Chapter XIII: A Breath of Life

A/N: Sorry about the long wait. Parts of this chapter were highly difficult to write, and there was some more writer's block to deal with. Thanks go out to alexandria-likethecityinegypt and TheReaper94. One use of an expletive in the chapter. Something in this chapter happens that I've been waiting to have happen since I first started this story... ;) Enjoy the chapter! SSD

2128 Day IX, the Game Center

If the past few hours of the Games could be described as slow, the past half hour had been anything but that. In that time frame, they'd gone from having eight tributes, to having only four, soon to be three. The girl from 7 was putting up one hell of a fight against Trident, but she was likely going to lose. And Isabel's water broke as well, which added to the drama.

Haymitch's tribute Thomas had lasted much longer than expected. He'd even managed to injure Freya before she killed him. Haymitch had smirked a bit when that injury had slowed her down long enough for Rose to decapitate Freya.

"That'll be a closed casket funeral," he thought.

Rose did not get to savor her victory over Freya for long. The boy from 7 laid into her with his axe, killing her instantly.

Cedar and Damon circled each other for a few moments when there was a sudden crack of the whip, which yanked the axe from Cedar's hands. Another crack, and the whip was around Cedar's waist. The sixteen year old from 7 was yanked forward and impaled on Damon's machete.

Once said machete was removed, Damon was off like a shot towards the cave.

2135 Day IX, the arena

Damon got to the cave a lot faster than he thought he would. To his surprise, most of the snow had since melted and he could heard Isabel groaning in pain.

He grabbed a shovel and started shoveling as if lives depended on it.

"Well, they do," Damon thought ruefully.

As Damon began to break through, a voice snarled out, "Damon that better be you."

"Who else would it be? How are you doing?"

"How am I doing? I'm in the middle of having this blasted baby, that's what I am doing!"

Damon froze, "What? You mean right NOW?"

"YES! Right NNO-O-OOWW," Isabel yowled.

Damon was thinking "Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit," as he began digging faster.

As he bent down for another pile of snow, Damon was hit in the back of the head by a snowball.

Damon turned around, and sure enough it was Trident, with a diabolical grin on his face.

"I always figured it would be the two of us fighting it out? Is the turtle still alive? Then again, with the way you were digging at the cave opening, she probably is. I'm going to enjoy killing her and the kid."

Damon slowly returned the diabolical grin with a "It's time I did the world a favor and rid it of a rabid dog!" With that, he swung the shovel at Trident's head.

The mad boy from 4 blocked the blow with his namesake weapon with ease and tried tangling the shovel away. Damon yanked it away before it happened.

Damon knew that he would not be able to use his whip nor his machete. The machete was short range (and Damon wasn't much at throwing weapons) and the whip required room to use it, and Trident would not likely let him have that room.

As he dodged a jab, Damon thought about what the two of them were fighting for. Trident was fighting for glory and gore. Damon was fighting for Isabel, her kid, and himself to get home and give Mayor Bostwick a giant "Fuck You."

Damon didn't want to think about what would happen if he failed. Though with her skill with daggers that bordered on the supernatural occasionally, Isabel stood a chance.

All of the sudden Isabel let out a scream. Damon paused and paid for it. Trident stabbed him in the side.

He could feel the blood seeping into his shirt. Damon fell to his knees trying to stop the bleeding with his bare hands as he fell into the dirty snow.

Trident bolted past the bleeding boy from 10.

"At last, I'll have my prize!"

As he dug what was left of the snow, he crowed, "I'm coming for you, District 10. I'm gonna cut that mewling brat from your body, and you're going to watch!"

What happened next, was not something Trident expected. The moment he entered the cave, a knife came flying through the air, and nailed him in the throat.

"The fat cow got me," was his last thought as the ground came up to meet him.

Isabel leaned back. She'd dealt with the threat, throwing a knife into the bastard from 4 while in a lying down position.

