Fight For Me

Chapter 3:

Dean tugged nervously at his training uniform, which was black with "12" on the sleeves and on the back. All the tributes had gathered in the training room. The instructor was explaining the different stations that would be available. "And most importantly, no fighting with the other tributes. There are trained professionals available if you need a sparring partner. Good luck."

Charlie let out a huff and turned to Dean. She lowered her voice. "So what's our plan?"

"Let's start with basic survival skills," replied Dean in a similar hushed tone. "Building fires, poison versus non-poison, tying knots, and whatever else is available. But no one should know we're working together."

"Agreed. You start with the fire and I'll go memorize plants. That'll be easiest for me." Charlie looked over at the fire building station and spotted Lisa. "There's your girlfriend." Charlie winked and headed over to the station for identifying plants. Dean could feel blush creep onto his cheeks. Charlie thought he had been looking at Lisa. He decided that was probably a good thing. He walked over the fire building station and sat down next to Lisa. The instructor explained the basics and handed them the only tools they were allowed, which was just wood.

Dean and Lisa ignored each other and both attempted to build fires. Lisa struggled to get friction and eventually threw a wooden stick across the room. Dean tried not to laugh. It took him a few tries, but eventually he was able to get a fire started. He looked up to see Lisa glaring at him.

"Castiel!" shouted Lisa as she stood up. Castiel walked over to Lisa and Dean could feel his heart rate pick up. "You learn how to do this after we throw some spears because I'm fed up!"

Castiel chuckled and smiled. "Sure thing, Lisa. Let's go get in line." Lisa stormed off; Castiel followed, but not before smiling at Dean and waving goodbye as he walked away. Dean stared at Castiel with parted lips. He waved back, but by the time he was able to raise his arm, Castiel had already turned his back to Dean. Charlie walked over just in time to see Dean looking like he had been hypnotized.

"Dean!" she snapped in a whisper.

Dean blinked and snapped his head in Charlie's direction. "What?" Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"Head in the game, big boy. She'll snap you like a twig." Charlie walked back to the plant station, leaving Dean to snap back into reality on his own. What snapped him back wasn't Charlie, however, it was the fact he began to feel something painful on his leg. He looked down to see his pant leg had caught on fire.

"Shit!" he shouted. He got to his feet and tried stomping around to put out the fire. The fire eventually went out since it was small, but Dean had earned laughter from all the other tributes. Even Charlie laughed. Dean felt his whole face get red as watched 23 other people laugh at his expense. That's when he noticed not every tribute was laughing. Castiel wasn't laughing at all. Had he seen?

"I thought you were supposed to be good with fire, Winchester," said Jo. Everyone besides Castiel and Charlie laughed again.

"Didn't you hear?" asked Adam. "The guy doesn't work in the coal mines even though he's 20. No wonder he'd fuck up like that." Laughter erupted again.

"Alright, break it up, back to training," said the main instructor, taking pity on Dean. All the tributes laughter faded into giggles and snarky remarks whispered amongst themselves. Dean stayed at the fire building station and tried not to catch anyone's gaze.

After a little while Dean had the technique down pretty well. His eyes were on his growing fire when he noticed someone sit next to him. He looked up to see Castiel. His heart jumped up into his throat. Castiel smiled at him, "Hi, I'm Castiel."

"D-Dean," replied Dean completely flabbergasted. A Career was speaking to him nicely. "My name's Dean."

Castiel beamed. "It's good to meet you." He picked up some wood and started attempting to make a fire. Dean remained silent. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't say anything. For some reason, Castiel took his breath away. There was something in the way Castiel's hair fell, and the way his eyes glowed from the small fire. After a few moments, Castiel decided to break the silence himself. "I saw what you did for your brother. It was very brave."

"Thank you," said Dean quietly. His thoughts started to go back to Sam. Was he okay? Was he hungry? Scared?

"Castiel," said Lisa as she walked over, "enough with the fire. Come sword fight."

Castiel nodded his head. "Sure, Lisa." He turned to Dean and gave a small wave before running off with Lisa.

Dean eventually left the fire building station and went to knot tying. After knot tying he tried his hand at determining poison from non-poisonous plants and bugs. He had to admit that without Charlie, he'd probably end up killing himself by mistake.

The instructor came in and told everyone to take a break for lunch. Dean and Charlie sat together. Most of the tributes either ate alone, or with their fellow tribute from their district. The Careers were the only group eating together. Dean caught himself looking over at Castiel again. Castiel was talking and laughing, and he seemed so happy. Dean couldn't help but wonder how someone that seemed so kind could be a trained killer.

