Know Your Enemy - Chapter 7


Peeta was still in a terrible mood. He had scowled at Glimmer when she'd tried to fiddle with his hair flirtatiously, and he continued to rub his aching stomach pointedly whenever Marvel caught his eye.

On the third or fourth time, Marvel sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I tried shaking you at first but you weren't waking up, so Cato told me to hit you."

Of course, Peeta thought bitterly. If Cato had told him to, then he just had to do it, right? Everyone must abide by Cato because he is just so god damned special. He fixed a glare on the trees and hugged his knee, not noticing the way his lip curled distastefully as he continued his inner rant. He got the same score as Cato, didn't he? Didn't that warrant some respect? He was just as strong as Cato, if not stronger. It's not like he'd trained for this at a special academy all his life.

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't even realise that Cato and Clove had returned from their morning hunt until the lithe girl from two slapped him on the back lightly, laughing and pulling his focus back to the present.

"What did the forest ever do to you?" He rolled his eyes but couldn't help the beginnings of a smile forming on his face. He thought that if they were in another place, another situation, that the two of them would probably be friends.

"No but seriously, what's up? You tired of us already?" She sat down next to him, her teasing gin growing concerned. He wondered when Clove had begun to think of him as a friend too.

"I think I'm just tired in general." Peeta ran his fingers through his hair and attempted to smile back at her.

"Aw, is little Lover Boy missing his grubby little home in twelve?" Cato cooed, strutting over to where the two were sat. "Or is he missing his girlfriend?" which was followed by the token giggle from Glimmer and Marvel which always seemed to spur the boy on.

"Or maybe… maybe he's just upset because he'll never see his mommy and daddy ever again?" He frowned falsely, pretending his eyes were leaking with tears, and turned round to laugh with his devoted disciples while Peeta rose quickly, suddenly angry. He took Cato's shirt between his hands, forcefully yanking the boy forwards. He wasn't going to stand for this, Cato thinking he could push him around and bully him into submission. It would make him appear weak, and apart from that, he just wasn't in the fucking mood.

"Oh but I am going to see my parents again." He snarled. "When I win." He tightened his grip on Cato's shirt. "And for the last time, she is not my girlfriend."

Cato looked angrier than he'd ever seen him, but Peeta couldn't even bring himself to feel scared anymore. If Cato attacked him, he could defend himself. He could feel the heavy knife weighing down his inner pocket and this gave him even more courage. The two of them were mere inches apart, their faces so close that Peeta could feel Cato's breath on his cheek in angry pants. They were just waiting to see who would make the first move.

"Okay macho men." Clove stood up. "Break it up." They both turned to glare at her. This wasn't her fight. She was calmly surveying them both, and she tossed a rock into the air and caught it before continuing. "You're both strong. We get it. That's why we need the both of you alive."

She shook her head and looked at Cato disapprovingly, knowing that she was probably the only person on the planet that could without worrying about being impaled on the end of his sword.

"Cato, you need to stop acting as if Peeta isn't part of the alliance, because he is. He's one of us. We've all agreed on it and you're going to have to get used to it. I like Peeta. You need to stop trying to provoke him all the time and learn to get along." She turned to Peeta. "The same goes for you Peeta. You've just got to stop letting him get to you."

She looked at the boys expectantly and gestured with her hands.

Peeta wondered for a moment, nonplussed at the gesture until finally he understood, and stuck his hand out to Cato, taking the glare off his face in favour of sporting his peaceable blank mask. Cato sighed in exasperation and grabbed the proffered hand after Clove pointedly nudged him.

"What?" He looked at his district partner irately, and she raised her eyebrows. At this he actually pouted, the action reminding Peeta of the cute little stray boy in twelve that he'd sneak bits of bread to when his mother wasn't looking.

Cato sighed again as Clove didn't budge, pulling Peeta back to reality again.

"Sorry twelve." He mumbled with a glare. Peeta had to fight back a smirk, feeling rather happy with himself until he caught Clove shift her waiting eyes on to him, expecting him to do the same. He smiled a little and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her.

"Sorry Cato."

The boy growled a little under his breath and released Peeta's hand. Peeta was momentarily struck with how soft his hand was compared to Katniss' calloused ones were the other day on the chariot. Cato's felt completely different in his own. At least this time his fingers didn't feel like they were about to drop off, he thought ruefully.

