So a few people reviewed saying they wanted Jack and Hiccup to live, so here's the second chapter where they do! Told from Hiccup's perspective again, hope you enjoy. I would love to hear what you think!

DustyStars

"STOP!"

It felt like forever as the two of them fell through the air. All Hiccup could register was the rush of cold air whipping through his hair, the sight of the ledge receding from his sight and pain radiating from his right leg. The mutts below were snarling loudly, when suddenly everything stopped. The wind stopped, the mutts stopped, even the sound of the trees around them stopped.

Then there came the impact. They hit the ground hard, Jack twisting them so Hiccup's injured leg was saved from the unforgiving ground beneath them, taking most of the fall himself. The breath was knocked out of them as black dots danced at the edge of Hiccup's vision, brain attempting to make sense of what was happening through the burning pain that seemed to consume his entire body. Laying there in a daze, he wondered absently why there was no howling, why the mutts weren't tearing them apart and why they weren't already dead. Then his eyes registered what was happening around them.

The mutts were gone, disappeared as though they had never been there. It seemed Jack's prediction had been right- the gamemakers had decided that two winners were better than none. He could hear the sound of hovercrafts in the distance, no more than a minute away if he judged it correctly. They had won- they were going home!

"Jack," he whispered, barely audible. "Jack, we did it."

He turned his head awkwardly to face the motionless boy next to him. White hair was obscuring his face and his eyes were closed. Blood was dripping from a cut on his face and it didn't look like he was breathing. No… Not after all this… He couldn't die now…

"Jack!"

It came out as a strangled whisper as he struggled to move so his weight was off the other boy, but the pain in his leg was so strong it made him black out for a second. When he was able to open his eyes again it was to the sight of two hovercrafts landing next to the Cornucopia, Capitol medics streaming out and running towards them.

He ignored them, instead turning back to Jack, searching desperately for signs of life. He tried to protest as the medics reached them and moved them apart from each other shouting as they obscured his companion from view. He continued to yell as they loaded him onto a stretcher and carried him back to the nearest hovercraft, which took off as soon as the last medic was on board. He didn't stop until they injected him with some kind of substance that made the black dots at the edge of his vision cloud the rest of his sight.

"Jack…"

Hiccup didn't know how long he was out for. The substance they had given him didn't put him to sleep fully- he could hear the muffled sounds of life around him, and if he strained his eyes he could make out blurry shapes moving randomly. There was a point where he felt something, a strange prodding in his right arm, before he went completely under and could no longer make anything out.

Time passed steadily for him, as he was lost in the sea of his own consciousness. He didn't know where he was, or what was happening around him, only that the pain in his leg had dulled over time until it was just a dull throb, so much so that he barely felt it anymore. Hiccup would quite like to have remained in this semi-comatose state- there was no pain here, no feeling of loss- he could barely even remember his own name, never mind anyone important to him.

But eventually, inevitably, Hiccup woke up.

His first thought was one of panic, as he realised he was a clear target for the rest of the tributes. He didn't know where he was but he had to keep moving, it was necessary for his survival! His eyes snapped open as he was halfway through moving- before realisation hit him and he remembered what had happened.

He and Jack had won the games, somehow, and now he appeared to be in his old room in the tribute tower in the Capitol. Looking towards the window and balcony he saw that it was late evening- the lights of the city just beginning to come to life. The last time he had been here Heather and the other twenty two occupants had been alive. Last time he had been here Jack had been with him.

Where was Jack? It was the one question Hiccup wanted answering most, yet the one he was most afraid of the answer. He had always been a realist, and he knew that the possibility that Jack had died in the fall was distinct, but he couldn't help but hope that he was alive. Jack had been the one to keep him going in the arena, the one that had stuck by him until the very end, and the one that Hiccup had somehow fallen in love with in a place where feelings were ultimately doomed to cause more pain.

Hiccup sighed slightly before moving to get out of the large bed. His foot, however, didn't seem to be cooperating. It kept tangling in the sheets and- oh. Oh yes, he had forgotten about that. He pulled the covers off to expose the metal contraption that was now stuck to the bottom half of his leg. From the knee down his left leg had been replaced by the smooth metallic surface of a prosthetic, the mechanisms inside neatly covered by plated metal. He couldn't tell the kind but it seemed light and manoeuvrable.

"Only the best in the Capitol, huh?" Hiccup muttered somewhat bitterly to himself as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and struggled to stand. It wasn't that he was mad about having a decent prosthetic, a little like Gobber's actually, but the fact that there were other people in his district who had lost limbs that had to make do with what the healers could do and the Capitol would never think to help them like this.

