'Mountains are not fair or unfair. They're just dangerous.'

-Anonymous

Fair Warning: There's a limited sex scene in the beginning of this story, and a longer extended one towards the end. You've been notified.

Katniss

I wake up refreshed and energetic. I'm really looking forward to the climb today, for a few reasons. First, after the whirlwind of our wedding, it'll be nice to get back on the mountain. Second, it's going to be the first climb for us as husband and wife. Considering we both love climbing almost as much as we love each other, it's kind of a big deal.

Peeta's spooned into my back, almost no space between our bodies. My head rests on his outstretched left arm while his right is wrapped around my stomach protectively.

I softly kiss his arm, testing to see if he's awake yet. I don't get any reaction.

"Peeta, time to wake up," I say quietly. Nothing. "Peeta Mellark, this is your six am wake up call," I say a little louder. Nothing. He could sleep through an avalanche.

I'm starting to get hungry, so I decide to just bite the bullet and wake my husband up. There's one thing that will always work.

I grin as I reach behind me with my right hand and find the bulge pressing against my butt. I slide my fingers under his long johns and grasp it. I start to slowly stroke him, and sure enough, he grows in my hand.

"Mmmm Katniss," he mumbles, his eyes still closed. I quickly turn in his arms so I'm facing him. I switch my hands, now using my left to pleasure him.

I'm seriously wondering if he'll wake before I finish him off. By now, he's rock hard, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

When a couple more minutes pass and he still hasn't joined me, I make an executive decision to take advantage of what's in my hand.

I gently push his shoulders until he's on his back. I quickly slide his underwear down and shed my panties as fast as I can. I'm amazed that even asleep, he gets me this wet between my legs.

I throw my leg over him and hover right above his waist. I decide he deserves one last chance.

"I promise if you open your eyes you'll really like what you see," I sing-song. I grab his hands and move them to my breasts. He automatically starts fondling me.

I reach down and grab his erection again, stroking it a couple times before I lower myself and guide him into me. He slips inside me effortlessly, and I groan as I thrust downwards, taking all of him.

"Is this how you're going to always wake me up?" I look down and finally see his blue eyes staring up at me, the residual sleepiness still there.

I giggle as I start riding him.

"Depends," I smirk. "How many times are you going to wake me up with your head buried between my legs?"

He laughs and shakes his head in disbelief.

After our wonderful start to our morning, we reluctantly drag ourselves out of our tent, making sure to pack up everything we'll need for the climb. We triple-check, then make our way to the mess tent.

Everyone's pretty quiet at breakfast, all of us mentally preparing for the tough climb ahead of us. Gale and Johanna both look miserable. They're sitting together as a team, but they're as far apart as you can be and still be near someone.

Last night, we discussed asking Johanna if she wants to climb with us, but when we brought the idea to Haymitch he shot it down. Everyone climbs with a partner, he told us. Those are his rules, and it's his team.

Breakfast finished and our bellies full, we prepare to leave ABC for Camp Three way up the mountain.

Peeta

That certainly was an amazing way to be woken by my new wife. I don't know if she knows, but I woke up when she pushed me onto my back. She probably knows, she's certainly not an idiot.

We put our harnesses on, checking and re-checking each other. I make sure my backpack is heavier than hers, but I don't tell her. She'd insist on at least carrying an equal amount of gear.

Gale and Johanna are first out of camp, and we follow a few minutes later. Finnick and Annie take up the rear. We make it to Crampon Point fairly quickly, and start the long slog up to the Col.

Katniss and I agree to not take a break until we reach the Col, so we set a good, even pace as I lead, following where Johanna and Gale kicked steps up the fixed line.

We radio Haymitch from the Col, and he allots us a fifteen minute rest.

"Okay, let's get going," Katniss says as she stands back up, slinging her pack on.

"Coming, dear," I grin as I join her.

It's a gorgeous day for climbing, and the views are utterly spectacular. But no matter how pretty the surrounding mountains are, the most beautiful view is the one right in front of me, that of my wife.

"You look really beautiful today," I compliment her out of nowhere.