"Dean, I'm going to punch you," said Charlie.

Dean looked away from Castiel and turned his attention to Charlie with a look of confusion. "What? What did I do?"

"Will you stop checking out the competition? Careers should be targets, not love interests." Charlie smacked Dean's shoulder.

"I'm not checking him out!" Dean snapped in a hushed tone.

Charlie blinked a few times. "Him?" she asked making sure she heard correctly. Dean's cheeks instantly turned a bright shade of red. He stuttered, trying to form words, but nothing would come out. Charlie leaned closer to Dean and whispered, "Are you gay?" Dean slowly nodded his head. He felt so ashamed. Charlie was probably going to turn away in disgust. Just when Dean was about to get up and leave he noticed Charlie grinning ear to ear. She touched him arm lightly. "It's okay! I'm a lesbian!"

Dean's face turned from remorse to shock and happiness. "You are?" he asked in a whisper despite wanting to shout. Charlie nodded excitedly. Dean sighed in relief and smiled. Finally, someone who understood.

Both Dean and Charlie couldn't help but to want to gossip about the other tributes, but they knew that if anyone heard it could turn sour. They decided to hold in any giggles they had until training was over. Despite this, Charlie couldn't help but to glance at Castiel, and then look at Dean with a provocative grin before running off to the knot tying station. Dean couldn't help but to grin as he made his way to try his hand at throwing a spear. He couldn't help but to feel happy that Charlie wasn't judging him. He had always been ridiculed back in District 12. Even though he never came out, most people assumed. He never brought any girls home, and he had an unfortunate tendency to look at the few attractive men that worked in the mines.

When it was Dean's turn to throw spears, the instructor taught him the proper stance to throw a spear, but Dean was struggling. He could throw just fine, but his aim was off. After hitting the arm of the human shaped target four times in a row, he tossed the last spear away in frustration. Before he could walk away, he saw Castiel pick the spear up from the ground and hand to him.

"Don't give up," said Castiel as he let Dean take the spear back. "Your form is good, you just need to adjust your aim by the way—"

"Castiel!" shouted Lisa as she marched over. "For Christ sake don't help him!" She glared at Dean. "You're not working with us if that's what you think. For-get-it."

"Lisa, I was just handing it back to him," said Castiel placing a hand on Lisa's shoulder. "We're in this together. Don't worry about it."

Lisa transferred her glare to Castiel, "Meet me at archery." She walked away with a huff.

Castiel started to walk away, but first he whispered in Dean's ear. "Turn your torso to the right and try one more time." He pulled away and winked before joining Lisa.

Dean felt his breath catch again. He looked over to see Charlie barely holding in her laughter. He shook his head at her and turned back to the target. Turning his torso to his right, he threw the spear. A few tributes clapped when they noticed that Dean had skewered the targets heart. Dean suddenly wasn't sure if he was smiling because of his success, or because he was able to achieve his success because of Castiel. Either way, he smiled and continued to practice until he had the technique down to a science. Castiel gave Dean a thumbs-up when Lisa wasn't looking. Dean felt himself blush and quickly moved to another station before Castiel could see.

"You'll never be one of us, Winchester," said Lisa as she walked by.

Dean narrowed his eyes and tried to just ignore it, but he had, had enough. "Well that's good. See at least since I'm a guy, I can be buff and still get a date."

Lisa stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. "What did you say to me?" The other tributes whispered and laughed.

"I said at least I can get a date. By the way you cling to Castiel, I'm assuming he's the only guy that'll talk to you," said Dean as he crossed his arms.

"OHHH!" shouted the other tributes, including Charlie whom was stifling her laughter. Castiel had to remain completely still in order not to laugh.

Lisa stepped up to Dean. She had to look up at him, but she showed no fear despite the massive difference in height. Dean was easily six feet tall, and Lisa was only about 5'7. Lisa pressed one finger to Dean's chest. "You better watch yourself. When we get into that arena, you'll be the first son of a bitch I let bleed out." She walked away and grabbed Castiel, dragging him to a different part of the training room away from everyone else.

The time allotted for training ended and everyone headed back to their living quarters. Tributes loaded the elevators. Castiel went to get on the same elevator as Lisa, but the doors closed on him. Dean noticed this and held the door to the elevator he and Charlie were on. "Castiel."