"Well, if she's not your girlfriend..." Clove grinned micheivously. "You won't mind if we go and look for her, right?"

Cato visibly brightened at this, smiling with a predatory gleam in his eyes. Peeta matched his smirk.

"Of course not." He picked up the larger and showier of the two knives lay on the ground. "Take the bow." He turned to Glimmer, the only one without a distinct weapon of choice. "If that doesn't piss her off, I don't know what will."


All five of them were exhausted, throats dry, eyes sore and feet aching. They'd been walking for hours, fruitlessly scanning the shadows of the forest in search of Katniss. With every step they took in the wrong direction, Cato became increasingly frustrated. He hadn't expected the damn girl to be so evasive.

Of course, it didn't help that Glimmer had been hanging off his arm like a limpet for the past hour, simpering away like he actually gave a crap about what she had to say. He didn't. Yet, In spite of his repeated attempts to shake her off, she didn't seem able to comprehend that.

At least she was persistent.

It was growing dark when Cato finally snapped. His patience had reached its limit about five kilometers ago, around about the last time Peeta had reassured him that they'd find her eventually, just as long as they looked a little longer and a bit harder and a whole lot further away than he'd intended to when they'd started.

"Get the hell off me," he instructed Glimmer, yanking his arm out of her grip when she ignored him. He could practically feel his blood boiling under his grimy skin. Rounding on Peeta, he grabbed a fistful of the boy's shirt and dragged him in close. "Where the hell is she, Twelve? We've been looking all day and we still haven't found her!"

"I don't know." Peeta shrugged back at the other boy, ignoring Cato's threatening stance and their close proximity to one another. This felt like déjà vu. So much for their uneasy truce. "In case you haven't noticed, Cato, I've been with you since we left the Cornucopia. I know where she is just about as much as you do."

"But Cato doesn't know where she is," Glimmer pointed out bluntly, flipping her hair over her shoulder and smiling like she'd said something impressive.

Clove rolled her eyes. "That's the point he's trying to make, dumbass."

The blond girl opened her mouth to say something back, but Cato interrupted her. "You're meant to know where she is," he insisted. "What use are you if you can't find her?"

"How would I know where she is? I'm not your personal tracking device," Peeta snapped, forcefully shoving the other boy away from him. Cato stumbled, but managed to keep his footing. "I thought we'd cleared this up yesterday. We both know I'm not with you just to help you find her. You need my skills, I need yours. Quit talking down to me already!"

"Why should I? It's not like you've earned my respect. All you've done is waste a day leading us on this pointless chase around the whole arena. If I didn't know better, I'd say you weren't trying to help us at all!"

There was a silence. "I'm not trying to protect her, if that's what you think." Peeta muttered, kicking out at a small pebble in frustration. It skipped angrily across the dusty path in three hard staccato beats. "I don't know where she is, that's all. Just because I trained with her, doesn't mean I know her whole game plan. All I can do is guess, and my guess is she'd want to get as far away from you as she could."

"I told you we shouldn't have kept him," Cato huffed at the other Careers.

This time it was Marvel who intervened. "Would you get over it already, Cato? You're acting like a little kid. He's with us now, so either deal with it or shut the hell up."

At this, the boy looked murderous, jaw clenching as his hand instinctively reached towards his sword. Marvel's eyes widened at this and he took a few steps back, not-so-subtly increasing the distance between the two of them. There was a tense pause, then Clove burst out laughing.

"Okay tough man, I think that's enough," she told Cato, affectionately patting him on the shoulder, and pretending not to notice when he flinched away from her touch. "It's getting late, we should head back to camp and rest up for the night. We'll find the girl tomorrow."

After a brief moment, the boy nodded grudgingly in agreement, spinning on his heel and storming away in the direction they had come from. Glimmer happily skipped on after him, making futile attempts to reattach herself to his right arm. Marvel breathed a sigh of relief before following them.

Peeta exchanged a small smile with Clove. He couldn't help but feel grateful that she always knew exactly how to deal with the other boy when he flew off the handle.