"Ha. Yeah right. You don't have to suck up to me, Peeta. We're already married," she jokes.

"I'm not sucking up, it's the truth," I protest. "You're gorgeous, Kat, and you always will be to me."

She opens her mouth to rebut, but I stop her by quickly pressing my lips to hers. She responds and we break apart a few seconds later, aware we're in the middle of a climb.

We reach Camp Two a few minutes after Gale and Johanna, and we're allowed another quick break.

When we leave Camp Two, we're climbing a part of the mountain none of us have ever been on before. It's all new to us.

Katniss and I clip into the fixed line and follow our teammates up. The wind picks up a bit, but the sun is still shining bright. As we climb higher and higher, there's less and less oxygen, so it gets harder. Every step we take towards the summit is tougher than the last, but we know it's well worth it.

I look up the fixed line and I see Gale and Johanna maneuvering around, letting some people pass them to descend.

Then, all of the sudden, I see Gale lose his balance and tumble end over end. He'd unclipped from the line to let the other climbers past. I instantly realize he doesn't have his ice axe in his hand, making it that much harder to self-arrest.

"GALE!" Johanna screams. "ARREST! ARREST! USE YOUR ARMS!"

Gale tries in vain to slow himself down. He loses his pack along the way as he gains speed. He's heading right towards us.

I glance behind us quickly and process. I realize that if he keeps going the direction he's heading, he'll most likely fall right into a large are filled with jagged rocks. His chances of survival would be slim-to-none.

Right now, any animosity I hold towards him doesn't matter. There's a climber who needs help, and I'm in a position to help him. He's getting closer.

As I'm leading, Katniss is right behind me, yelling at Gale like Johanna. I unclip from the fixed line and shed myself of my pack.

"Don't you dare!" Katniss screams. "PEETA! PLEASE! NO!"

I quickly turn to her.

"You know I have to," I whisper.

Gale goes flying past and I almost jump after him, purposely sliding on my butt and lifting my legs up to gain as much speed as I can.

I can see his eyes and I can make out how terrified he is.

He's still attempting to slow down, and I'm about to reach him. I calculate we have maybe twenty seconds to stop before we're both dying or dead.

Finally I'm sliding right next to him. I reach over, grab his harness, and clip my line to the back of it. I switch my ice axe into my dominant hand, flip over, and start self-arresting, digging the axe into the snow as hard as I can, kicking my feet like crazy.

"KICK!" I yell at Gale. "FUCKING KICK!"

I feel his weight on my harness, and I'm scared the small line I attached to him won't hold. It was all I could do.

Finally, we start slowing down, and come to a stop maybe twenty feet above the rocks. I kick my feet into the snow a few times to give myself a solid foothold.

"You okay?" I ask Gale while we catch our collective breath.

"Yeah, I think so," he answers, checking himself for injuries. "You?"

"I'm good," I tell him.

"PEETA!" I hear Katniss scream. She's visibly frantic looking down at us.

"We're okay!" I yell back up. "Can you still climb?" I ask Gale, readying myself to get back to my wife and the relative safety of the fixed line.

"I guess we'll find out," he grumbles as he stands up, still a bit woozy. He goes to unclip my line, but I stop him.

"No, stay clipped til we get back to the line," I tell him. It's more for peace of mind than actual safety.

We slowly start to make our way back up, and I'm astonished at how far we slid down the mountain. I was lucky, again. As we approach, Johanna has descended and is standing with Katniss, both of them waiting for us.

Gale takes it slow at first, and I accommodate. He gets some of his strength back eventually and we pick up the pace. Neither of us says a word.

Finally, we reach the rope and I clip him onto it before I unclip my line from his harness, then I clip onto the fixed line as well. We climb the last few feet to our partners, and from the look on my wife's face, I know I'm in deep shit.

Katniss

I've never, ever, been more scared in my life. Terrified, really. When I saw my husband unclip from the safety line and go diving after Gale, I had a lot of mixed emotions. Pride, of course, at how brave he is. Anger at Gale for making my husband risk his life. Anger at Peeta for going after him. Then, all those were replaced by fear. My mind conjured up thoughts of losing Peeta, of me being forced to watch him die as he plummeted down the mountain.

