Thank you for reading! Big thanks to all those who reviewed - LilaJune, your reviews are always so sweet - HungerGamesGirl12134, thank you so much! Day should be making a cameo! - Guest, I don't think Madge will fall in love with Daniel, but he will show up sometime :)

Happy Easter and Resurrection Sunday!

A.R. Darcangelo

Chapter 10:

I didn't mean to hit him so hard. Really, I didn't.

I was currently trying to determine the best way to drag Anden from where he was on the concrete floor to the small bit of light shining through the ceiling about twenty feet ahead. I wouldn't be able to pull him up the ladder, but at least he would be able to see when he woke up.

I set down the loose pipe I had grabbed a hold of when I had run out of Anden's reach. I put my palms under his arms and shuffled him around so he was facing the other direction. Just that small bit of movement winded me. I set him down as gently as I could while I took a break.

I huffed and puffed, trying to decide if it was worth it. He had done so much for me over the past few weeks, but really, what was he hoping to gain by keeping me holed up in an apartment with a soldier watching me seven days a week and twenty four hours a day?

My mind momentarily imagined that he didn't want to let me go because he had developed some of the same feelings that I had… But that couldn't be it.

Even when I had momentarily lost myself in my feelings and kissed him, he was only polite. But I could sense there was some hesitancy. After he told me about Agent Iparis, I knew why. He probably still loved her.

I mentally kicked myself for that. We had laughed it off, but still! The memory brought a warm blush to my cheeks.

I glanced down at Anden. Although the sleep he was in now was forced, he looked even younger than normal, with his face relaxed and his hair falling onto his forehead.

I took a deep breath and reached to pull him back again before my mind could get ahead of itself.

I yanked him back, a few inches at a time, until we were both covered in a pool of light. I could see the blue sky above us, calling my name. I placed one foot on the ladder bolted to the tunnel wall, and wiggled it with a free hand, testing its weight endurance.

When I determined it was safe to climb, I put the other foot on the first step and began scaling up the tunnel wall. When I reached the very top, I poked my head out, scanning the area.

We were in a field of grass – well, mostly yellow grass. The sun was warm, and there was minimal tree cover where we were, but up ahead I could see a thicket of trees, lined up in rows. They looked purposefully grown that way, one right after the other, perfectly spaced apart. The wind blew and the faint scent of oranges wafted across my face. Mmmm.

I almost stepped up the last few legs of the ladder, but I couldn't help looking down one more time. Anden was still out cold, one arm behind his head and the other splayed out to the side the way I'd left him.

I warred with myself. I couldn't just leave him like that.

But he would wake and find me gone, and maybe he would send out a search party for me. But I was fast – definitely something I had developed over the past seven years. I would reach District 13 before they could get a trail. That is, if I didn't get lost.

Anden knew exactly where District 13 was. If he came with me…

He wouldn't do that – no. He would drag me by my hair back to the Republic to "keep me safe."

As I stared down at his young face, pondering all the horrible things he had probably seen, my heart softened. I couldn't hold that against him. If he was a little overprotective, he had reason to be. But if I gave him the opportunity, perhaps he would be willing to see me off if he was the one to do it. It would need to be on my terms, and right now, I had the power to do that.

I sighed as I ducked my head back through the hole and slid down the rest of the ladder. I had dropped my cup of water back when I had grabbed hold of the loose pipe, but I had other ways of waking someone up other than throwing cold water in their face.

I pulled the cell phone out of Anden's pocket. I turned on the back light, but there was a lock with a required password. Drat. His ringtone probably would have woken him up, especially since he probably was expecting a call any time now from his security team to rescue us. Or him, more specifically.

I guess I would just have to try the old school way. I sat down next to his head, tucking my legs underneath me. I leaned down close to his ear. I screamed.

Anden's body jerked, his eyes not completely opening, but I had done my job. Blinking furiously, he sat up, whipping his torso back and forth, looking for the source of the scream. His eyes met mine, his expression bewildered.

I almost laughed, but he quickly put his hand to his head, covering the tender spot where I had hit him. He laid back down, vertigo taking over.

"Anden?" I leaned over him, worried. "Anden, are you okay?"

He shook his head, his eyes squeezed shut. "Water?" he mumbled through cracked lips.

"I dropped my water, and so did you," I said guiltily. We did have food though. I gingerly pulled the backpack he was carrying off his back and pulled out a can of pears. I opened it and held it to his lips so he could drink the juice.

He slurped it down thirstily, not pausing to breathe. He let his eyes squint open. "What did I hit?" he asked after he was finished, clearly in pain.