Once he finally managed to stand Hiccup limped his way over to the balcony, pushing open the glass doors to look out into the night. It was quite warm out, with a slight breeze coming to him from his right. Holding back a groan he sank into a sitting position, much the same way he had sat with Jack all those weeks ago. Come to think of it he really didn't know how much time had passed since the games had ended.

So much had changed since then, he had been through so much and he doubted he would be able to go back to his old life very easily. He and his family would be moving into one of the grand houses in the Victor's Village now, slightly away from the rest of the settlements, and they would never have to sign up for tesserae again with the amount of money they would have. Hiccup already knew what he was going to do with his money- buy as much food as possible to feed as many as he could. He hadn't forgotten the poverty that awaited him when he would finally return.

Did he want to return though? After everything he and Jack had been through, the feelings that had developed on both sides, would he really be able to leave him?

Could he go back to his district, knowing that Jack was returning to Four and there was the possibility of them never seeing each other again?

No, he couldn't.

He had to find him.

Ignoring the discomfort that came from his new prosthetic Hiccup stood again and left the balcony. If he was in the training centre it was likely Jack would be too. He just had to find a way down to the fourth floor.

He left his room and limped slightly into the main area of the tenth floor. It was exactly the same as he remembered it, all plush sofas and expensive looking pictures, but right now it was deserted. The TV was playing on the wall though, showing reruns of footage taken in the games. Hiccup turned away quickly as Heather's face flashed in the sky on the screen, he didn't want to relive those memories.

He went over to the door that would take him outside and tried to turn it, but it was locked. He bent down to try and see through the keyhole but it was dark on the other side.

"Well that's helpful."

Growling slightly Hiccup methodically tried all the windows in the main area. Most were locked, and the ones that weren't barely opened at all.

He didn't understand. Was he a prisoner? Had they left him for dead? Or were they just not expecting him to wake up yet?

Whatever the reason Hiccup wanted out. He just wanted to find Jack, alive or dead, and then find out what was going on in the rest of Panem. He and Jack were obviously highly unorthodox, not just in forcing the gamemakers to stop the games with them both still alive, but in the fact they had made their feelings quite public to the whole country. He wondered how people were taking that.

He wished he had the strength to watch the TV, but this time when he turned his gaze was met by footage of Sophie running from Ruffnut, who was laughing as she went. He couldn't bring himself to keep looking, instead turning and almost running for his room. The door slammed as the little girl's life ended onscreen.

Hiccup leaned against the other side of the door, panting slightly and resisting the urge to break something. It was not fair! The horrors of the arena came flooding back to him as though a dam had burst inside of him. Up until now he had been convincing himself that it was all just a dream but seeing that footage…

It had been real. Those kids had really died, some of them by Hiccup's hand. They weren't coming back and it was all because of the Capitol's stupid games! Something inside Hiccup snapped. A red cloud descended over his vision and he picked up the nearest object and threw it across the room, screaming as he did so. He reached for another thing and another, each one being thrown with more force than the last. Glass broke, mirrors shattered and fabric was ripped. Hiccup could barely see anything now, the tears that were falling made sure of that.

Eventually he sat down in the middle of the room and sobbed, not caring that his hands were cut and bleeding or that he could feel blood dripping down the side of his face. He didn't even react when the door burst open and the room was flooded with Capitol officials- medics, reporters, gamemakers. He didn't register the needle entering his arm again before he happily gave way to the darkness once more.

When he woke again he didn't move immediately. He didn't even open his eyes. It was only when he heard the faint sound of another person breathing that he moved. He was back in his bed again, and the room had been tidied and repaired. He was lying on his left side, so he could see once again that it was night. He wondered who was sat behind him. If it was someone from the Capitol he was going to ignore them- he wasn't in the mood to deal with any more bullshit.

"You really did a number on this place didn't you?"

Hiccup whipped around so fast his neck clicked. That voice, he knew that voice. It belonged to-

"Jack!"

He just registered the grin on the other's face before he threw himself at him. Arms went around his neck as Hiccup was finally able to hold the boy he had missed so much.

"I thought you were dead," he said, voice slightly muffled as he buried his head into the blue hoodie Jack was wearing. "I couldn't see you breathing when they took me away and I thought-"

Hiccup's voice cracked and he couldn't hold back the sobs that wracked his body again. Jack didn't say anything as he cried, only held him tighter and stroked his hair. After a few minutes Hiccup's crying slowed and he pulled back to look at Jack properly.