I watch as he rescues Gale. He makes it look so easy I'm convinced he's done the exact same thing before. Once I know he's safe, I allow myself to break down. I burst into tears, a mix of relief and residual fear. Johanna appears at my side and, unlike her, gently rubs my back as I bawl my eyes out.

The two men make their way back up to us, and as they get closer, my warring emotions rack through my entire being. My heart almost can't take it. From being petrified one moment to relieved the next, it's a rollercoaster I'd like to never ride again.

They reach us and just like that, Peeta is standing in front of me, an apologetic look on his face. I wait until Gale and Johanna move away, back up the line a little bit, before I'm able to look him in the eye.

I collapse into his arms, sobbing. He shushes me, taking my hat off and kissing the top of my head.

"It's okay," he soothes. "I'm okay, I'm still here Katniss. It's all over now."

I nod but keep my face buried in his chest. Now that he's back with me, I remember how I felt when I saw him go after Gale.

I back up a little and start pounding on his chest with my fists as hard as I can.

"I can't believe you!" I scream. "You could've gotten yourself killed! Do you even know what that would do to me!? Damn you! I can't lose you Peeta! I can't!"

He just takes it, letting me vent my frustrations. I tire myself out and he just simply opens his arms again, an invitation for me. I fall right back into his embrace.

"I'm sorry," he whispers painfully. "I know what I did was dangerous. I couldn't afford to be cautious though, there was a life hanging in the balance."

"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen," I tell him with obvious pride. "I'm so honored to call you my husband. But let's get one thing straight. If you ever, ever, ever do anything like that again without my permission, we'll be sleeping in separate sleeping bags for the foreseeable future. Got it?" I poke him in the sternum for good measure.

"Understood," he nods.

I reach up and gently cradle his face with my hands.

"I love you so much," I sob. "I was so scared baby. So scared."

"I love you too," he whispers emotionally. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I know," I assure him. "You did the right thing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Well I'm just happy nobody got hurt," he gives me a small smile.

"Yeah. Did Gale thank you?" I ask, curious.

"Um, no, not really," he admits. "I just made sure he wasn't hurt and that he could still climb, then we didn't speak until we got here."

"Ungrateful piece of shit," I mutter, glaring up at Gale's back as he and Johanna begin to slowly start climbing again.

"It's okay," Peeta shrugs. "I don't need my ego stroked that much," he jokes.

"Trust me, I'm planning on stroking something way better than your ego," I tease. "But he really does owe you at least a thank you. You just saved his life, even after everything he's said to you."

"I guess," he agrees quietly. "Can we start climbing again? I don't think we have that far to go to camp, and I'd really like to crawl into our sleeping bag and snuggle with my gorgeous wife."

"Sure, let's go," I tell him as we resume climbing. "Peeta, have you ever done that before?" I ask. He's leading us again.

"No," he shakes his head.

"You looked like you knew exactly what you were doing, like you'd practiced it or something," I say in awe.

"It was all I could think of," he explains. "I just prayed that my line would hold his weight, and we're lucky it did."

"Well, either way, it was amazing. I may be a little mad at you risking your life, but don't be mistaken. I'm so incredibly proud of you. You're my hero, Peeta."

"I'm no hero," he says dejectedly.

"Oh shut up," I grin. "Always so humble. Your wife's always right, isn't she Peeta?" I tease him again.

"Yes, my wife is always right," he gives me the correct response, and I can tell he's smiling now.

Peeta

I knew the second I unclipped from the fixed rope that Katniss was going to hate what I was about to do. But, like I told her, I had no choice. I refuse to let anyone, even Gale Hawthorne, die if I could do something about it.

Katniss spends the rest of the climb to Camp Three cheering me up, as she can tell my adrenaline has worn off and now I'm just sullen, for no real reason.

Finally we make it camp, and I click the radio to report to Haymitch.

