond."

Gale looked at Madge concernedly, he wasn't even sure if she was listening to them talk. He nodded in acknowledgement and went to sit by her side.

"Can you wait a little? I need to talk to her," he asked, before they injected sleeping pills into her.

"Ten minutes," the doctor said, and along with the nurse, headed to tend to other patients.

Gale took a deep breath, and hesitantly took her free hand in his. He felt dejected to see no reaction from her. "Hey Madge, you are going to be OK . . . in a few days, you'll be fine." He told her, squeezing her hand gently as he took in her bruises. There was one her face, just below her eyes. He could see marks around her neck and throughout her bare arms and feet.

"Yeah, you'll be fine!" he repeated. But he was only sure of her physical wounds. The mental and emotional ones . . . he had no idea of.

"Try talking to me, please?" he coaxed her.

He hadn't expected her to reply, but felt dejected anyway when she didn't reply. Sighing, he stroked her blonde hair, tucking loose locks behind her ears. She felt him turn and face him, but her blue eyes were void of the shine and life and held nothing but emptiness. He felt nervousness envelope him, and sudden need to look away. But he continued to stare at her.

Much too soon, his ten minutes were up. The nurse pricked a needle in her IVs, and within moments, he saw her eyes flutter close.

A couple more days passed, and the only reaction that he could get out from Madge was her staring at him. He continued to hold her hand, stroking her hair continuously. He was already dreading the time when he would have to leave her for the rescue mission. Yes, if all went well he would come back fine, but if anything went wrong – there was a high possibility of heavy casualties. His life being one of them . . . after finding Madge, he didn't want to leave her alone.

The evening had fallen, Madge laid leaning against the bed, almost in a sitting position. They had kept her awake, a psychiatrist had spoken to her – but she hadn't reacted to him anymore than she did to Gale.

Gale sat looking at their entwined hands, when she heard her. He looked up startled, "They killed my parents." Underneath the hoarseness of her voice, it was eerie and too dead.

She certainly didn't sound like the girl he knew.

"W-what?" he choked.

"They killed my parents. In front of me . . . and I couldn't do anything. They held me down – while they tortured them. I can still hear their cries in my head. I can still see them."

There was no pain and sorrow in her tone, it was just dead . . . too dead.

Taken by surprise and completely horrified, Gale watched the girl who he thought had had everything in her life. He couldn't even form the words of comfort. He simply stared at her, and she stared back at him without flinching at her memories.

"I asked them to not hurt my family. I screamed and begged . . . they just laughed. I sat in my father's blood, holding him as he breathed his last, my mother was already dead. Father, h-he just stared at me . . . I think he wanted to tell me something, but he couldn't because he couldn't speak. There was only blood in his mouth. And then he died. He left me too.

"I thought they would kill me too. I was actually waiting for that, but they just beat me up. And . . . and – do you remember Artemis?" Yes, he remembered Artemis, he was a part of their old Peacekeepers, and he had been Darius' best mate. "He rescued me, he took me till the fence, and then we ran into the woods. We were together for two days, I think. Artemis helped me run away. But one day, I woke up and didn't find him anywhere. I think they found him . . ."

"Madge . . ." Gale whispered, at loss to say anything. He sat on her bed, and pulled her into his strong arms.

"I saw my parents die . . . t-they – I didn't help!" Her voice finally broke, and she began to sob into Gale's chest. He felt her hug him back, hold him just as firmly as he held her.

He knew that no words could calm her down and could ease her pain; he simply held her hoping that was enough.

He had heard too much of her silence that he was glad to hear her voice – even if it was nothing but her cries.

"I – I don't – h-have anyone," she stuttered, almost inaudible as she hung onto his neck.

"You have me," Gale said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

The seemed to quiet her down, a little. He continued to hold her as she cried the last of her tears, whispering that he was there for her and that he wouldn't leave her.

He didn't know how long it went on for, but finally Madge's grip on Gale loosened, he realized that she had fallen asleep. He moved back and placed her onto the bed gently and pulled a blanket over her.

"I'm here," he told her once more. Without further hesitation, he placed a kiss on her forehead and her bruise. Her hand twitched around his when his lips touched her skin, and he noticed that this time, she was holding him back.

As he watched the sleeping girl, a wave of emotions hit him. Her sudden presence made him realize that she wasn't just another girl. His pain at the possibility of her being tortured, his anger at her torturers, his torture at her cries and hurt, and most of all his immense want to protect her . . . be there for her, made him realize something – something very essential and certainly something he wouldn't have if she had escaped along with the rest of the surviving citizens.

Madge Undersee meant more to him than he had ever known.

He wanted to protect her and – and love her if she would let him.

He knew that he had to come back from the rescue mission alive. He had too much left to loose. His family would get by, they were safe and being fed but Madge – how could she? He was sure she didn't have any friends, and her only family was murdered in her presence.

He was the only person left in her life. He had to come back. And for her, he was going to.

"I'm here," he repeated, more to himself than to the sleeping girl on the bed because he needed some comfort, strength, and assurance too.

AN: I love this pairing – too much! I hope you liked this one-shot. Please do let me know what you think about this. And if you have any Gadge ideas on your mind and would like me to write, please do tell me! =)

You know the drill – review. =)

Love,

Nik