The artificial moon sailed high in the sky when they arrived back at camp, and the boy from 3 sat hunched over a dwindling fire, eyes were red and bloodshot from his lack of sleep. He was exhausted but he knew better than to fall asleep when he was on guard duty, no matter how tired he was. Cato would've killed him.

As soon as she saw him, Clove ushered him into the tent, relieving him of his duties so that he could rest. Marvel yawned loudly, stretching his long arms above his head then followed him in soon after. Glimmer was next to go, mumbling something about the cold.

"Maybe you should try wearing a few more layers of clothing," Cato had mumbled in reply, and Peeta chuckled lightly. As he did so, the other boy turned towards him curiously.

"Which of you two is gonna keep watch?" Clove asked suddenly, sticking her head back out through the tent flap.

Peeta shrugged, still buzzed from the adrenaline of the day. "I'll do it. I'm not tired."

He assumed that Cato would go and get some rest too, not expecting anyone else to want to keep watch. Which was why he was surprised that the boy didn't move. "I'm not tired either," he said. "I don't mind keeping watch."

"No, that's okay, I got it." Peeta insisted, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of being alone with the other boy. He sat down heavily on the hard floor and started to remake the fire to keep him (and the others) warm, preparing himself for the long night ahead.

"I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway," replied Cato, flopping down on the other side of the fire and tossing a few stray branches into the growing flame.

"Do tonight's watch together, then." Clove suggested with a smirk. "But please, at least try not to kill each other. If I wake up to any corpses in the morning, I'll hunt you down and slaughter you." Her words were teasing but her tone was dead serious, and both boys nodded nervously. Satisfied by this, she disappeared back into the tent.

"Looks like it's me and you for the night, Lover Boy." Cato added as soon as she was out of earshot, his patronizing endearment uttered with the mocking edge to his tone that he saved only for Peeta.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Peeta muttered, snapping a stray twig in half. "I'm not her lover. I don't even like her as a friend all too much." He glared down at the broken twig. "You know what?" He snapped the twig into quarters. "Maybe I thought you would be trusting enough to know that I'm one of you already. That you don't have to baby me. I can do a watch on my own." He threw the twig pieces onto the fire. "And you don't have to use that tone with me, Cato, I know how you think of me, okay? That I'm not good enough for your group. Just say it in the future."

The older boy sat down facing him, on the other side of the fire, saying nothing. Peeta ran his hands through his hair and sighed exasperatedly. The person he sought approval from the most was the one he still hadn't won it from.

He wasn't even sure why he wanted Cato's approval so much. Probably because his tactic for the arena was to basically idolize him, mirror him, become more like him.

"Then how come you told the whole world you liked her?" Cato's question took him by surprise. He thought Cato would be angry, and at this moment he seemed calm, if not plainly inquisitive.

"Sponsors." He laughed dryly. "Though what was the point if I was just going to deny it as soon as I got in the arena?" Addressing the sky, he laughed shortly and gave a slight shake of his head. "Flawed plan there, Haymitch?" He looked over at Cato.

He narrowed his eyes. "So you really weren't trying to protect her today?"

"I already told you I wasn't!" Peeta pulled his knees up to his chest, circling his arms around them and propping his chin on top. "I wouldn't protect her, not here. Even if I did love her, I wouldn't lay down my life for her like that. In this arena she's my opponent, and I've got to beat her or die trying. Saving her just isn't on the agenda."

The other boy was watching him curiously again, as if Peeta were a puzzle that he couldn't quite comprehend. "Could you kill her?" he asked after a while.

"I don't know," Peeta admitted, laughing dryly. "It's different with her… She's not some faceless person I just met. I know her. I know her family." He bit down on his lip to stop himself from talking, worried that the words on the tip of his tongue would spill out, make him look weak, just like Cato wanted him to.

"There. Are you happy now?" he raised an eyebrow at the other boy. "Is that what you want me to say? So what, I'll admit it. I don't want to kill her. But that doesn't mean that I won't."

"Clove," Cato murmured softly. "It won't be easy for me to kill Clove." The fact that he still would kill her in spite of this went unsaid. In that respect, he was stronger than Peeta was.

"You don't have to kill her. When we find her, I'll do it." Cato offered the other boy a small smile. "I'll make it quick and painless, I promise."