"Haymitch, come in, Haymitch, come in," I start.

"Is that you, kid?" His voice comes through the radio.

"Yeah," I answer. "Katniss and I made it to Camp Three."

"Okay," he replies. "Good work today, Peeta," he says seriously. "The Sherpas were quite impressed. You're a legend now."

"He is my teammate after all," I tell him. "I wasn't going to let him die without trying to save him."

"You've got one hell of a heart in you, kid. And balls of fucking steel."

"I can attest to the both being true," Katniss smirks as she clicks the radio to add her two cents.

"Way too much info sweetheart," Haymitch laughs. "Get a good night's rest, you two. I'm proud of you. Over and out."

Finnick and Annie arrive shortly thereafter, and bombard us with questions about the day's events. They keep after me until I sit down and tell them the whole story from start to finish. I wouldn't have been able to if Katniss hand't been sitting in my lap the whole time. I didn't even have to ask her, she just knew.

Katniss and I take a much needed nap in the afternoon, and from the way she clings to me, I know she's still shaken by everything. I wake her up when the call for dinner comes.

We gather in the middle of the camp to eat, Dorji having cooked for everyone. He of course praises me multiple times, telling me in all his years on Everest he's never seen a rescue quite like today's.

As the rest of the team talks animatedly about it, I glance at Gale. He almost looks embarrassed. I had an inkling he'd hate the fact that it was me who saved him. He already hates me enough, now he has to deal with the fact that he's alive because I risked my own neck for him. Which is something I'm fairly certain he'd never do for me in a million years.

Katniss gazes at me, and deduces correctly what's going through my head.

"You've shown everyone who's the better man," she whispers in my ear softly. "If they didn't already know, they sure do now. Not many people would have the courage to do what you did."

I sigh and she kisses my cheek gently.

"Hey Mellark," Gale suddenly speaks up. Everyone immediately shuts up, watching the interaction with anticipation.

"Which one?" Katniss answers with a wide smile.

"Peeta," Gale quietly amends.

"Yeah?" I look at him.

"Thanks," he grumbles under his breath, not even looking at me.

"You're welcome," I tell him.

Apparently, his gratitude isn't up to Katniss' standards.

"That's all you've got to say to him?" She angrily confronts Gale. "After what he just did for you?"

"I said thanks," Gale snaps quickly.

Katniss rolls her eyes sarcastically.

"Sure you did, and I've never heard a more insincere 'thanks' in my life," she shoots back.

"It's fine honey," I quietly try to reign in my wife. She turns and glares at me, and I wisely keep my mouth shut.

"She's right you know," Johanna adds, her voice more gentle than I've ever heard before. "Peeta risked his life to save yours, Gale. He didn't even think twice. Did you see how close you were to those rocks?"

"I saw," Gale answers. "Nobody asked him to play hero," he adds.

"Fuck you Gale," Katniss shakes her head. "Seriously, you are the most selfish, inconsiderate, self-centered, narcissistic, pathetic caricature of a man I've ever met. I guess I should thank you, really. You helped me see how much better of a man my husband is. He risked his life to try and save yours, and you can't even be sincere when you thank him. Nobody asked him to play hero because they didn't have to. He will always do the right thing, because that's the man I married. What does that say about you, huh?"

Gale's shocked into momentary silence.

"For the record, we agree with Katniss," Finnick pipes up. Annie nods. I chuckle softly at their perfect timing.

"Of course you do," Gale sneers at Finnick. "You two love the slut and the pussy."

"Really?" Katniss says in disbelief. "You're calling him a pussy after today? Now I know you're just delirious. It must be the lack of oxygen. Maybe we should talk to Haymitch, you probably need to descend back to base camp."

Johanna, Finnick and Annie all laugh at Katniss' teasing.

"I told you never to say things like that about my wife," I almost yell at Gale, angrier than I thought.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Gale taunts. "Or will your precious wife not let you? It's pretty obvious who wears the pants in that relationship."

"You should know by now, Gale, that Peeta and I are, more often than not, not wearing any pants," Katniss smirks.

