AN: This started because Greenwool wanted a Peeta/Gale interaction. It was supposed to be a one shot and it got completely out of hand.

And...Gale is kind of a douche bag for a chunk of this. BUT, it serves a purpose. He's on a growth spurt ;) This is the only part that will be in Peeta's POV. The rest is all Gale.

He's just about to nod off when his pager starts blaring. He rubs his eyes blearily, squinting at the numbers flashing on the fluorescent screen.

Sonofabitch.

The fucking ER resident is trying to make him suicidal.

He's already admitted eight patients and transferred two from the ICU, and it's only 2:37 in the morning. He answers the page, only to listen to a new intern given him conflicting information about a woman with abdominal pain. The intern doesn't know the patient's name or age, and has no idea what room she's in. Peeta hates July. The interns have no freaking idea what they're doing, and in the time it would take him to extract the basic information he should have before going to see a patient, he could be done with the admission. He's sent his own interns to bed. After 2 am their cognitive skills drop so precipitously they aren't much help to him, and he wants them to make sense when they present the cases in the morning to the attending. Of course his kindness is repaid by a new admission right after his helped is dismissed.

He doesn't bother fixing his mussed hair, doesn't care about his dragon breath; he just fumbles with the fleece North Face zipper vest and heads for the stairs to the emergency room. It takes him fifteen minutes to find the patient that the intern told him about, but only five to realize what her problem is.

Tenderness in the right upper quadrant.

Positive Murphy's sign

And ultrasound showing gallstones and fluid around the gallbladder

She has cholecystitis. She needs surgery.

By now he's that crispy kind of irritable that puts a mean edge to his usually calm demeanor. He tries to talk himself down as he storms into the doctors' work room, ready to chew out the intern (what was his name? Damien? David?) but is still twitching with irritation when he pushes open the door.

"Who is taking care of Mrs Jojola and why on earth isn't she being seen by a surgeon?"

In the morning he'll regret his tone, but he's had it tonight. Between the the post-op fever he's taking from ENT and the ortho hip fracture he's babysitting because - despite requiring ridiculous board scores to get in - ortho residents seem to actively forget how to manage basic medical problems as soon as they enter their residency, he's done cleaning up surgical messes.

He's expecting a sniveling red eyed intern. Instead he's face to face with Katniss Everdeen.

Why hadn't he brushed his teeth? Altoids, he needs altoids….

"Peeta?" she asks. Her eyes are slightly puffy but her face hasn't gotten that pinched look it does towards the end of a shift. She must be fresh on for the night. She does that lip-twitch-almost-smile when she sees him that never fails to make his heart go into atrial flutter. Her face is completely makeup free, her hair in a no-nonsense braid, and her scrubs have that soft worn look to them like they're on about day three of use.

She is perfect. He understands now why people once and still worship the moon.

She's also talking, and by the annoyed look precipitating on her brow, he suspects she's been speaking for sometime while he contemplates her perfection.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? I'm reaching that time of the night when I start to see green fairies."

She looks at him dubiously, but repeats, "Are you here for the lady in room 22? With the belly pain? Darius gave me a really garbled sign out and I'm trying to organize my patient list."

Altoids, where can I get altoids?

"Yeah, gotta love the newbies. In a few months they'll be rock stars but right now they don't know which direction their heads should be facing."

She nods sympathetically, while looking over her signout sheet. "I hear ya. Now what's wrong with Mrs Jojola?"

"Right upper quad tenderness, positive Murphy, ultrasound with gallstones. I think it's cholecystitis and she needs a surgical consult."

Katniss has already pulled up a chair to a computer and is looking over the patient's labs. This is what he loves about her. She checks everything and instead of arguing or turfing, she investigates to see if what he's saying is true and if he missed anything. When she first started doing this he despised it. He thought she didn't trust him or was doubting his clinical skills, but over the last two years he's come to rely on her thoroughness, something many of her ER colleagues weren't known for. After all, when you have to see a waiting room with fifty patients in it, you can't dig up every last detail of the patient's medical history. But Katniss is both comprehensive and fast; moments later she says, "Hmm...I see your point. Let me lay hands on her and if our exams match I'll give surgery a call. You mind sticking around down here, so in case they've got questions I won't have to call you again?"