"Thank you," Peeta replied earnestly, knowing that this was the best the other boy could do for the girl. He couldn't spare her life, but he could spare her unnecessary pain. In the dark stillness of the night, he could almost convince himself that the two of them were getting along. Clove would be proud.

"I'm not going to say I'm sorry I thought you were together, though. It was your own fault if not your mentors." Cato said bluntly, locking eyes with Peeta as he breached the comfortable silence that had settled over them. "But I will stop calling you Lover Boy. It makes me think of that stupid fire girl anyway. She gives me a headache. You're slightly better than her, at least."

Peeta laughed. "Was that meant to be a compliment?"

"No," he lied, lips twitching up as the beginnings of a smile began to appear on his face. "Just don't let that go to your head, Peeta." He dragged the name out slowly, seeming to taste it on the tip of his tongue. "Is that better?" Cato smirked.

"Yes." Peeta couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. Cato wasn't all too bad when he was like this, quiet and collected, not trying so to prove his power to people.

"Anyway, isn't Lover Boy a more appropriate name for you?" He daringly teased, nodding towards the tent where Glimmer slept. The girl in question irritated Peeta no end. She would always distract Cato when they were meant to be doing a job, and her attempts at flirting with the boy were getting tiresome, even for Peeta. He wondered if Cato enjoyed them.

"Not one bit." He laughed out loud, his head rocking back to stare at the sky. "In fact, I'd say you like your fire girl more than I like that bimbo." He flashed a quick grin, a real one, at Peeta now. "Her flirting is cute though, right?"

"I'd say it was more irritating," Peeta flicked the twig at Cato, emboldened by their new communication level. "In fact, more than irritating. I think it's reached higher levels than that. It makes me want to chew my own arm off."

Cato laughed hard this time, forced to muffle it on his arm.

"Thanks for the demonstration." Peeta quipped, sending a wider smile in the other boy's direction. He paused for a moment, considering, and then launched into the best Glimmer impression he could manage. "Oh Cato!" he crooned, fluttering his eyelashes stupidly. "Cato, you're perfect, let me touch you!" He flailed around, making random lunges for the boy. In that moment, he hardly even remembered he was in the Hunger Games talking to his enemy. He couldn't help it. This was the most fun he'd had in a while.

"Stop!" Cato laughed loudly, batting Peeta's hands away. "You'll wake up the others... Or I will in any case." He calmed himself down and weighed Peeta up before continuing. "You're alright, Peeta. I mean… Look, don't take that to mean that I'm going to be any easier on you or act like you're my best friend in the world or anything…" He barked a laugh. "But you've earned my respect, I guess. We're on first-name basis now, right?"

As he said this, he looked Peeta directly in the eye, and Peeta swore he felt him scan all of his thoughts and feelings. He felt a tingling sensation in his stomach, one that seemed like his nervous butterflies flying around. Not that he was nervous. In answer to Cato's question, he nodded.

Then suddenly Cato offered his fist out to him. Peeta looked at him, confused. What in the world was he doing? After a moment of thought, Peeta stuck out his own fist in midair in attempt to copy him without losing face.

The boy looked at Peeta's proferred fist and burst out into laughter once more. Peeta lingered with his fist, unsure of himself. "What? What did I do?"

Cato looked up at him and giggled, a totally alien sound coming from the monstrous boy that sat opposite him. "You're supposed to touch fists," he explained. "It's like...a sign of respect and, well, uh, friendship?" Peeta simply stared, confused still.

"Come here." Cato grabbed his fist and touched it lightly against his own, holding on to Peeta's wrist with the other hand as he bumped their knuckles together. Cato smiled, and it looked so genuine, such a sweet smile that for a minute Peeta just stared at him, wondering how such an arrogant boy could have such a nice side underneath.

He became aware of Cato's fingers lingering on his wrist only when they were removed when he felt his wrist go cold, exposed once again to the cold night air. He rubbed over the skin that Cato's hand hand encircled absently, thinking of how he missed the contact. Wait, what? He laughed at himself inwardly. This arena was driving him insane.

It was a few seconds before he replied to Cato. "So we are friends then." He grinned.

"If that's what you want to call it." The other boy shrugged. "I prefer allies."