"You're a real asshole Hawthorne," I sigh. "For a while I thought it was some kind of act, some façade, but you really are that awful, aren't you? You're not even worth any of my energy, or my wife's. Kat, from now on, we don't spend any of our time thinking or worrying about him. Agreed?"

"Sounds good to me," Katniss grins and gives me a kiss on the lips.

"You still owe Peeta a lot Gale," Johanna interjects. "I'm never going to let you forget it, either. He saved my life once, and I'll never be able to properly show him how grateful I am for that."

"So you're on their side now?" Gale sneers at Johanna.

"I'm not on anyone's side," she defends herself. "I just think you should do what's right instead of whatever it is you're doing."

"Whatever," Gale mutters as he stands up, glares at Katniss and me once more, and disappears into camp.

"Soooo…how bout that weather today?" Finnick jokes after a minute.

It works, and we all have a hearty laugh.

"All kidding aside," Finnick says seriously, "that was incredible today, Peeta."

Annie and Johanna voice their agreement.

"That's my husband," Katniss tells them proudly.

Katniss

So that went downhill fast. Pun intended.

I'm almost in disbelief at Gale's attitude even after today. Almost.

It really shouldn't surprise me at this point, but a part of me still believed he was capable of doing the right thing. He proved me wrong, I guess.

I'm still in a state of shock at the events that transpired on the mountain earlier today. Ever since we got to Everest, I've been hearing tales of Peeta's prior heroics. How he carried a full-grown man, with all his gear, off a mountain by himself. How he ignored conventional wisdom and risked almost certain death to get oxygen to Johanna and her partner.

When I would hear those stories, I was always proud of him, but it scared me too. I don't like hearing about how close I came to losing him before we got a chance to be together. It terrifies me.

But, today, I saw firsthand what Peeta is willing to do to help someone in need. He didn't care that it was Gale falling down the mountain. He would've acted exactly the same way no matter who it was. He saw someone who needed his help, so he gave it his all. Half of me was more proud of him than ever before, and the other half wanted to tear him a new asshole.

Now that we've had a chance to sit and talk about it a little more, I know that I'll never be completely okay with him doing things like that, but I understand much better why he does. To him, it's not a question of whether or not he should do it. He doesn't think like that. In Peeta's mind, he's just doing what's required of him.

And, again, I find myself thinking I've never loved him more than right now in this moment.

"Let's go," I announce suddenly, standing up and tugging on his hand.

"Where are we going?" He asks as he stands up.

"I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure you're about to get rewarded," Johanna smirks.

"She's not wrong," I grin.

We ignore the parting shots from the other three members of our team as we head to our tent, which we picked specifically because of its isolation from the rest of camp.

When we reach the tent, we take our boots off and grab the sleeping bag and Therma-Rest. We set up our 'bed' in short order, both of us already overly excited at what we know comes next.

"You can't possibly know how horny I am right now," I whisper as we start kissing. "Fuck me, Peeta, lay me on my back and fuck me into submission."

I have no idea where it's coming from, but from the look in Peeta's eyes, he certainly doesn't mind.

We've gotten fairly talented at shedding our layers, helping each other along. Tonight we're both a little more frantic, both of us needing one another like never before. I know it's because of his brush with death, but I choose to embrace it rather than analyze it.

He lays me on my back like I told him to and hovers over me, leaning his head down to lock our lips together. I feel him slip two fingers inside my already wet folds, and at my moan he starts pumping them in and out.

"I love you," he mumbles against my lips.

"I love you too," I respond, "but if you don't start fucking me in the next ten seconds I'm going to punch you."

I feel his fingers disappear and an involuntary whimper escapes from my throat. It's only a split second, however, before I feel him enter me, pushing all the way inside me.

"God you're huge," I remark as he buries himself in me.

He blushes slightly and I giggle at the sight, goading him along.

"I'm not joking," I grin. "You're enormous baby, and I want to feel every inch inside of me."

My words cause a reaction in Peeta, and I feel him deeper and deeper as he thrusts harder. I help him in any way that I can, craving all of him.