"I look terrible, don't I?" Jack laughed as Hiccup studied him.

"You've looked better," Hiccup conceded. It was true- the medics clearly hadn't given Jack the same treatment as himself. His body was still littered with bruises and cuts and his eyes had dark circles around them.

"What happened, Jack? What's going on?"

Jack just looked away, blue eyes becoming obscured by his white hair.

"Please tell me!" Hiccup said, worried by the other's silence. "I have no idea what's happening right now!"

Jack looked up at that, bright blue eyes meeting green ones properly for the first time since the games. Silently he reached for Hiccup's hand and pulled him out of bed and to the balcony. Once they were there Jack closed the glass door behind them and motioned for Hiccup to sit down.

"I think the rooms might be bugged," he said by way of explanation.

Hiccup simply nodded, waiting for Jack to talk.

The district four boy seemed to be thinking about what to say, and Hiccup tried his hardest not to fidget or rush him. Finally Jack seemed to work out what to say and moved forwards a little, taking Hiccup's hand.

"It's been four days since the games ended," he started slowly. "And I've been awake for three of those. I've been watching the news since I woke up, and from what I can gather the gamemakers really aren't happy with us."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow at this. "Well that's to be expected," he said.

Jack nodded before continuing. "But here's the thing. The news is making it seem like there's only one winner in a way. They're barely touching on the other one of us, and they're downplaying our relationship as much as possible. It's almost like one of us doesn't exist, as though one of us died."

Hiccup's eyes widened. "What does that mean?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Jack looked resigned as he cast a glance over the city below him before his eyes returned to Hiccup.

"It means I think the Capitol is going to kill me very soon."

"What?!"

"They're almost acting like I don't exist, and I don't conform. I volunteered and they don't like that. It was my idea to jump and they haven't made any comment to say whether I'm still alive or not. You're the logical choice to win, Hic, and it's so easy for them to make my death look like an accident. That way there'll only be one winner after all and the gamemakers can consider their games a success."

Hiccup sat there in stunned silence. They were going to kill Jack? Even after he won? He knew the Capitol could make people disappear but to a victor? If what Jack was saying was true then he wouldn't put it past them at this point.

"I would love to tell you that's not possible," Hiccup said quietly, unable to meet Jack's eyes. "But I've seen what the Capitol can do."

Jack nodded. "I know, but that doesn't mean I'm going to just take it."

"What can you do Jack?" Hiccup said, not caring that his voice was rising from panic. "You're in the middle of the most heavily guarded city in the country, do you think they'll just let you walk out and go back to your normal life?"

"Of course not."

Jack's hands found their way to his shoulders, where they stayed as he looked straight into Hiccup's eyes.

"I'm going to run away."

Hiccup opened his mouth but Jack stopped him.

"I know how I'm going to do it. I made it up here from my floor using the ledges and balconies. I'll go down the same way. When I'm down I'll find a way into the training room and get some weapons. I'll fight my way out if I have to."

The determination in his eyes was back, and for a moment Hiccup was lost, simply taking in the startling blue irises and the contrast they had with the rest of his face. It was then that he made up his mind.

"I'm coming with you."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. "Hic, no. It's too dangerous. You have to go back to your district! Think of your family.

"Jack, you're not changing my mind," Hiccup said, voice matching Jack's determination. "I'm done with playing the Capitol's games. I'm done with not being allowed to have what I want. I want you, and I'm not letting you go alone. You saved my life in the arena so many times, the least I can do is come with you now."

"You don't owe me this, Hiccup," Jack said softly. "I just want you to be happy."

"But I'm happy with you," Hiccup replied simply, and before Jack could protest he closed the gap between them and pressed their lips together.

When they broke apart Jack was still staring at him as though begging him to reconsider. Hiccup maintained the gaze though, not backing down. Finally Jack sighed.

"Okay."

The two said no more as they moved close together, wrapping their arms around each other and looking out over the city.

Soon they would try and escape the Capitol. Maybe they would make it, and they could leave the city behind forever, finally defeating the games and leaving them victor-less. Who knew, they could maybe sneak back into their districts to see everyone, to let them know that they were still alive. Hiccup would love to see Astrid and his parents again, as well as his cat, and he was sure Jack had loved ones he missed also.

Maybe they would make it, maybe they wouldn't. If they did, they would become the most wanted fugitives in Panem. But right now, they were just two boys, one from district four and one from district ten, sat on a balcony together and looking at the lights below them. Right now they were together.

They were right where they belonged.