"I prefer friends."

There was a small pause, a moment of silence and understanding. Then they both looked at each other and smiled.


A few hours before dawn, just as the skies were beginning to lighten, the two boys decided to wake up one of the others to take over as look out. They were sat side by side, both leaning heavily against a thick tree trunk and gazing into the few remaining embers of their fire. By now, they were too tired to keep it alight.

"I say we wake up Glimmer," Cato suggested around a yawn, letting his head drop to rest on the other boy's shoulder. "The less energy she has during the day, the better." Peeta snorted.

"Worried that she'll try and molest you again?" Peeta teased, shifting in place to try and get the feeling back into his numb legs. Cato laughed, nodding, his soft blond hair tickling lightly against the bare skin on Peeta's neck. "Okay, come on then." He nudged Cato gently. "Let's go get her up so we can get some sleep."

Peeta made to get up but the other boy whined in protest, slinging a heavy arm across his shoulders to hold him in place. "No, not yet. 'M comfy." he mumbled pathetically.

Rolling his eyes, Peeta meanly shoved the other boy off him. Cato slumped to the side, his muscles too relaxed to hold his body upright. He blinked hard as he hit the floor, trying to wake himself up but not quite managing. Grabbing his hand, Peeta pulled the tired boy to his feet and half-led-half-carried him to the tent, smiling at the thought of how mortified Cato would be when he was fully awake.

"Glimmer," he whispered as he set Cato down on the floor. The girl stirred. "Glimmer!" he repeated more sharply, kicking her lightly in the side. She jerked awake.

"Wha?" She sat bolt upright, glancing around blearily.

"Would you take the next watch so we can get some sleep?" Peeta asked her, trying his best to smile at her in a friendly manner. It probably came out as more of a grimace. "Cato said that you wouldn't mind doing it for him."

She perked up considerably at the mere mention of the boy's name, giggling. "Oh, well in that case, it would be no trouble at all," she told Peeta, slinking out of her sleeping bag. He couldn't help but blush, quickly averting his eyes when he noticed she was clad in only her underwear. She could've at least warned him! He shuddered, covering his eyes with his hands as she got ready to go outside in the cold air.

To say he was relived when the girl pulled on some clothes, grabbed her bow and left would be a complete understatement.

Cato still lay sprawled across the floor where Peeta had dropped him, his limbs splayed out and his head lolling to one side at a weird angle. He was already asleep, arms hugging his own chest to ward off the chill. Without thinking about it, Peeta grabbed the boy's sleeping bag from where it was rolled up in the corner and unzipped it, spreading it out over him like a blanket. After that, he crawled into his own sleeping bag and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep almost instantly.


It seemed like Peeta had only just shut his eyes when the sunlight streaming in from the open tent flaps woke him up. The floor beneath him was bumpy and hard, and he'd had to sleep twisted around on himself because the space was so cramped. A crick had formed in his neck, giving a painful protest when he tried to sit up straight. He sighed, ignoring the pain as best he could. It would fade eventually.

Turning his head slowly, cautiously so as not to injure the tender muscles further, he glanced around. About a foot away Marvel was still fast asleep and snoring, curled up tightly around his spear like it was a substitute for a stuffed toy. Peeta had to bite his lip to prevent himself from laughing. The boy from 3 was sleeping upright beside him, propped up against the thick metal pole of the tent. He seemed small and fragile curled in on himself like that, completely defenseless against the ruthless Careers.

Peeta looked away quickly. Now was not the time for sympathy. Shaking his head at his own stupidity then wincing at the sharp shoot of pain that followed, he distracted himself by scrambling out of his sleeping bag and crawling through the mouth of the tent in search of the other three.

"Morning, sunshine!" Clove called to him, waving. She was sat a few meters away roasting an ugly tree frog over a small fire. "Do you want breakfast?"

Deciding that it was too early to attempt a proper conversation, Peeta merely nodded. "You never offer to cook for me," grumbled a voice from behind a tree, then seconds later Cato emerged wearing an accusatory scowl. "I knew he was your favourite."

"I don't have favourites," Clove replied lazily, not even looking up. The blond boy pretended to look wounded by this, and Peeta laughed. The girl looked between the two of them, and then grinned widely. "I'm glad to see you two didn't kill each other last night."

