Gale Note: Gale has always struck me as a No BS kind of guy. So, as I read the book, I got this image of Gale giving the interviewer a really hard time, especially with the cousin bit. I see him flatly saying, "I'm not her cousin," quite frequently to the interviewers, and it cracks me up every time. This two-shot fanfic is a bit more serious, but I am sure Gale gave them a run for their money – or at least, I'd like to image it that way. ^^

Caesar Note: I don't remember exactly, but I guess Caesar wouldn't have interviewed Gale. Still, I used him for this fanfic since he is just such the character, and I am sure that he would have butted heads with Gale, despite his easygoing and helpful nature. Caesar: "But damn, wasn't it just like pulling teeth?"

THE INTERVIEW: The Real Version

Gale Hawthorne, best friend of District 12 Tribute Katniss Everdeen

Interviewed by Caesar Flickerman

Caesar Flickerman entered the drawing room of the mayor's house, casting a cursory glance at what would be his surroundings for the next several hours of interviews.

He ran his white gloved fingers across the top of the piano at the far side of the parlor. Pulling away his hand and examining the soot stains now on his glove, he frowned. As always, a thin layer of coal dust over everything, just like the rest of this abhorrent district, he thought.

As his next interviewer was announced and entered the room, he clapped his hands, smile back on his face and excited to dig into Katniss Everdeen's past.

Settling into an overstuffed, overused, and faded calico arm chair, which he thought felt very uncomfortable, he watched as Gale Hawthorne entered the room. Taking in the older boy's features, his dark hair, green eyes, and olive skin, Caesar wondered at this boy having never been in the games. He certainly would have gotten a lot of attention from the sponsors. Perhaps this interview might play in Katniss's favor, he thought hopefully.

Gale strode easily into the room, trying not to stare too much at the man's dyed blue hair and blue lips. Capital dwellers, Gale thought derisively. Strange as ever.

He shook the man's gloved hand and sat on the wooden piano bench where Caesar gestured. On the wall behind the bench was a large picture of Katniss, arrayed in her arena garb, dressed and ready for battle. The image on the poster matched the one of Katniss he had always carried with him in his mind: fierce, strong, the hunter, the survivor. It was why he admired her so much. It was why he loved her so much.

Gale swallowed and quickly turned away from the image and back to Caesar, where he sat in a hideous red faded winged arm chair. On the wall behind him a fuchsia curtain had been hung, an awful and wild backdrop for his crazed blue hair.

"Nice to meet you, Gale. I'm just going to ask you a few questions about Katniss and how she was as a child. Things like that. Please just relax and try to answer honestly," he told Gale, hoping to make the young man feel relaxed and to get the best possible interview out of him.

"Alright, Cal," Caesar said to the cameraman. "Ready when you are."

"Alright," called the cameraman from behind his camera to his mini crew of light and sound men. "Rolling in three, two, one!"

Caesar put on his best smile and turned to the camera. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! This is Caesar Flickerman, and I am here in District Twelve to interview the family and friends of tribute Kaniss Everdeen. We've already interviewed her little sister, Prim, earlier today, for whom Katniss so heart-touchingly volunteered herself as tribute, and now we are sitting down with Gale Hawthworne."

Gesturing to the young man sitting beside him, he turned and addressed him. "Hello there, Gale. How are you today?"

Gale shifted in his seat. What a stupid question, he thought. "As fine as I can be, considering the circumstances," he answered aloud.

Caesar coughed. "The circumstances?"

"Katniss. I just hope she makes it home alive," he clarified for the eccentric man.

"Ah, yes, of course. You and your cousin must be very close," Caesar smiled affectionately.

"My cousin?" Gale repeated dumbly as Caesar turned back to the camera.

"To those just tuning in, this is Caesar, and I have just sat down to interview the cousin of Katniss, District 12 tribute, Gale Hawthorne."

The lights of the camera crewed suddenly seemed to feel too hot to Gale. "I'm not her cousin."

Caesar coughed. "Well, uh, what are you then?"

"She's my friend. My best friend, actually." Maybe something more, he thought to himself. The thought made him shift nervously in his seat.

"Oh? A friend, is it? Are you sure you're not cousins?" The interviewer laughed nervously. "The two of you do certainly look alike. You both have the same olive skin, black hair, grey eyes."

"So do a lot of people in District Twelve," Gale pointed out, flatly.

Caesar clapped his gloved hands in the air and laughed. "You could have fooled me! Well, anyway, what was life like as Katniss's cousin?"

"I'm not her cousin."