Call me, please dear God, call me.

"Sure. I've got other people down here waiting for beds, lemme start pre-rounding before the morning sign out."

She nods distractedly and he goes to another workstation to check the lab results of the other patients he admitted overnight. She comes back a few minutes later and gives him the thumbs up sign, immediately sits down, and starts dialing numbers. A moment later in the background he hears her voice getting more and more agitated.

"I don't care if your intern - with her whole 9 days of experience - tells you it's not surgical. Get down here and examine the patient!" she hisses before she slams the phone down.

"Everything ok over there?" he calls out across the work room.

"Yeah," she mutters. "Just Gale's 2nd on call. Sometimes it's great having grown up with the chief resident and sometimes it's a pain in the ass."

Peeta feels his heart sink. Gale Hawthorne is by far the best surgical resident currently in their program. He watched him once ligate three bleeding vessels in a trauma patient who was in the ER while waiting for the surgical attending to make it into the resus room from the OR. He'd never seen anyone tie knots like that, with such rapid precision and some kind of super-human focus. If anyone he loved needed surgery, he'd want Gale to do it. But, Hawthorne was a dick of a human being to work with and he openly looked down on medical residents. He also was the High King of blocking patients and there was no way he'd take Mrs Jojola without a fight. He looks at his watch. 3:25am.

Sonofabitch.

He tries not to focus on this and instead covertly glances at Katniss while he edits the notes he dictated earlier.

"So, how's the shift? It's so crazy with the new interns right?"

Great. Now he's talking gibberish

If she's annoyed she doesn't show it. Her fingers flying across the keyboard, she answers, "July is always hard, but the intern I'm on with is actually really good. She's from Eritrea I think? Really sweet and smart. She's got great clinical judgement, so I wonder if she was already a doctor in her home country."

She pauses for a moment eyeing Peeta carefully.

"She asked me if she could wear her head scarf the first day. I was so upset she felt like she needed to ask. I mean we're in a America!? The point is you're free to do what you want right? Ugh, sorry for ranting. Her name's Ru by the way. It's short for -hold on, I wrote it down- Ruwaida. Anyway, if you see her, be nice ok?"

Peeta flashes her a deep smile. It's the most he's ever heard her talk.

"I'm always nice," he says jovially. "Especially to interns. That's why I'm down here admitting and the kids are in the call rooms sleeping."

She rolls her eyes at him, but smiles. "How are they gonna learn critical thinking and decision making in bed? They need to learn how to convince surgery to take a patient," she comments.

"They'll have plenty of time for that," he mutters, noting new labs showing a decreasing lactate in his cellulitis patient. "I just want them to be able to present in the morning coherently. Besides I have to wake them up to pre round in about an hour. Boy did we get slammed tonight. Eight and two transfers. I just want to go home, eat an almond danish and drink a cup of tea while I let the Avett Brothers put me to bed."

Katniss throws her head back in whispered moan. The sound makes Peeta's spine tingle. He is sure song birds would stop to listen to her.

"Mmm, that sounds so good! Almond danish...reminds me of this place I used to go as a kid. During the holidays sometimes my parents would take me and my sister into this uppity college town called Twelve Peaks that was about an hour away from us. The people there were awful, but there was this one bakery with the sweetest owner. They made the best pastry I have ever tasted. And their cheese buns...they were this buttery biscuit with sharp cheddar. I think I used to spend the whole year waiting to take that trip."

Peeta stared at her flabbergasted while her eyes remained closed, clearly enjoying a happy memory. He had been crushing on Katniss Everdeen for longer than he cared to remember and now he finds she has lived an hour away from him growing up? How had he not seen her?

