Run To You

by titaniasfics

Ex Secret Service agent Peeta Mellark is hired to protect Katniss Everdeen, the most famous musician of the last decade, from an unhinged stalker. His objective is to keep her safe at all costs. But who is going to protect him from losing his heart to her? Based on the movie, The Bodyguard, with Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston. Written for Movies in the Month of May.

13. Part 12

Part 12

(Author's Note After Epilogue)

I know that when you look at me

There's so much that you just don't see

But if you would only take the time

I know in my heart you'd find

A girl who's scared sometimes

Who isn't always strong

Can't you see the hurt in me?

I feel so all alone

I wanna run to you (oooh)

I wanna run to you (oooh)

Won't you hold me in your arms

And keep me safe from harm

I wanna run to you (oooh)

But if I come to you (oooh)

Tell me, will you stay or will you run away

-from Run to You by Whitney Houston

Katniss

His eyes closed despite Katniss willing them to do otherwise.

Everything afterwards was a blur - the mayhem of people as they gawked at Peeta, Haymitch tugging at her arm so that she'd give the paramedics room to work. Peeta's face, so pale, he already looked like a ghost. And the blood. Everywhere blood…Peeta's blood...pooling on the shiny stage, splotching Cinna's beautiful dress, on her hands...Peeta's blood on her hands...

Gale had pinned down the shooter, Marvel Wilson, who would have slipped out after his deed as quietly as a snake were it not for the fact that he had been carrying a large roll of table napkins, something the other waiters did not have. Gale later said it was as if the man had buried his arm in a cast made of linen, so when he raised the wad, Gale had had only his instincts to go on. Shoving the table aside had been just the thing that startled Marvel before he fired off the round and made a break for it, perhaps hoping to profit from the chaos. But Gale, large as he was, was also unnervingly fast and had reached the man just as Peeta lay across Katniss's lap. Those few moments of distraction had been enough to allow Peeta to get into place and spare Katniss the bullet.

Peeta still wore a shadow of a smile on his face. He'd finally relented and given in to her, to himself. And then this happened. She would never understand how that was fair but Katniss was familiar with the way life gave just enough to keep a person hopeful before yanking it all away again. She'd taken a risk. She let him in and allowed herself to love him, just in time to mourn him.

Katniss would have collapsed if Prim had not been propping her up. She tried to recover her composure, watching the flurry of the buzzing paparazzi held at bay by the police tape like a swarm of wasps, waiting to overwhelm her with their venom. Leaning her head onto Prim's shoulder, tremors finally overtook her.

"I have to get out of here. I have to get to him," she said, her teeth chattering.

"You're shaking!" Prim said in a panic, squeezing her sister close to her.

"Katniss, dear, you must come home and change. You're going into shock and you're covered...in...Peeta's blood…" Effie could barely compete the sentence before turning her face away, a hiccuping complaint rising up in her chest. Katniss shook her head against her sister's shoulder, clinging harder to Prim.

"She needs to get out of here," Haymitch groused, dialing Thresh on his cell phone and arranging to have the car brought around. "The police know where to find us."

Gale, who had only just returned from giving his statement, took both Prim and Katniss by the elbow and lead them away from the press, Effie and Haymitch following close behind. Mr. Heavensbee intercepted them as they neared a side exit reserved for patrons, his face pale and stricken.

"Ms. Everdeen. I wanted to extend my condolences…"

"No!" Gale snapped, handing Katniss over to Haymitch, turning to tower over the insipid manager of the museum, "You don't get to give condolences. You don't get to be sorry," Gale closed the space between him and Heavensbee. "You might have been a little more cooperative when Mr. Mellark asked permission for a police presence within the dining hall."

"I was very cooperative. I simply felt the dining hall was already secure…" Heavensbee babbled, his loose jowls shaking with each word he uttered.

"Well, it'll be interesting to see what Ms. Everdeen's lawyers have to say about it." he said, getting within an inch of the the older man's face, a look of satisfaction spreading over his features as Mr. Heavensbee visibly paled and shrank before him. "So, with all due respect, sir, you can take your condolences and go fuck yourself," Gale hissed, sending the pasty man back several paces in fear. Katniss's head shot up at the expletive but Gale only scowled and shook his head at her as they left Mr. Heavensbee looking as if he'd been told he should go swim with hungry sharks.