Caesar reached out and blocked the camera his hand, soot smearing on the lens. Lowering his voice, he said, "Listen kid, for this interview, you are her cousin. We can't have people out there thinking you might be something more than a friend, what with her romance going on with Peeta."

Gale sneered.

This kid's gonna get himself killed, Caesar thought, hoping the young man would heed his advice.

He removed his hand from the camera, only to receive a glare from Cal as he rubbed away the smudge on the lens. "We'll just be sure to edit this out when it airs," he told the cameraman. No need to add fuel to the fire, he thought to himself. "So, then, back to the question at hand… oh, what was the question again?"

Gale didn't offer any help. He just glared at Caesar.

"Ah, yes, what was it like growing up with Katniss? What kind of girl is she?" he asked, feeling proud of himself for getting the conversation back on track.

"She's a survivor. Always was."

"A survivor, eh? So are you betting on Katniss to win?" Caesar raised his blue eyebrow as he asked the question.

"Of course."

The interviewer sighed dramatically. "What if it comes down between her and Peeta? What do you think she will do? Will she sacrifice herself to save her love?"

Gale's temper flared, and he blurted out what he was thinking before he could stop himself. "She had better kill the bastard and come home."

Caesar shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Uh, let's edit that out of the interview too," he mumbled to the cameraman, his eyes wide with embarrassment and disbelief. Worst interview EVER! he sighed dramatically to himself.

Pursing his blue lips, he thought for a moment before continuing the questioning. "Backing up then…. How do you know Katniss will win?"

"Because she knows she has to come home. For Prim. For her family." For me, he thought.

"For her family?" he queried.

"Yeah. I mean, who else will take care of them?" Gale countered. I would take care of them, he thought, but didn't say it aloud. The thought of looking after Katniss's family without Katniss ever being around again… the image hurt too much to even consider.

"Take care of them? Won't her father take care of them?" Caesar asked. Of course, he already knew the answer to that, but he was trying to draw something more out of the boy for the interview.

"Her father died in a coal mine explosion with my father," Gale answered, stiffly.

"Oh! How tragic!" he exclaimed. "Is that how the two of you are related? Were your fathers brothers?"

"I'm not her damn cousin!" Gale snapped.

Caesar blocked the camera again. "Listen kid."

"First off, stop calling me 'kid.'"

"Cut the feed," Caesar barked to the camera crew, souring into an uncharacteristically dark mood. "Listen, Gale. You are not doing any favors for her by what you are saying in this interview. Think about what might happen to Katniss. She is a favorite in the games right now because of her romance with Peeta. Think what might happen with her sponsors if they get one good look at her best friend."

Does the kid really not know how good looking he is? the interviewer wondered to himself. Heck, I'm already wondering at what kind of relationship they have. I can just image what the Capitol would cook up! That certainly won't help the tribute any.

He changed his tactic. "Think what might happen to you. To your family." Gale's face didn't change, but he felt satisfied that he got the message across. "Now, roll the camera!"

As the camera film begins to roll again, Caesar's ever present smile returns to his face. "So, then, you and Katniss must have grown very close because of your fathers' deaths happening at the same time."

"Yes, something like that," Gale replied, trying not to remember his father's wake, the crying eyes of the girl whose father died with his, and the months and days he and Katniss had wandered the forests, illegally poaching game for their families.

"Something like that? Could you elaborate?" Caesar pressed.

No, I can't, Gale thought. I don't think he'd be too happy if I brought up bonding over poaching. The thought brought a sarcastic grin to his face.

Aloud, Gale fibbed, "We wandered District Twelve together, trying to get jobs and buy food for our families."

"So you and Katniss are the heads of your family? How tragic, a young girl forced to take care of her family after the death of her father! She even went so far as to volunteer herself as tribute for the games in her sister's place. How do you feel about Katniss volunteering herself?"

Gale shrugged off the dark feelings in his gut. "What else could she have done? It was expected."

"Expected? Ah, you mean, she wanted to be a Career Tribute?"

Gale sneered again. "No. She volunteered to save her sister. Everyone knows a twelve year old can't survive the arena. I knew she would volunteer for Prim."

"Ah, I see," Caesar said, wincing. Is it possible to get this kid to say anything that wouldn't be taken as rebellion against the government? he wondered, chagrined. "So, you expected this might happen."

Gale shrugged. "Yes. And she knows I would have done the same thing in her place."

"You've talked about this before?" Caesar's interest peaked. Finally, something good, he thought.

"We made a pact," he answered vaguely.

"A pact?"