"Oh Kat," he groans, "it's so tight. I'm not going to last much longer."

"Don't you dare stop fucking me when you come," I warn gravely. "I want you to come inside of me then keep pounding into me, got it?"

He nods, unable to form a coherent sentence at the current moment.

His orgasm follows shortly thereafter, and true to his word, he barely slows down at all. I feel the warmth of his release inside of me and it suddenly hits me that he's the only man I'm ever going to feel inside me. I'm the only woman he'll ever come inside of. That couldn't make me any happier. Peeta's my first and my last, my everything.

As the night progresses, I barely let him take a breather. In my mind, we're still technically on our honeymoon, and I intend to take full advantage.

Eventually we collapse together, our bodies still intertwined. He somehow throws the bag over us to keep us warm.

Peeta lies on his back and I snuggle into his side, throwing my leg over his and resting my head on his bare chest. I can still smell the result of our passion, the distinct scent that only the two of us can create.

"Wow," he exhales tiredly.

"I know," I agree as I lay gentle kisses on his skin.

"I'm sorry I scared you today," he apologizes yet again.

"I know," I assure him. "I don't want you to think I'm not proud of you, because I couldn't be any more so. But everything's different now, Peeta. It's not just your life you risk when you do something like that. I'm your wife, your spouse, your partner in every sense of the word. We both have to think of us as one unit when we make decisions. We've both been on our own for a long time, so I know it won't be easy, but I know we can do it."

"How did you get so smart?" He says in wonderment.

I shrug.

"Is that really what you want to talk about right now?" I smirk as I slowly trail my fingers down his torso, inching closer and closer to where I can already see his erection growing again.

"Being married is awesome," he observes with a grin.

"Mmmhmm," I agree, "and baby, we've only just begun."

A/N: Another long chapter. This one was especially fun to write, as I'd been crafting how Peeta would somehow save Gale for a while now. I thought it was important to add that new element to the whole situation. Gale now owes Peeta, and everyone knows it. Everyone saw who's obviously the better man.

I posted the newest chapter (23) of 'The Truth Revealed' earlier today. Go read and review! Please! For me!

A few notes on climbing:

I'm following how climbers really acclimate as closely as possible. Like Haymitch said, after they spend time at the high camps, they'll go all the way back down to Base Camp. Then they can begin the summit push, weather permitting.

I'm definitely taking liberties with how much energy the characters have at high altitudes. It just wouldn't be fun to write them if they can barely even form a sentence because they're breathing so hard. So, I took some artistic license.

Peeta's rescue of Gale is theoretically possible. I just made it up, but it sounds feasible to me, provided Peeta's line was strong enough to hold Gale's full weight. You'd be surprised at how much weight a rope can hold. Once, we made a snow anchor out of a sausage, tied a rope around it, and it took the weight of eighteen adults before it gave. It was pretty unbelievable. So, I'm pretty sure what I wrote is possible, I just wouldn't recommend trying it.

When he fell, I noted that Gale didn't have his ice axe. Any good climber has a leash on their ice axe looped around their wrist for that very reason. But, I needed to make him helpless, so in this story, Gale fucked up. It's a hell of a lot harder to self-arrest just using your arms instead of your axe. Trust me, I made the same mistake once. I'll never repeat it. Truthfully, my experience of falling without my axe definitely helped inspire the action in this chapter.

The way Gale fell, by unclipping from the fixed line, is completely possible. It's one of the biggest risks climbing high mountains. When Hilary and Norgay made the first ascent in 1953, they only had one rope tied to both of them. If one of them had fallen, there was a pretty good chance he'd drag the other one down with him.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to get back to some climbing after the last few chapters were more focused on Katniss and Peeta's relationship. While I love writing all of that, this story's foundation is climbing.

Please take a moment and throw me a review. I'd really appreciate it, and I spent a while writing today so I could post a new chapter for both of my current stories. So, please, do the right thing. You know Peeta would.

Keep reading and reviewing.

I really hope it doesn't rain again tomorrow. I want to play some golf.