He spent the holidays with his mother's parents in Florida, while his dad ran the bakery. But surely one year… a vague memory of a girl with two braids and plaid dress skits through his mind, but he's not sure it's her.

"Emm's."

She looked up confused.

"Huh?"

"Emm's Bakery?"

"Oh my god, have you been there?!"

"Yeah…"

"Those cheese buns…what I wouldn't give for one."

Peeta rubs his sleep deprived eyes. This feels like a dream. Is he dreaming?

"Maybe you can get the buns without going to the bakery."

"Sounds like trying to get free milk without buying the cow."

They both look up and see Gale Hawthorne saunter into the doctors' room, surgical cap still on and a mask dangling around his neck. He has a smirk on his face but his eyes are rimmed with red; it must be a tough night for him too. Katniss shoots him a glare and says, "Just reminiscing about Emm's."

"What, that bakery at Twelve Sneaks? I have no idea how you can have fond memories of that place. Never seen so many condescending people in one area."

"Yeah well, you tend to see things unidimensional. It had good parts. Good food anyway."

"You're too forgiving, Catnip. I'd rather starve than put up with those snobby hipsters."

And just like that the temperature drops ten degrees in the room. Katniss goes completely quiet even though she was open and chatty only moments before and Gale, his bravado gone, suddenly seems vague and uncomfortable.

"Camping this weekend?" he asks her shoulder, after a few moments of awkward silence.

"I don't know what my shifts look like," she mutters, and then she leaves without another word.

Peeta has no idea what's transpired. Something seems off, but Katniss is gone and before he can observe Gale any further, he's gone too, presumably to examine Mrs Jojola. What a weird interaction, he thinks. Nice to know how they felt about his hometown, too. Well at least she liked his cheese buns. He thinks about how he can bring them to her. Clearly sometime when Gale isn't there to ruin the moment.

With a sigh, he goes to check on his old admissions. What a strange night.

Peeta's still in the doctors' room dictating H&Ps when Gale comes in looking around, presumably for Katniss.

"Hey blondie, you seen Catnip anywhere?"

Peeta cringes. He hates that Gale has a penchant for nicknames and he really hates that the one he has for Katniss Everdeen has apparently been around since childhood. He saw her correct an attending once for calling her Kat, but Gale got to call her Catnip all the time.

Jerk.

"I think she's seeing a guy in resus. Are you looking for her to talk about Mrs Jojola? Cus I can pass on a message."

"Jojola? Is that the lady in 22? Did she consult medicine too?"

Peeta nods in affirmation.

"Yeah, we're not taking her."

Peeta whorls around in his chair, shocked.

"Whaddya mean you're not taking her? She's got cholecystitis! She needs surgery!"

Gale folds his arms defensively across his chest.

"She might have cholecystitis. But she's got elevated liver enzymes. Maybe it's hepatitis."

"Her hep panel's negative."

"Maybe it's autoimmune, or cryptogenic."

Peeta rolls his eyes. "Dude, she's had belly pain for three days, not three months. She's got gallstones and a Murphy's. It's cholecystitis, this isn't rocket science!"

"Thank God or you'd be screwed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I know how to diagnose cholecystitis. I also know this could be medical. You admit her, you prove she needs surgery then I'll take her."

"So I just need to do all the leg work and after the patient has been in pain for another 2 days and hates me, you can swoop in, take her gallbladder out like she needs to have done today, and be the hero?"

"Is that what this is about? You wanna be a hero, blondie?"

"For Godsake, I have a name, Hawthorne! Use it!"

"I'm not taking her unless you can prove it's a chole."

"Are you kidding me? You want me to read her ultrasound report to you?"

Gale's starting to get red in the face, but Peeta doesn't care. It's 4:30 in the morning and his shift ends in an hour. The fuck if he's gonna spend the end of his night admitting a surgical patient.