"Yeah. It was a close call back there, but I decided to spare him." Peeta looked indignant at this, and Cato smirked. "Hey," he said, suddenly glancing around. "Where's Glimmer?"

Clove shrugged, pulling the frog's roasted body from the point of her hand-made spit and beginning to divide it up into smaller chunks using her knife. "I think she went to wash down in the river. Apparently her hair was dirty or something, and heaven forbid she looks bad in front of the cameras."

As if on cue, Glimmer burst out from a nearby cluster of trees. She'd obviously run straight out of the river, her stark naked body dripping with water as she gasped for breath.

Cato caught sight of her and screamed. "My eyes!" he yelled, balling his hand up into fists and using them to obstruct his vision. "They're burning! Quick, someone help me!"

"I've just heard something!" Glimmer yelled over him wildly. She was so caught up in the moment that she looked completely deranged, eyes wide and excited and hair tangled messily around her face. "I think someone is heading down to the river! I could hear them coming when I was washing. It could be Katniss!"

"We'd better go and check that out," Clove suggested calmly, as if her friends ran up to her naked every day. "I'll wake Marvel up. Glimmer, you might want to cover yourself up a little." She paused, eyeing the girl with disdain. "Actually, knowing you, you might not…"

From behind his hands, which were still clapped down firmly over his eyes, Cato laughed.

What made everything that little bit more awkward was the fact that Glimmer didn't seem to be even slightly embarrassed by her nudity. She just stood there, hands resting defiantly on her hips, chest pushed out and hips cocked to the right. Peeta didn't know where to look.

"Here, take this." Quickly yanking the zipper down on his jacket and tugging it off, he passed the material to her. "Put it on until we go back and find your stuff later."

"Oh, thank you Peeta!" she smiled at him widely, slipping into it easily. It was huge on her, down to her knees. Thank god. "It's so nice to know there are men out there who are true gentlemen, ones that don't just want to admire my beauty."

"It's okay Cato, you can come out now." Peeta murmured after a second, offering the other boy a comforting pat on the back although mocking smirk firmly in place. Cato scoffed at this, cautiously peering out between his fingers in case (by some horrible turn of events) she was still naked. That was something he certainly never wanted to witness again.

"Did I miss something?" Marvel appeared from the tent, rubbing a hand across his bleary eyes in an attempt to wake himself up. He did a double take when he saw Glimmer, jaw dropping open slightly at the sight of her bare legs.

"You're such a letch," Clove accused him before snapping into organization mode. "I told Three to guard our stuff for the day. Peeta, get that frog I cooked and take it with you, we can eat it on the way for breakfast. Cato, go get your sword and Glimmer, make sure you bring your bow. Marvel, your spear is over there," She pointed to the mouth of the tent where he'd left it. "We're leaving in five minutes, so get on with it."

"She's such a control freak," Cato muttered quietly to Peeta as the two of them walked away.

"I heard that!" she called back indignantly, and Peeta laughed.


"Why would he give her his jacket?" Cato mused to Clove. They were walking together a few paces behind the couple in question, and he couldn't help but notice the way that stupid girl was clinging on to Peeta, pretending to stumble into him and grasping on to his arm 'for balance' at every given opportunity.

"Because you were screaming like a little girl when you saw her and her lady parts." Clove smirked, and Cato sighed loudly. She turned to glare at him, irritated. "If you sigh one more time, I swear I'm going to murder you right here and right now."

Cato blinked back at her. "I wasn't sighing!" he insisted. "Besides, I got an eleven," he smiled smugly, knowing she had been annoyed when he had been awarded a higher score than her. "You're just a ten. You couldn't kill me even if you wanted to."

"She could too!" Peeta back called over his shoulder with a teasing smile. Glimmer simpered beside him. Up ahead, Marvel laughed in agreement. Cato had an overwhelming urge to run his sword right through the lot of them. Beside him, Clove shot him a knowing smirk.

"What?" He snapped, meeting her stare with a challenging one of his own.

She shrugged casually, still grinning. "Oh, it's nothing."

A week ago, none of them would have dared to even breathe too loudly near him, but now look at them. Teasing him, laughing at him and making jokes at his expense… It was then he realized that none of them were scared of him any more. Damn it.

