80 plus 3

It was late when the knock sounded on the door to their compartment, at least two hours after lights out. Not that Peeta was asleep, he was far too wound up for that. He carefully extracted himself from bed - Katniss needed all the sleep she could get, especially tonight - and went to answer the door.

He had no idea who would risk coming over after lights out, but when he opened the door he wasn't at all surprised by who was on the other side. "Gale. Um, is it important? Katniss is asleep."

"I actually came to talk to you," Gale said.

That did surprise Peeta. "Okay. Well, come on in, then."

They sat in silence for a long moment. Things had always been awkward between them, ever since Gale had found out Katniss was at the bakery and she had refused to go home with him. Gale had done his best to be accepting of the choice Katniss had made in the aftermath of the bombing, and Peeta always tried to be accommodating of Katniss's oldest friend. But the only thing the two men truly had in common was their love for the same woman, and that was hardly the best foundation on which to build a friendship.

Gale cleared his throat. "I'm not sure if Katniss said anything, but we're shipping out tomorrow afternoon."

Peeta nodded. "Yeah, I know. The final assault on the Capitol. Clearing pods. Hell of a mission for a sharpshooter squad."

"You're not supposed to know our mission," Gale said.

Peeta shrugged. "We've lost too much already to keep each other in the dark about stuff like that. Plus it doesn't exactly take a genius to figure out what the next objective is. You came out after lights out to tell me the same thing anyway."

Gale shook his head. "I was just going to let you know we were shipping out, not where we were going. I just wanted to make sure she got the chance to say goodbye."

"And you didn't think she would have even told me she was leaving?" Peeta asked.

"Katniss tends to keep things to herself. Plus I overheard Odair saying that he wasn't going to tell his wife anything at all."

"How is that, the two of them in the same squad?" Peeta asked.

"It's weird," Gale said. "The first few weeks I was worried one of them would try to shoot the other, but now they almost get along. It's kind of creepy."

"I guess a common enemy works wonders," Peeta said.

"She really softened towards him when he did that propo last year," Gale said.

It had been a shock for everyone, when Finnick Odair had revealed just how victors were used by President Snow and the Capitol. His story had hit close to home for Peeta and Katniss, who suddenly had to confront the idea of what might have happened to their own siblings if they had managed to survive the Games. It was especially hard for Katniss, who had once considered prostitution as a way to feed her family and had only refrained because she was too young for even Cray.

"She'll never forgive Triton," Peeta said.

"Oh, no," Gale said. "Katniss and Odair will never be friends. But I guess you could call them allies, for the moment. After the war ends they won't have to see each other anymore."

They lapsed into silence once more, each lost in their own thoughts about the possibility of the war soon being over, at last. And of the dangers that still stood between them and that happy day.

At length, the silence was broken when both men uttered the same sentence.

"I really envy you."

Gale jerked his head back in surprise, while Peeta's eyebrows shot up. "Why?" Gale asked first.

Peeta shrugged, as if in resignation. "Tomorrow, you get to leave with her. You get to stay with her, watch out for her, try to protect her. All I can do is sit here and hope she comes home." He paused for a moment as Gale absorbed his words. "What about you?"

Gale spoke without hesitation. "You're the one she wants to come home to."

Peeta felt guilty for the rush of elation that he felt at Gale's words. "I don't care who she comes home to, as long as she comes home."

"I know," Gale said. "That's what makes you so hard to hate." The two men exchanged half-hearted smiles at Gale's not-really-a-joke. "The thing about Katniss is, she never really gives herself enough consideration. She always puts the people she loves ahead of herself. First Prim, and now you. If your leg didn't keep you out of combat squads, she'd probably still find some other way to keep you here. Safe."

"I'd rather be out there with her," Peeta said. "I'd be out there, even with the leg, if they let me."

"I know," Gale said. "I'm almost glad, though. The two of you in a squad together could go bad. The both of you would undervalue your own safety and overvalue each other's."

Peeta could only nod. Gale was undoubtedly right. Peeta knew that he would never follow an order he thought would put Katniss in danger. "But you watch out for her, right? As much as you can, I mean?"

Gale understood what he was asking. "Yeah. As much as I can," he reassured the younger man.

The two men had run out of things to say. Peeta walked Gale to the door, and offered him his hand. "Take care of her out there."

Gale took his hand and shook. "Take care of her when she comes home."

"Always," Peeta promised. Gale nodded at him again and left for his own compartment.

As Peeta slid back into bed behind Katniss, he wasn't surprised to find her awake. "Are you two done talking about me?" she said without turning to look at him. "You know I don't need either of you. I can take care of myself just fine."

"I know," he said, dropping a quick kiss to her shoulder and pulling her tightly against his chest. He closed his eyes and sighed contentedly at the feeling of her body against his. "But if I had my way the whole rebel army would look out for you."

"We'd lose the war that way," she said.

"Probably why they haven't put me in charge."

"Oh, yeah. That's why."

They were quiet for a time, but neither drifted toward sleep.

Eventually, Katniss spoke. "Tomorrow isn't the end. You know that, right? I'll be back after the Capitol falls."

"You've always come back before," Peeta said, repeating the mantra he'd been trying to convince himself of ever since Katniss first told him when she was leaving.

"That's right," she said. Peeta could hear the nerves in her voice, and he knew she was trying to convince herself as much as him. "I'll see you after the battle. The war will be over. And we'll go back to District 12 together."

"I want nothing more," he huffed into her shoulder. That was the plan they'd discussed throughout their years in Thirteen. After the war, they would escape the underground bunker, even if they had to live in an old army tent and chop down their own trees to build a house with. They'd go back home, and have a toasting, and live out their lives in District 12. It was the dream that kept them going through the darkest periods of the war.

"And I'll take care of you," Katniss added.

"We'll take care of each other," Peeta said.

Katniss allowed it.

…..

I was reading through the entire story again the other day, and I realized I used Katniss's "I'll allow it," line three times. But I really like it each time it appears, so I'm just going to leave it that way. She just does a whole lot of allowing of things in this story.

I got a great response to the idea of outtakes after the last chapter, but only one or two actual prompts. So: If there is a part of this story you'd like to see expanded, or a scene not shown in the main fic that you'd like to see depicted, please let me know. You can leave a review on FFn, or a comment on AO3, or send me an ask on Tumblr. All three will accept anonymous submissions, if that's your thing. I need to know what to write!

One more regular chapter left after this. A brief glimpse of post-war Panem.