"Oh I'm good!"

A blinding pain snapped her from her thoughts. The pain served as a reminder that there was one more thing for her to do.

It felt like she was being split in half. The baby sure was taking it's own sweet time being born.

"What if something was wrong? What if the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck?"

Isabel pushed again. The contraction ended. Everything felt like it was burning.

"Was the baby going to be healthy? Was everything going as it was supposed to be..."

She groaned through the next contraction as she pushed yet again.

"Was Damon dead? She hadn't heard a cannon, so maybe he wasn't dead?"

This time she had to growl through the latest contraction. The burning seemed to be gone.

"Next push, the baby's getting out of me!"

At the next contraction, Isabel let out a primal howl and bore down with all her might. Sure enough, she felt something the baby shoot out of her finally!

No sooner had the baby exited her body, it began to cry as well. She'd barely had time to turn him on his side and clear the fluid out of his mouth.

Isabel leaned back and took a breath. She had a boy. A healthy and very much alive, baby boy.

She watched the blood drain from the cord, then grabbed the dagger that had been heating in a small fire she'd lit. As quickly as she could, Isabel cut the cord, and the heat cauterized the wound.

As she cleaned her little one up, he began to calm. Isabel took a good look at him for the first time.

He had full and thick (for a baby) head of dark hair and his nose looked like it would grow into Erik's nose. The raven's wing black hair was another thing he also had from his father.

Her little cub had her ears and mouth though.

A noise coming from the cave opening startled her from her musings. Isabel nearly threw the knife before she saw that it was Damon.

He seemed focused on the fact that Trident's body was the one there. Her best friend seemed to be a bit shocky.

Which was when she noticed that Damon was holding his side.

"Damon. Damon. DAMON!" The baby startled at that and she cooed back soothing him.

"Izzy? You're alive?" Damon asked slowly as he stumbled towards her.

"Alive and kicking. Why don't you come over here? There's someone I want you to meet."

When he got over by her, Damon slid down the wall and smiled at the baby. He blurted, "He looks like a little alien."

Isabel rolled her eyes before saying, "Give it a few months. He'll look different!"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I GIVE YOU THE VICTORS OF THE 80TH HUNGER GAMES: DAMON MARTELL AND ISABEL STORM!"

A short time later, Peacekeepers and medics came into the cave, Damon was barely conscious and was promptly put onto a stretcher and taken off to the hover craft.

A young medic turned towards Isabel and asked, "Are you able to walk, or would you like to be carried out?"

"I can walk on my own, but could you help me out? Also could you get my knives I used?"

The medic nodded. After he got both knives, Isabel had already made a sling for her baby.

"Does he have a name yet?"

"He does. It's Lucian Erik Storm."

With that she came out of the cave, and into the light of the arena. Soon she was on the hovercraft. Back to the Capitol. And then home.

Meanwhile back in District 10...

Amaya Jiminez was looking over the district accounts. Some things just weren't adding up and it was driving her loco.

All of the sudden, the sound of something heavy hitting the wall came from Mayor Bostwick's office.

Amaya clicked onto her computer and saw what was the likely reason for that loud noise.

The latest news about the Hunger Games was: ISABEL STORM AND DAMON MARTELL BECOME VICTORS OF THE 80th HUNGER GAMES.

Amaya grinned crookedly at that. It was a common suspicion that the District 10 reaping on the part of Isabel had likely been rigged. And now she would be coming home as a Victor.

The cherry on top, was that the baby was also alright!

A/N 2: And after 9 days, the 80th Hunger Games have their Victors. The bit with the knife cauterizing the wound left behind by the cord came from whytewhytch's story Den of Thieves. It's a good story. There's good eye candy in it, but it's not the title character of the series.

Now that Damon and Isabel are heading back to the Capitol, what would be some things you all would like to see? I would love to see what you all think of the chapter. I hope it was worth the wait! SSD