"Hey, can you hear that?" Marvel said suddenly, stopping in his tracks and listening. The light mood that had surrounded them disappeared instantly. They all stood still, ears pricked. They were near the river, and coming from a few meters away there was the unmistakable sound of water splashing and someone panting, clearly out of breath.

"I told you!" Glimmer exclaimed triumphantly. "I bet it's that Katni—"

"Shhh!" Clove cut her off mid-sentence by clapping a dirty hand around her mouth. "You have to be quiet or she'll hear us coming and get away."

Pushing through the trees, they were delighted when the girl they sought after came into view. Her face was red and dirty, her hair tangled and charred and she seemed to be in excruciating pain, whimpering softly as she stared down at her leg. Even through the water it was clear to see that the skin there was swollen and red, burnt and already blistering.

This was no time for sympathy, Peeta reminded himself.

The Careers approached her slowly, silently, edging towards her with their weapons wielded. She was on the other side of the riverbank, head lolling back against the soft earth there as the water lapped at her injured skin. If they could make it to the waterside without her noticing, they'd be well within firing range to kill her instantly.

For a minute, Peeta thought that this plan was going to work, that Katniss would be dead in a minute. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about that. Maybe he just wasn't supposed to feel anything. Then Marvel stepped on a twig, snapping it. The splintering sound made Katniss' head jerk up, her eyes widening when she spotted the five of them.

She was on her feet almost instantly, scrambling up the riverbank and running away. Cato cursed loudly, cuffing Marvel across the back of his head angrily. "You idiot!"

Peeta rolled his eyes, ignoring the boy's irritation in favour of wading across the river. "Don't give up just yet. She's injured, so she won't be able to get too far. C'mon."

He didn't know why he was so surprised when the others actually followed him.


Peeta was still surprised at how quickly the people he had come to think of as friends could change, becoming ruthless killing machines as soon as they saw her. They prowled through the forest, hunting her down in earnest now, ready to take her life.

She was already half way up a tree when one of them spotted her, and within a minute the five of them quickly had her surrounded at the base of the tree. "We've got you," Clove called up to her. "You might as well get this over with."

"We're gonna kill you!" Glimmer taunted, laughing and jeering at the girl. Marvel was the only person who joined in. Katniss didn't even look down, just continued climbing. Peeta sighed. He'd known this wouldn't be an easy kill.

Turning to Marvel, Cato addressed him shortly. "Shut up and throw your spear."

"I can't," the boy shook his head firmly. "There are too many branches in the way, it would just get stuck up there. This is the only weapon I have, I can't afford to lose it."

"Fine. I'll throw a knife." Clove stepped in, rummaging through her pockets for one, then trying again when she couldn't find one in there. "Wait, I can't find any!" her face turned pale as she realized she was completely unarmed. If they hadn't been in the middle of a hunt, Peeta would have laughed at the irony of it – the girl who organized all of them so carefully had failed to even bring her own weapon. How stupid.

Glimmer huffed in frustration at their ineptness, raising her bow in roughly the right direction and firing off an arrow. It landed about three meters wide of the mark, and the other girl laughed. "Maybe you should throw the sword!" she taunted from the treetop, visibly more confident as she realized she had already evaded three of the five of them.

Clove bit her lip, trying to figure out what they should do next. "One of us should go up there, finish the job face to face. It's quickest that way."

Cato looked to Peeta, remembering the promise he had made him the night before when he assured the boy that he'd be the one to kill the girl, quick and painless. Without thinking about it any further, he said, "I'll do it."

"There's no point," Peeta said, shaking his head. "If she's armed, she'll be able to defend her position more easily than you could attack it, you'd only get hurt. Let's just stay down here and wait her out. She's gotta come down some time, right? It's either that or starve to death. We'll just kill her then."

They all looked impressed that he'd come up with this plan, agreeing to it easily. "I knew there was a reason I kept you," Clove smiled at him proudly.


It got late quickly. The clearing around the tree was small and cramped and, due to the way the tree roots were protruding out through the ground, there was only enough room for the four of them to sleep side by side. Not wanting to spend the night beside Peeta (worried that it might be awkward after the night before), Cato had strategically placed himself on the end of the row. Of course, Glimmer wasn't far behind him.