"What was that all about?" Katniss asked as they were seated in the limousine.

"Karma," Gale muttered in reply as the car pulled away.

XXXXX

Katniss remembered nothing about the ride home, getting changed, being fussed over by Effie, Johanna, Madge, Prim, her mother...she only had one thing fixed in her mind.

I have to get to him.

They tried to talk her into eating or resting but she couldn't do it. She couldn't concentrate on anything - didn't care about her appearance, the swarm of journalists that were flooding the gate of her home, maybe even hanging from the trees of the compound like savage monkeys. She'd let Haymitch and Effie take care of it all because she only had one objective. She had to go to him. So when she stood on the steps of her own house, like an urchin, still shivering and waiting for Thresh to bring the car, no one dared to stop her. She wasn't alone either - Prim's arm was linked through hers, and Katniss marveled at the turn in roles. She had spent her life caring for the girl and now it was she who was in desperate need of being cared for.

As Thresh pulled up, Gale burst through the front door. "Hey, you're not leaving without me!" he said as he bound down the stairs to open the car door for them. "Peeta's in surgery so we're going to have to wait anyway." Katniss threw her arms around his midsection, hugging him tightly to her.

"Thank you!" she whispered into his rock-hard chest.

"Come on, Catnip," he said, his voice thick with feeling. "He saved your life. I'm gonna be owing him for that shit for the rest of my life."

"You did your part, too," she said as she pulled back, craning her neck to really look at him. "You distracted that bastard long enough so that Peeta could get to me. And I'm so grateful to you."

Gale shrugged. "Yeah, well you should be. I don't know how you'd get along without me," he gave her a wry smile but his eyes spoke of a special kind of fear, one she knew only too well, one reserved now for Peeta. "You should be there when he wakes up."

Katniss nodded, releasing him to take to the interior of the limousine with Prim while Gale sat with Thresh. As they pulled out, Katniss stared down the paps outside her gates, as if daring them to trifle with her. They followed her, pulling alongside her darkened limousine, attempting to take that photograph that would land them millions. She could see the headlines - Katniss Everdeen races to be with wounded bodyguard and love interest, Peeta Mellark. And she, who was averse to putting her personal life at the hands of the press under any circumstances, could care less. Let them swarm down on her and try to touch her, talk to her. Let them try to get a rise out of her. Her rage was such that she felt she could take on an entire army.

Hurtling through the city, Katniss rested her forehead against the window, biting her nails down to the nailbed. The silence in the limousine bristled with anger and anxiety and, after a brief time, Prim spoke.

"You love him, don't you?" she said, taking her sister's hand and smoothing down the angry red nubs that had become her fingers.

Katniss opened her mouth to speak but her only response was smothered in a sob. Instead, she nodded her head, her face faltering like so much sandstone under the weight of her worry. Prim pulled her in and held her as Katniss finally relented, her anger giving way to terror for Peeta's well-being from the moment she saw him race towards her across the stage.

"I happen to know from experience that being loved by you is the best thing that can happen to a person," Prim said quietly as sobs rocked Katniss' body. "Shhh, he'll be okay, I know he will."

"He...better...be," Katniss gasped between those hiccuping sobs she hated so much, "Or...else...I...so help me, Prim..."

"What are you going to do? Beat him?" Katniss heard her sister laugh and could not help the chuckle that escaped her also. "Geeze, K, he's already been shot!"

Katniss let the humor move through her before it gave way to the fear that bit down all the way to her bones, the fear that the surgery wouldn't be enough, that she'd have to contend with more than just worry. She shivered and raised her eyes to her sister, all her defenses falling away.

"I need him, Prim. I..he can't…he just can't..."

"He won't, Katniss. He's a survivor, just like you. When he comes out of it, you can tell him that you love him yourself. Because I know that idiot loves you."

Katniss nodded, accepting this because she was also convinced that Peeta loved her too.