"Look. I'm the surgeon. I determine if someone needs a surgery and until you can prove she doesn't have any other medical prob-"

"Gale, are you blocking Mrs Jojola?"

Gale visibly slumps at Katniss' voice but his face remains defiant.

"Catnip…"

"Don't call me that at work," she snaps. "And really Gale? She's got cholecystitis. Even Ru could diagnose that."

"Yeah, but other things cause right upper quad pain and her liver enzymes are high..."

"Yeah, thanks Gale, I can read labs. Fine. I'm getting a HIDA scan. If it's positive, she's going to surgery."

And with that she storms out of the room. Peeta watches her in awe, marveling at the pain in his chest left by his heart clearly leaving with her. But his rosy sentiments end abruptly when he sees the icy stare Gale is leveling him with.

"You know, whatever. By the time the HIDA is done, I'll be off shift and the next sucker can admit her."

Peeta openly rolls his eyes and turns away from him. It's something everyone has thought at one time or another during residency but no actually says it out loud. God. He almost feels sorry for Hawthorne. Almost. He expects Gale to leave, but the taller man doesn't; instead he paces around the doctors' room like a caged panther. Peeta ignores him and goes back to ordering AM labs when they both hear the overhead announcement 'paging Dr Heart, ICU bed 7'. Someone in the ICU is crashing. They both turn at the same time in an instinctive check to see if either of them is on call for hospital crash codes. When neither of them run to join the fray of trampling feet in the hallway, they both shrug and go about their work. After a few minutes Gale has finally slumped into a chair and is clicking through an electronic medical record when a slight girl with dark skin and a headscarf bursts into the room. He's sure she must be a young adult but her face is so youthful, she looks about twelve.

"I need help! Katniss is doing CPR on a patient in the resuscitation room alone!"

Once the word CPR leaves her lips, both men are up and running down the hall.

"Call a code!" shouts Gale behind his back.

"What?!" she squeaks, running hard to keep up with them.

"Sonofabitch, fucking interns-"

Peeta cuts through his litany and shouts, "Stop running, grab a hospital phone and dial 2222, then come find us!"

Both men then sharply turn the corner and find Katniss on a hospital bed straddling a man, doing chest compressions. Peeta dawns gloves and is by the bedside immediately. When he glances up, he sees Gale grabbing the crash cart and setting up for an intubation.

"Too. Fucking. Short. To do. CPR. From. The floor," she gasps out between chest compressions.

"Don't sweat it, you're a rock star. Ok, ready to switch out? One. Two. Three." Her hands come off the patient the minute his touch down and he takes over doing compressions, humming "Stayin Alive" under his breath.

Katniss jumps off the bed, wipes her brow and starts shouting orders.

"I'm running this code. Gale, you're airway. Peeta, chest compressions. Peeta you're keeping this man alive right now, so no heroics, Tell me when you're getting tired and I'll switch you out with someone. Did Ru call a code?"

"Yeah, but someone's crashing in the ICU so we'll be short staffed," answers Gale. He's holding a mask over the patient's mouth and nose, but not bagging, waiting for Peeta to finish two minutes of compressions.

A moment later, two nurses and a respiratory therapist burst into the resus room with Ru hot on their heels. The room is suddenly loud and throbbing as staff start peaking in to look at what's happening.

"I. NEED. QUIET," she barks. "You, in red, his IV is on the left, you're pushing the meds. You, in blue start another IV and try and get labs. He's a 62 yr old male with diabetes and came in with pneumonia. We're 1:45 seconds in - did you write that down Ru? You're gonna keep time. Whenever I give an order you write down what I said and the time I said it. Got it?"

Ru nods rapidly, eyes wide as saucers, clearly terrified, but begins scribbling quickly on a clip board.

Katniss turns to the group and makes eye contact with Gale.

"Ok, in five seconds Peeta's gonna stop compressions, Gale, I want you ready to check for a pulse. If it's not there, we'll push epinephrine and consider a shock depending on the rhythm. Think you can intubate?"