"Cato, I'm cold," she complained, curling up into his side. He shifted away as best he could.

"That's your own fault for taking your clothes off, then, isn't it?" he snapped. "What sort of idiot leaves the only clothes they have on the floor and then takes off without them? It would've only taken you a minute to put them on, and even less time to just pick them up and carry them with you!"

"Well, I had to come and warn you about her, didn't I?" Glimmer huffed indignantly. "You'd never have found her if it wasn't for me."

While this was true, Cato didn't want to admit it. If he did, the girl would probably take it to be praise. He definitely didn't want that. To avoid discussing the matter further, he shifted away a little more and ignored her.


The first thing Peeta noticed when he woke up was the eerie silence that surrounded the small clearing. It was quiet enough that he could hear the sound of the other four breathing slowly, deeply, out of sync. The second thing he noticed was the way Glimmer was tucked up at Cato's side, head resting on his shoulder and arm wound tight around his chest. The third thing was the gigantic nest of wasps that was about to fall down on top of them.

Wait, what?

His sleepy mind jerked awake and he shoved Clove hard in the side, grabbing her hand and pulling her upright before she even had time to open her eyes. He'd only managed to stagger a few steps away with her when the nest hit the ground, exploding into the place they had formerly lain.

Ever the wiser of the two, Clove ran like hell away from them as soon as she was alert enough to realize what was going on. Marvel followed her quickly, rolling to the side and out of the danger with only a few stings on him, spear still clutched firmly in his hands. Peeta on the other hand found himself frozen in place, eyes locked on Cato.

The boy was on his feet, ready to escape, but he couldn't. Not with Glimmer clinging to him like a dead weight and shrieking in his ear. Try as he might, he wasn't able to shake himself free of the girl's vice-like grip. He had no choice but to try and carry her out with him, but their progress was too slow together. They wouldn't have gotten away.

In a panic, Peeta lunged forward, back into the killer crowd of wasps that buzzed around him. He felt a sharp shooting pain as one of them stung him, but he ignored it. It wasn't the time to get distracted by a little bit of pain. He had a life to save, here. Ripping Glimmer away from Cato, he tossed her carelessly to the ground and grabbed hold of the other boy's wrist, tugging him out of the swarm.

They could still hear her blood curdling screams as they ran, Peeta dragging Cato behind him as the boy stumbled about. He had been stung badly, his skin already turning red and swollen. Peeta didn't know where he was going, but for now 'as far away from there as we can get' seemed adequate. He'd find the others again later.

Suddenly the river was back in sight and the two of them crashed into it loudly, gasping for breath. The other boy seemed to sink into the water, eyes slipping shut. His breathing became shallower almost at once.

Peeta was at his side in an instant, propping him up, checking his pulse rate. "No. No, no way. You don't get to die on me. C'mon, stay with me." His voice sounded frantic, scared. "Don't you dare die from a few tiny little wasp stings. Don't even think about it. Stay with me."

"First you saved me, now you're saving him." Clove whispered, shaking her head in disbelief. He hadn't even noticed her approaching. "I didn't have you down as the knight in shining armor type." She shook her head. "I can't believe you risked your life to save him! You're so stupid. This is a competition, Peeta. We can't all come out alive."

"Shut up," he snapped back, then felt a lurch his chest when he realized how much like Cato that simple phrase made him sound. Cato, the boy who could well be dying in his arms as they spoke. "I couldn't just let you die. I can't. I still can't. I won't let him die, Clove, not now. You have to help me."

Maybe he didn't understand exactly why it meant so much to him, he just knew that it did. In that moment, the dull thump of Cato's heartbeat beneath his fingertips was the only thing that mattered.

"Okay," Clove agreed, sending him a sad little smile. "I'll help."

In the distance, a cannon sounded. Glimmer was dead.


A/N: Hi guys! Again, a huge thank you to all for reading! This is our longest chapter yet which is pretty exciting for us. It's kind of crazy to think that two weeks ago, we hadn't even started writing this yet! As ever, we're working on getting updates out as quickly as we can and reviews would be much appreciated. We love hearing what you guys think! Thank you, see you soon!