"Yeah. If either of us were reaped and didn't come home, the other would look after the other's family." Gale tried to ignore the hot lights from the camera crew as he answered Caesar's questions. He felt a drop of sweat running down the side of his forehead.

"If Katniss doesn't come home, you will have to take care of her family?"

Gale swallowed hard. "Katniss will come home."

"But if she doesn't?"

Gale couldn't accept the thought. "She'll come home."

"But if she doesn't, will you take care of her family?"

Anger shot through him. He didn't like these questions that Caesar was pressing, and he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice as he answered Caesar. "I won't have to. She will come back."

"Well, I certainly hope so," he said. He sounded so sincere that Gale thought he could almost believe him. "So, I am curious, what do you think would have happened if both of you had been reaped. Did you have a pact for that? What would you have done?"

Katniss versus my family. The thought left his mouth dry.

"What would you have done then?" Caesar prompted, leaning forward in his chair, all too eager for the juicy answer.

"Well, I don't have to worry about 'what ifs.' It didn't happen."

"Yes, it certainly didn't," Caesar said, his face falling, disappointed with Gale's dodgy answer. Trying once again to recover the interview and push it forward, he said, "Well, I'm curious to know more about Katniss. How was she in school? Did she do well?"

Gale knew that neither of them have ever done exceedingly well in school. In between poaching and gathering food, there was rarely enough time to study. Besides, our futures lie in either the mines or The Hob, he thought sadly.

To Caesar, he grinned wickedly, "Well, all the boys certainly liked her."

"Ah, really?" Caesar brightened, glad that Gale was finally giving him something exciting to work with.

"Yeah. As her cousin, I made it my duty to beat them all off."

"Oh, really?" Caesar almost hopping out of his seat. Finally, he shows some real personality! He thought. "What did they do?"

"The boys left her all kinds of love notes. I destroyed them," he answered matter-of-a-fact-ly.

That had been true. Gale had destroyed many school love notes before they ever reached Katniss. To this day he didn't entirely understand why he had done it, but he never once felt guilty or regretted doing it.

"And why did you destroy the letters? Why not let her have some fun?" Caesar questioned, his eyebrows raised so high almost reached his blue hairline.

"Because no one is good enough for Katniss." His statement rang with an air of finality, leaving no room for argument.

"What about Peeta?" the interviewer asked coyly.

Gale thought of Peeta coming back to District Twelve, alive and healthy, while Katniss lay dead in the arena. The image almost sent him over the edge. Honesty, Caesar had said. Well, I'll give it to him, Gale thought as he said menacingly, "If he comes back, I'll strangle him to death."

Caesar sighed, defeated. Why did I even hope? he thought melodramatically. "Let's edit that out too, shall we?" Turning back to Gale, he asked, unenthusiastically, "So, how did Katniss react to the boys' advances?"

Gale laughed at the memory. "She never even noticed them."

And that had been one hundred percent the truth. It had always been just him and Katniss. They never had time for anyone else but each other.

Caesar laughed too, relaxing again. "That certainly does sound like Katniss. It seems she doesn't understand her own charm."

Gale thought it over a moment before answering seriously, "She definitely doesn't know her own charm."

Caesar coughed, signaling Gale not to get off track again. "Well, to wrap up, if you could see Katniss again, what advice would you give her?"

"Well, I'd tell her—,"

"Oh, sorry, could you look unto the camera and address the audience as though you were talking to her?" Caesar directed.

"Uh… okay," Gale muttered, shifting awkwardly in his seat to look directly into the camera lens. "Katniss, I know you can't actually hear me, but I'd like to say, remember to follow your instincts. They won't lead you wrong. You are a hunter, after all. And Katniss, do whatever it takes to make sure you come home alive."

The gaudy drawing room was deathly silent after he delivered to the camera his message for Katniss.

"Very nice words for our lovely District 12 tribute," Caesar praised, finally chiming in. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, next we will be interviewing the mother of District 12's male tribute, Mrs. Mellark."

Caesar paused and smiled charmingly until the camera man yelled, "And that's a wrap! Check the gate!"

Caesar sighed and slumped over in his chair, glaring out the corner of his eye at Gale. Cousin, indeed. That girl is going to be in a load of trouble if no one buys it. Hell, no one is going to buy it. Look at that kid! He'd give even Finnick Odair a run for his money with the ladies in the Capitol, he thought, as Gale Hawthorne quickly stood and left the room without even tossing a goodbye over his shoulder to Caesar and his film crew.

"We've got a lot of editing to do," Caesar sighed, letting his face fall into his dirty white, gloved hand.