"I'm ready, as long as we time it right. Peeta?"

Peeta doesn't look up from his compression, but nods. "Say the word Katniss, we'll make it happen."

"Ok. Ready? Three. Two. One. Rhythm check."

Peeta's hands come off the patient's chest and Katniss' eyes fly to the monitor while Gale feels for a pulse. There is complete silence while they wait for the artifact from Peeta's compressions to clear. In a moment they see fine fibrillations on the monitor that are almost like a flat line.

"I got nothing," says Gale.

"Push the Epi, no shock" Katniss orders. "Ready to intubate?"

They all nod and a moment later Gale has the man's head extended and his mouth cranked open as he pushes the tube in. A CO2 check confirms tracheal placement and then, Katniss orders more compressions.

The respiratory therapist connects the man to a ventilator and Gale comes over behind Peeta, while Katniss checks to make sure Ru is keeping time.

"Hey, man, how are the arms? Ready to switch?"

Peeta nods gratefully.

"Ok, Three. Two. One."

Their hands switch off seamlessly and Gale begins a fresh set of chest compressions.

"Peeta run those blood samples through the iStat and see if we can get labs. Also, check a blood sugar, he's a diabetic. Rest your arms, I want you ready to take over compressions after this next cycle."

Peeta grabs the blood samples drawn from a nurse, who now has his hand on the patient's neck ready for a pulse check. The iStat only shows the patient is hypoxic but nothing else. Peeta stretches then goes to stand behind Gale as they prepare for another switch off. He's a little amazed. Codes are usually messy, loud and disorganized, but Katniss is keeping it incredibly clean.

After the third round of compressions, when Peeta's hands come of the patient, the monitor shows coarse almost saw tooth waves and Katniss immediately calls for an electric shock. Everyone stands back from the bed while the adhesive shock pads come alive and delivery electricity. Gale immediately resumes chest compression and they wait anxiously for the two minutes necessary before they can check and see if the shock worked.

"Two minutes," says Ru, her eyes glued to her clip board.

"Pulse check," orders Katniss.

Gale's hands come off the patient and Peeta steps in his place just as they see the even steady rhythm of a electrical heartbeat on the monitor.

"The monitor means nothing without a pulse," she states. "Pulse check."

"I gotta pulse!" says the nurse at the head of the patient.

Without pausing she orders, "Peeta, confirm."

Peeta steps forward and feels for the femoral pulse in the patient's groin, "Pulse confirmed. Eighty beats per minute. Good job Katniss."

Gale squeezes her shoulder roughly, as the ICU attending appears from the shadows of the resus room to take over transporting the patient to intensive care. She seems dazed as people thump her back, and murmur things like 'solid' and 'good code' to her. They all stand around in a trance, staring at the floor and each other, as the patient is wheeled away.

Peeta seems to wake up first. He looks at his watch and it's 5:30am, almost time for rounds. He texts his interns and tell them he was in a code and that he'll be up shortly. Then he looks at Katniss and Gale.

"Think we earned ourselves some coffee? Maybe a subpar but non snooty danish from the coffee cart?"

Katniss perks up immediately.

"Tea for me."

Gale shoves his hands in his pockets. "I want a cigarette. But yeah, let's get some coffee."

"God, don't be gross," grumbles Katniss. "And you're taking Mrs J in room 22."

"If the HIDA scan is positive," he mutters.

"When it's positive," retorts Peeta over Katniss' shoulder.

"Hey. Internist. The doctors that do actual procedures are talking."

"God, Gale," moans Katniss, "can you not be a douche for five whole seconds?"

"There is a direct correlation between my level doucheness and the success of my surgeries."

Peeta scowls at him. "You must have a perfect record."

Katniss groans loudly. "Now I need a cigarette. Come on Ru," she calls. The girl looks up, stunned, as Katniss beckon's her and the guys wait, shooting each other death glares.

"Welcome to the team."

PS: I LOVE new interns :D