XXXXX

When they arrived at the hospital, there was no fuss from the hospital personnel. Friends and family could wait patiently in the softly lit room of pastel-cushioned chairs near the most modern surgical unit in all of Panem. It was pure luck that the ambulance had brought Peeta here but if not, Katniss would have bribed the president of the hospital board himself to get him here.

Gale scoped out the entrances and rooms around the waiting area as Katniss took in the handful of occupants speaking in hushed voices in the corner. Katniss did not focus on them until a glance made her heart feel as if it would explode with relief. Annie rose, red-eyed and shaking from amidst of the group at the sight of Katniss.

"Katniss!" she said, greeting her with a hug and clinging to her. It seemed momentarily strange to Katniss, as if Peeta should have only had her to care and worry about him. Of course Annie would come. She was one of the most important people in his life.

"I'm so sorry!" Katniss blurted out. "He's here because he saved me!" she said, trying not to sob again as the guilt weighed down even more heavily upon her.

"That's his job, silly!" Annie said breathlessly, tugging Katniss back to her and clinging tightly again. "I'm sure when he realizes you're safe, it will be the most proud moment of his life," Annie pulled back again, capturing Katniss' face in her hands. "I promise you!"

Katniss gave her a watery smile, wiping her nose unceremoniously on the back of her sleeve. "Tristan?"

Annie shook her head. "He doesn't know. He's with Finnick's mother and they aren't playing the news for him, because it's all anyone is talking about. It...it would be too much for a little boy." Annie sniffled, finally noticing Prim at her side. "Is this your sister?" she asked.

Katniss nodded, stepping aside to introduce Prim. "This is Peeta's best friend's wife, Annie."

Annie hugged her as if she'd known her for a hundred years. "So nice to meet you! You are just the prettiest flower!" she exclaimed with subdued, but sincere happiness.

Prim blushed at her words, only momentarily taken by surprise by Annie's effusiveness, but a dry voice from behind Annie interrupted them.

"Annie, please introduce us." Katniss turned to see a tall woman of about sixty approach them. She recognized the woman, trying to place her when she realized with a shock that she was face to face with Peeta's mother.

"K-Katniss," said Annie tremulously. "This is Mrs. Mellark, Peeta's mother." Katniss understood Annie's nervousness. The woman was thin and imposing, with a regal-like bearing. Katniss had not forgotten Peeta or Annie's description of his mother. She had not forgotten the impression that an oppressive mother had made on her. Mrs. Mellark appeared to possess a will of iron and expected the world to bend to it, including Katniss. But Katniss could only smile internally, because if Mrs. Mellark was iron, she was forged from steel.

"Katniss Everdeen," she raised her hand in introduction, shaking the woman's firmly. Mrs. Mellark stared down at her, a full head taller and it was clear to Katniss that Peeta's mother was accustomed to using her cold, blue eyes and intimidating height on most people to get her way. But Katniss was not most people. She felt Annie shrink back to speak with Prim as Katniss held her ground before the older woman.

"So, he was in your employ?" Mrs. Mellark asked.

"He still is, if that's what he wants," Katniss responded, equally cool. "I will forever be in his debt for what he's done for me. I'm only sorry to be responsible for you and your family's suffering."

"Indeed," she said. "To lose his life for a pop princess. It is really quite the irony." Mrs. Mellark's face became pinched, as if the room had suddenly become rank with sewage. She appeared to be preparing quite the scathing put down when a large man stepped forward, in appearance so much like Peeta, Katniss felt his absence like a blow to her chest.

"Sybil, Philip wants to know where the cafeteria is. I was wondering if you could show him the way?"

Mrs. Mellark's snorted, the nostrils of her thin nose flaring like those of a thoroughbred. Without a word, she rounded on two young men standing behind her, and, without a word, lead them like vassals down the hospital hallway.

"You have to excuse my wife. Her response to almost every tragedy is to become angry. She is extremely worried about Peeta, as am I. I'm Dale, Peeta's father. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Katniss nodded, taking the larger man's hand, unable to tear her eyes away from a face that looked like an older version of Peeta's. It hurt her heart, and she had to chew on the inside of her cheek to keep from bursting into tears. Maybe it was the resemblance or maybe her instinct responded to the man's kindness - for Katniss had a terminal weakness for kind people - but she felt she could trust this man and bring him into her confidence. "How is Peeta?"

