Safe And Sound
Dislcaimer: I own nothing. It belongs to Suzanne Collins.
AN: I have really gotten a strange urge to write Cato fanfics, but I haven't had any ideas. So please tell me what you think about this story and if you have any ideas for other stories please!
I watch him sleep, so innocent and vulnerable. How very not true. Cato is a vicious, deadly killer. That is as it should be, because I don't want a weak district partner. But that scares me. My knives can kill anyone with accuracy, but if they're taken away I don't know what I will do. Cato could easily overpower me. I may not win the 74th Hunger Games.
The fire crackles, jolting me back to the present. I need to stay alert on watch. Nobody other than Thresh is a concern, but I've seen what the Gamemakers can unleash. The career pack won't get killed on my watch. Glimmer seems incompetent, and I don't trust Marvel. I hate being allied with them. But I have to, because failure isn't an option for Clove Aspice.
Cato stirs in his sleep; uttering a low moan. I walk over a shake him and shake him awake. "Cato!" I hiss softly, "Wake up!"
He looks at me, eyes still groggy with sleep. Hair sticks up wildly with spikes that look like bamboo in every direction. "Clove, what's going on?" he slurs.
I suppress an urge to fix his hair. That would not go over well. I say nonchalantly, "Nothing. You were just having a bad dream."
An owl—or God knows what—eerily cries out in the distance. "I'm not surprised. It's hard not to in a place like this. I do enjoy this, but I'm a bit uneasy. We're both equally deadly and only one of us will make it out. And somehow I feel that even if I win, I'd still lose in the end," he confesses.
Cato's feelings surprise me. I always thought that fighting and winning took precedence over fear for him. "I'm not always as cocky and sadistic as I act. There's a need to put on a show. I don't want them knowing the real me. They never told us that in training," I state, "I'm scared."
Cato sits up and pulls me into a tight hug. "We'll be ok. I promise we'll be safe and sound. Trust me."
"I do. After all, I haven't put up with you for all of these years for nothing. But can we kill Marvel and Glimmer and just run away?"
"Clove, I am a gentleman!" he says with mock offense.
I roll my eyes. Sometimes when we're alone, he has this sweet, quirky side. I love it. My thoughts are interrupted by a yawn. "Go to sleep. You're tired; I can keep watch," Cato protectively whispers.
He kisses my forehead. I drift off with a warm feeling of safety and contentment.