"Er…" I stalled. I set down the can of pears and looked carefully at his face. His eyes were watching me, unsuspecting. "I hit you. With a pipe. I didn't mean to hit you so hard, I just wanted to slow you down."

His eyebrows drew together. He clearly didn't get it. Or he didn't want to. "You didn't hit me," he said in disbelief.

"Yes, I did," I said, enunciating each word.

He just stared at me, his expression turning from a true disbelief to an angry unbelief. "Why would you do that? You could have seriously injured me. Honestly, it feels like you did."

"I'm sorry!" I said earnestly. "I really didn't mean to. And I stayed, didn't I?"

He frowned. The pain was probably bearable if he could make faces at me. He was probably going to have a lump on his forehead and he might be dizzy for a day or two, but he would be fine. One day a couple years ago, my father and I had run into some bandits by the train tracks, and when they had tried to jack our stuff, my father and I had run for the woods. I had hit my head on a low tree branch probably as hard as I had hit Anden, and when I had woken up, my stuff was gone and I had a lump on my head for a week. I'd survived though, so I knew Anden would, too. If I hadn't had that experience, I wouldn't have hit him in the first place. Head injuries were tricky.

To otherwise involve his attention for a moment, I pushed the can of pears in front of him. He took it and chewed on a few of them before looking at me.

"So, I guess this means goodbye?" he said, his expression hurt.

"Did I say that yet?" I replied innocently.

"No. You don't have to. You were obviously trying to get away from me. In my condition, I can't follow you. I would be too slow with my head pounding the way it is." He looked very upset. But his voice remained the same calm it always was.

I sighed. "No, I am giving you a choice. It doesn't have to be goodbye today."

He stared at me questioningly. I continued without waiting for an answer.

"We'll travel to District 13 together. You will personally take me there, to see that I will be safe. And then we can say goodbye. If not, I am leaving now. You will be too slow to follow me… without my help. The bump on your head will go away. I can help you with that because I've had an injury like that before. You'll be fine either way. But the only way I am taking you with me is if I have your word." I kept my face and tone serious.

He considered me for a minute before answering. "My word? That's it?"

"No," I said with a smile. "You have to leave your cell phone behind, too. I don't want anyone to be able to track us."

"What? You're crazy. What if we get attacked by criminals? Or if one of us gets hurt and needs immediate medical attention?"

"I was out here for seven years, Anden. If we hop a few trains, which my father and I did all the time, we might be there within a week. I don't know the geography that well, but I know how to live out here."

I thought I had built a pretty good case. But Anden's face lit up as he realized something: I needed him.

He sat up slowly, testing his ability to sit up on his own. "You don't know the geography…" he repeated. His eyes met mine, a smile in them. He mouth remained in a thin line. "I do know the geography. I daresay that if I sent out a search party for you, you would be caught within a day. And we can go back to Denver or Los Angeles, and do things the way we were."

Heat rose to my face. "No, Anden. I won't be held against my will. You said yourself that you have found nothing amiss in District 13. Take me home." My voice cracked on the last word. His face revealed his shock at my intensity.

He sighed, laying his hand on mine. I remembered when he did that in my "cell" – it was the day he had brought me a calzone. I didn't think it was possible, but the electricity flowing between us was even stronger than it had been that day.

"Madge," he began, his voice soft. "I promise I will take you home. If you have to do it this way, I will come with you, but I don't think it's the best way. If you could just wait a little longer – "

"No," I interrupted, my voice thick.

He nodded, his hand still resting on top of mine. "Very well. But on one condition. I keep the phone."

I shook my head. "No phone. We can be tracked."

"But what if you get hurt, Madge?" he said anxiously.

"I won't. And if I do, I know how to take care of it. I know how to do this." My hand had balled into a fist beneath his palm. He looked down at our hands and carefully unfolded my fist, holding my hand in his now.

He glanced back up at me, worry creasing his brow. His forehead was forming a little red bump, but it was hardly visible underneath his hair. He sighed before taking out his phone.

I had the urge to grab it from him and throw it down the tunnel, but I could tell by the look on his face I was so close to winning already.

After a minute, he set down the phone on the cold concrete and slid it away from us, and it disappeared from the small pool of light.

His eyes bore into mine. "Madge, if anything… if anyone hurts you, I swear – "

"Nothing can hurt me, Anden," I promised. I took my hand from his and put my arms around his neck drawing him close. My face rested in space between his neck and shoulder.

He didn't respond immediately, that hesitancy still there, but his arms finally embraced me, his head resting against mine.

I was finally going home.