He shook his head, his kind face creased with worry lines. "It's hard to tell. When he was admitted, his surgeon informed us he would need emergency surgery," he gave Katniss a sheepish look. "I guess you know that already."

"It's fine," she said, urging him gently on.

"Well, the bullet, according to x-rays, shattered his scapula or shoulder blade. It just barely missed his heart by an inch and a half. Miraculously, outside of the bone fragments that they'll have to try to piece together, there was no damage to the axillary artery…"

"But there was so much blood!" Katniss burst out, then covered her mouth when she saw the look of pain cross his father's features. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. I...I...forget you were there," Mr. Mellark swallowed hard. "He was unconscious when they brought him in."

Katniss nodded, unable to stem a few rogue tears that now rolled down her face. She swiped them angrily away. "He was so brave. You'd have been so proud of him. I know...I know I'm not worth much…" she choked out, biting her cheek again until she tasted the thick metallic flavor of blood.

"Don't say that," he said, putting a large hand on her shoulder. Even his hand had the same dusting of gold-colored hair as his son's. "I've seen the newscasts. Are you two a couple…?"

Katniss blushed furiously, finding it difficult to hold his gaze. "Mr. Mellark...I...care...very much...for P-Peeta." Her hands began to shake, and she felt his hands grasp and cover hers. "If...something happens to him…" she whispered, the tears flowing freely over her cheeks, "I'll never leave that stage. I'll never stop trying to think of how things could have gone differently, if I had only been paying attention…" She shook her head to clear her mind of the heaviness of her crying but she felt his arms go around her, holding her against his broad chest, so wide and safe like Peeta's. But not Peeta. No one would ever make her feel like Peeta did and this realization gutted her from the inside. "I'm so sorry."

"Shhh...It's not your fault. We all know that." He pulled back, his own eyes wet with tears that he was fighting hard to keep from falling. "He knew what he was getting into when he took up this line of work. I'm sure, if he knows that you're safe, it will be the most important thing in the world. Any other outcome would be intolerable for him."

Katniss thought of the night Prim was hurt, how harried and upset Peeta had become. She remembered how angry she'd been with him but she'd been blind to his guilt and horror. She knew his father was right. She was ready to break into a million pieces but she had not been responsible for him as he'd been for her. If it were her in that hospital bed, or worse…

"Thank you," she said, wiping her cheeks with finality, straightening with newfound strength. "You're right. He is courageous but he's also stubborn and hard-headed, and he probably won't ever let me live this down," she smiled, finding an answering one on his lips. "Dale, if you don't mind, I'd like to introduce you to some of my people…"

XXXXX

Peeta was moved to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit after two hours in surgery. His surgeon came to speak to the family and Katniss made sure to listen to every word he said. Peeta would need more surgery, as well as physical therapy to restore the use of his left arm but he was out of danger, which caused the small group of people to cheer happily. Katniss grasped her sister, hugging her tightly. They'd be able to see him but he would be unconscious for a while longer.

It was agreed that his immediate family should see him first, followed by Annie and finally, Katniss. Prim drooped her head against her shoulder as the allotted five minutes for each pair of visitors passed.

"Gale, why don't you take Prim home. I'll be fine here," she said, watching her sister's eyes flutter shut.

"I don't know, Catnip…" he said warily.

"Oh, no one's trying to take me out anymore," Katniss said with gallows humor. "Plus, I'd kill for a philly steak sub with extra onions from that one deli. I'll call ahead - I think I'm gonna be here for a while. Maybe some comfortable clothes?"

"You're not going to sleep here, Katniss!" Gale groused.

"I'm a celebrity, Gale," she smiled wearily. "I should be able to rustle up a gurney or something. But Prim doesn't need to be here suffering with me." Katniss crossed her arms, speaking in a hushed voice so as not to disturb the handful of people dozing in the chairs. "Once you bring me some clothes, you and Thresh can go home. I'll call you to pick me up in the morning."

