GABRIEL HART
DISTRICT ONE , 26 , MENTOR , DARREN CRISS , JENNIFER

Gabriel James Hart was born the oldest child to a diamond miner and a jewelry crafter. His sister Renee was born two years later, though it was a hard birth for his mother as Renee was premature, so they were unable to have more children, since just having Renee almost killed the both of them. Gabriel was protective of his sister since she was pretty sick as a child, so he helped his mother care for her. His family was always really close-knit.

Gabriel met a boy named Tyler in school, and the two hit it off pretty quickly. Gabe learned quickly though that Ty's home life wasn't all that stable. In fact, he was neglected quite a bit by his parents. Gabriel actually gave Tyler a few of his clothes since the boy's own were falling apart. It had turned out that Tyler's father was a drunk and since his mother died, he'd been neglecting his family. Gabriel, not wanting to see his best friend end up in District custody, begged his own parents to take Tyler in. He'd seen what the orphanage home did to the children it cared for. It meant an extra mouth to feed, but the Harts took Tyler in anyway. With the money they made, they could afford it.

Gabe had always figured that he didn't like girls as much as most boys his age did, but from a young age he found himself getting attracted to boys, but was nervous to tell his parents or sister. For a long time he'd actually found himself getting attracted to Tyler, who after he filled out more, became quite an attractive young man himself. Gabriel was 18 when he told Tyler how he felt, though it felt a bit too late when the 17th Reaping rolled around.

Gabriel was 18 when he volunteered in Tyler's place as District 1's male tribute, and it was nearly unheard of for a non-career to volunteer, though it did happen once in a while. Gabriel didn't even think when he pushed Tyler aside and called out 'I volunteer!' It was a split second decision, and once he was brought up to meet his escort and district partner, he realized what he'd done.

Gabriel was quiet during the trip to the Capitol, not even talking to Farrah, his district partner. The only person he talked to was their mentors, and even then only to talk strategy. He planned from the beginning to work alone, not wanting any connections with the other career tributes. He wasn't there to make friends, he was there to survive and hopefully get himself home. Farrah, on the other hand, seemed to be acting as if she'd already died, and Gabriel wasn't putting up with that. If he allowed her to bring him down he'd be too scared to do what he needed to do.

Gabriel trained alone with his mentor and found that he was pretty good with blunt weapons. He avoided getting on anyone's bad side, and though he was helpful to other tributes if he needed to be, he didn't get too close to them. He aced his personal training sessions, and the gamemakers gave him a pretty respectable 8 for his score. He had demonstrated throwing spears, and actually seemed to get their attention when one of the spears landed in a dummy's groin area. He smiled when he heard the groans coming from the gamemaker's box.

The day the Games started was when Gabriel got nervous. He hoped he wouldn't be stuck in an arena he was unfamiliar with. As he was sent up he noticed that he was in a flat area covered in lines. It was a parking lot, and the cornucopia was smackdab in the middle of the circle of tributes. The sun was bright, and Gabriel could see the light shimmering off of the asphalt. He watched for the countdown to end, getting into a running position. His district partner was on the other side, looking unsure of what to do. 3. 2. 1. As the gong went off, Gabriel immediately ran off of his pedestal and grabbed a backpack, which had a hunting knife, coil of rope, matches, dried fruit, beef jerky and a two quart bottle for water. As he went in to look for a weapon, he nearly got skewered by the male from Five, but ducked in time and ran the other way. Picking up a mace, he immediately swung it at someone who had come up from behind, pulling the bloody weapon back. He'd killed the boy from Nine. Not waiting for anyone, he was able to run out of the bloodbath.

By the time the bloodbath was over, seven people had died:

Both tributes from Three.
The girl from Six.
The girl from Seven.
The boy from Eight.
His own kill from Nine.
The boy from Eleven.

That left seventeen people left, minus three deaths in the parking lot the next day. Gabriel hid out in an abandoned apartment building, but his own partner and the other careers had also found a temporary home there as well, so he didn't stay longer than a day to recuperate before he left. He managed to get water out of the old sink in the kitchen of the room he was in, and though it was rusty it was good if he boiled it. He had an ancient stove handy so he was able to do this easily without needing to set a fire. He searched around but didn't find much useful in the apartment aside from the stove and sink, so he moved on. He was able to get out before the careers became active and didn't get stuck in the fights. In two days, almost ten people were eliminated from the arena.

Day three for Gabriel was spent in the park, but it had to have been a slow day because there was a string of mutt attacks through out the arena. Gabriel himself was attacked by pigeon mutts with poisoned beaks that went after his throat. He was weakened significantly, and without a sponsor donation of an antidote to the poison and a few rolls of bread he would have died then and there, or been unable to fight off the other tributes. There were five deaths on day three, leaving the count down to four people in the arena left. Gabriel knew if he wasn't careful he'd be one of them. So far he knew the girls from Eleven and Twelve were somehow alive, as well as the male from Two. It had so far been the fastest games Gabriel had seen, since they usually dragged out to a little under a week.

On day Four, there was a feast to drag the last four tributes into the open. The game makers had poisoned the water supply, so the only drinkable water left was located at the top of the large skyscraper-type building near the cornucopia. As Gabriel made his way up to the top floor he heard two cannons. He wasn't sure who would be left, but as he stepped out of the elevator he was attacked by the male from Two and stabbed and slashed at with his sword. Managing to grab his knife from his jacket Gabe fought back, and they ended up on the ledge of the building. Gabriel was weakened but managed one lucky blow to the other tribute's head with his mace, collapsing his skull. As he went to push Two over, he felt him grab his arm and nearly toppled over. With a last kick he got Two off of him and collapsed on the ledge. Gabriel Hart was nearly dead, but he'd won the 17th Hunger Games.

AFTER THE GAMES:

The 17th Hunger Games nearly concluded without a victor.

He had been attacked by the District Two male during the finale, and only managed to survive with a lucky blow to the other male's head with his mace. They were in an abandoned building in the arena, on the edge of the top floor, and Gabriel managed to kill him and push him over the ledge. But he had already sustained some deep stab wounds and lost a chunk of skin from his shoulder, not to mention some nasty infections inflicted by the pigeon mutts that had attacked him. But when they lifted Gabriel out of the arena, his heart stopped from the massive blood loss and had to be revived. One of the capitol doctors told him his heartbeat actually flat-lined at one point. Luckily the Capitol was able to keep Gabriel alive, though it was a close call.

Gabriel just about fell into Tyler and Renee's arms when he returned to District One, practically sobbing into his boyfriend's shoulder. He was quiet when he returned, plagued by nightmares and ending up having to sleep with a knife in his hand the first couple of months. He lives with Tyler, who is now his lover, and his sister Renee, as well as her 4 year old daughter Alyssa. Though he hates the games, he puts everything he has into helping his tributes, and works his hardest to see that they make it out alive.

Welcome, welcome! (Effie Voice). Anyways, remember that homosexuality is against the law in Panem, and so they'd have to hide their relationship or face consequences!

Thanks,

Tony