"Catnip…" Gale said ominously.

"You're not changing my mind. Now please, take Prim home."

With a weary sigh, Gale lead a half-sleeping Prim out of the waiting room, which was a relief for Katniss because she was looking forward to a moment of peace as the group of people dwindled. Once Mr. and Mrs. Mellark and Peeta's brothers had gone in to see him, they went home, followed by Annie and her relatives, with promises to return in the morning. Katniss wished them all good night, including Peeta's taciturn mother and various cousins of Annie's that, with the exhaustion of the day, Katniss could not, for the life of her, keep straight.

Finally, the nurse came for Katniss, who was led down to the PACU. A Quiet sign on the sliding doors disappeared every time they opened. The eery sounds of beeps and pumps filled the air as Katniss scanned the empty beds, her eyes finally settling on him. Still pale, she could see the weakness of the surgery and anesthesia etched onto his face. He slept but it was unnatural. The one time she'd slept beside him, his slumber had been more animated, more dynamic than the figure she now contemplated.

And yet, her relief at his survival, that the bullet had not passed an inch and a half lower, made him the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. She perched on a stool, drifting slowly side to side on the rotating seat as she took in the tubes, the IV, the silent, puff of the machine sending fluids into his body. She touched his hand, which was cold and unmoving and held on, suddenly impatient for him to wake up.

"I'm here, Peeta," she whispered, brushing a lock of hair out of the way. "You saved me. Did you know that? I know that matters to you." she paused, running her fingers over the face she'd longed so much to touch. "When you wake up, I want my face to be the first face you see. In fact, I always want to be the first face you see every morning and the last one you see each night. You think we can make that happen?"

He remained inert, the machines keeping them company and she hated the sounds that surrounded him - the dead, clinical silence that answered her; the methodical tapping and beeping of metal against metal. So she began to hum, first low in her throat, then a little louder. She sang, to bring something human into the air and because, as she'd once told him, singing was her comfort and she needed it at that moment.

Deep in the meadow, under the willow

A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when you awake, the sun will rise.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Katniss continued to sing softly, a sense of drowsiness overcoming her as the words her father taught her when she was young spilled out of her. She was just like him - he had not been particularly talkative but when he sang, he said everything he needed to say. For a period, she'd stopped singing after he died but it didn't last long. She needed the outlet, the company of her father, often throughout her life and this was the only way she knew of getting as close as she could to him.

And so, in the middle of the sterility, there was Peeta, now as much a part of her as the song she sang. Katniss closed her eyes and let her soft voice rise in the empty room, filling every corner of the lifeless space with her gentle melody. When the nurse came to tell her that her time was up, she paused at the sliding doors, joined by others who did not dare to interrupt as Katniss' voice rang like a bell in a lonely church, full of longing and an invitation for her love to follow out of the depths of the dark world and back to her again.

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away

A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray,

Forget your woes and let your troubles lay

And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.

Here it's safe, here it's warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

"Katniss?" came a whispery sound, so low, she almost thought she'd dreamed it. When she opened her eyes, she found Peeta looking drowsily up at her.

"Peeta!" she gasped, dashing to take up his hand.

"Are you real?" he rasped, his voice barely the fluttering of dragonfly wings.

"Yes, I'm real," she answered, trying to bite back her tears of happiness, unwilling to let him see her mourning him. He was awake, and that was the most wonderful thing in the world to her right now. "I'm real and so are you."

He gave a small smile as the nurse arrived, speaking low so as not to startle them.

"He's awake?" the older woman said, checking his vitals.

"Yes!" Katniss said as she held his hand, hungrily taking in his face as his eyes closed again.

The nurse, with a nametag that read Bonnie, gave Katniss a sweet smile as she wrote notes on her chart. "We're going to move him into his own room so he can rest. That's what needs right now."

"Can I...Can I stay with him?" Katniss asked.

Bonnie, who was tall and thin, about thirty and a thorough-looking sort of woman who appeared to have the routines of her profession down to a science, considered Katniss for a moment before she spoke again. "There is a small sofa in his room - you're the right size for it. You can sleep there but only if you let him rest!" she glanced at Peeta, who's eyes had opened and fluttered closed again. "Though I think there's not much of a chance you're going to get anything out of him tonight."

Katniss stood, her hands shaking with excitement. "Thank you! I promise I'll let him sleep."

The nurse glanced between Peeta's now sleeping face and Katniss', shaking her head at them both. "I think you won't have much say on the matter," she indicated towards his close eyes and the even rising and falling of his chest. "He's decided that for everyone."

XXXXX

Katniss didn't remember when she'd fallen asleep. One moment, she was under the hospital-issued blanket, staring at his resting profile, the next moment, sunlight peeked through the thick curtains of the hospital room, the swishing of a nurse checking Peeta for the upteeth time rousing her from her rest. She washed up and hunted for coffee before curling into a chair at his bedside to keep her vigil. It amazed her, the number of times he'd been checked and fussed over, and yet he slept through it all.

Even with the coffee, though, she dozed off again, waking up compulsively to check on him. Straightening in her chair, she realized his eyes were open and drowsily taking in the room.

"Peeta?" Katniss asked.

He turned his head slowly towards her and smiled weakly. "Katniss. You're here."

Katniss nodded, trying very hard not to burst into slobbering, dramatic tears. "So are you."

"Yeah, well, barely," he said before swallowing awkwardly. She noticed a cup with ice chips sitting on the tray next to him.

"Are you thirsty?"

"Yeah," he croaked.

Katniss fed him a small chip, wiping the drops off his chin. His lips were dry, almost brittle but after several passes from the ice, they regained some of their plumpness. "Better?"

"Thank you," he nodded weakly, looking longingly at the cup again as she continued to feed him until he shook his head. "I thought...I dreamed you."

"No, no dream. Just me in all my grumpy glory," she joked, taking his hand, which was a bit warmer and rubbing it.

"No...not grumpy…" he said placidly, his blue eyes following her. Even in his weakened condition, she could see his hunger for her, and it thrilled her beyond everything. "So...beautiful."

"Peeta…" Katniss began, brushing his hair back.

"I'm sorry…" Peeta rasped, "I wasted time...I just thought you'd be safer if I…"

Katniss shook her head, trying to silence him. "Don't wear yourself out...please."

"You sang to me...didn't you?" he said suddenly, squeezing her hand with more strength than she thought he had.

"You remember that?" she asked, sure that the receding fog of anesthesia would have clouded that memory from him.

"I told you…" he said with a small chuckle, "I remember everything."

Katniss thought of her father's song and it did not pain her in the least that Peeta should have the memory of that song also. "It's my father's. He used to sing it to me when I had nightmares. To get me to fall back to sleep again."

Peeta smiled weakly again. "You told...you said...you loved me. Real or not real?"

Katniss voice caught in her throat, a fear as old as she was pounding through her veins, as old as her father's death and her mother's depression. To love, to want and potentially, to lose, as she'd almost lost Peeta. But what choice did she have? She could no longer turn aside her love than she could turn aside the rising tide.

"Real," she whispered.

Peeta's face took on a look of utter elation, all the tension disappearing. She thought he might have fallen asleep but he finally spoke again. "And...I love you...I want your face to be the first...and last one...I see each day..."

Katniss was in tears now, laughing at herself and him and at the way life had of taking them down some twisted paths until they could barely see ahead to what was in front of them. At each bend, there had been danger and violence but also love and hope. And the reward for enduring so much was there for the taking, if they were willing to take the chance.

"It's settled. I'm going to keep you somewhere safe, where no one will ever hurt you again,' she said as she placed a kiss on his dry and tired lips.

"So, I still have...a job?" he asked, eliciting a gasp, then a chuckle from her.

"You have more than a job, if that's what you want. But you might have to see about that shoulder first."

He smiled and it was clear to her that he was dozing off again. She held his hand for a good while as she watched him, the only movement the slow rising and falling of his chest. When she thought he was asleep, she made to return to the sofa but his hand, so strong, it was as if it belonged to someone else entirely, gripped hers.

"Don't...leave. Stay...with me…"

Katniss smiled, and from the most sincere place in her heart, she told him, "Always."