Castiel turned around and saw Dean holding the door. "Oh! Thank you!" he said as quickly jogged over and stepped in the elevator. "Thank you, Dean. I appreciate it."

"It's no problem," said Dean as he pushed the button labeled "2". Normally the elevator shot up right away, but for some reason the elevator was staying in place. Castiel took the opportunity to attempt small talk without Lisa's input.

"You did really well at throwing spears," he said.

Dean couldn't help but to smile. "Thanks. What you told me really helped."

"I'm glad." Silence fell. Dean wanted to keep talking, but what was he supposed to discuss with a Career? Castiel decided to keep trying to talk regardless. "I'm sorry about Lisa."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I really don't care. I just got annoyed," said Dean suddenly feeling embarrassed. Lisa was probably Castiel's friend, and what he had said earlier might have been an insult to Castiel as much as it was to Lisa.

Castiel chuckled. "That's understandable. Lisa can be very overbearing."

"Yeah…" Dean trailed off. "This is ridiculous." He pushed the emergency call button. Something was clearly wrong with the elevator. As he looked up at the camera and waved, hoping to get someone's attention, he didn't notice Castiel's expression turn sad. Castiel felt like he had bothered Dean and now really hoped the elevator would work soon.

Suddenly a voice came from the camera overhead. "Sorry, tributes, we're having some difficulties. It may be a while."

"Are you kidding me?" groaned Charlie as she sank to a seated position. Dean and Castiel sat down as well, both of them huffing in frustration.

Several minutes passed in silence, and eventually Charlie had come up with a decent scheme to get Dean and Castiel speaking. "Okay, let's play never have I ever. I'm bored as fuck here."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"What?" asked Castiel confused. "I've never heard of this."

"It's a game," said Dean. "Hold up ten fingers." Castiel did as told still looking confused. Dean held up ten fingers as well. "Good. Now we're going to take turns. One person says something they've never done. And if you have done it, you lose a finger." Dean folded in his thumb. "If you haven't done it either, you keep it up. Last person with fingers up wins."

"What is the point of this…?" asked Castiel trying not to sound rude.

"It's a District 12 game you learn as a kid, and there's nothing better to do in this elevator, unless you have a better idea," said Charlie. Castiel shook his head. Charlie smiled. "Then I'll go first."

The children's game went on and worked out better than Charlie had expected. Dean and Castiel were both laughing and sharing stories like the two had known each other for years. Dean finished one of this stories and Charlie almost fell over in laughter. "Okay, okay," she said trying to catch her breath.

"Okay, never have I ever…" Dean paused trying to think of something. An idea popped into his head and he instantly felt embarrassed, but it was all he could think of at the moment. "Kissed a girl." Castiel kept his six remaining fingers up. Dean couldn't help but to feel shocked. Castiel had NEVER kissed a girl? Charlie's face turned crimson and she put a finger down.

Castiel chuckled. "Charlie? I didn't take you for a lesbian."

"Guilty as charged," said Charlie trying to will her blush to go away.

"That explains why you're the only girl that's not falling over Adam."

"Adam? God no! Now there's this really cute brown girl from District 5, and she has these huge," Charlie gestured to her chest. Both Dean and Castiel started laughing. "I can't believe you've never kissed a girl, Castiel."

"Never found the right girl I guess…" Castiel trailed off. Dean felt his smile fade. Guess Castiel hadn't kissed a girl for a different reason than he had secretly hoped. "But anyway."

"My turn! Never have I ever…" Charlie felt a wide smirk form on her lips, "kissed a BOY." Both Dean and Castiel turned bright red put a finger down. Once they noticed that the other had put a finger down, wide smiles crept onto their lips.

"You're not," said Dean trying to make his smile fade.

Castiel felt his face somehow turn even redder and he nearly giggled. "I am…and you?" It was Dean's turn to giggle quietly out of sheer embarrassment.

"Maybe," he said shooting Charlie a playful glare. He knew what she was up to. His main question was how she knew that Castiel was gay. Did she know, or did she just take a chance?

"Looks like we're all a bunch of misfits," said Charlie. Dean and Castiel both smiled and agreed with small laughs.

"Okay it's working now," said a voice from the camera in the top corner of the elevator.

"I win!" exclaimed Castiel as he got to his feet. Dean and Charlie stood up along with him. The elevator shot up to the District 2 living space. The doors started to open, but Castiel stopped them. He leaned and whispered to Dean, "If you want, meet me in the main living room at midnight. Lisa will be asleep." Castiel allowed the doors to open, revealing a very angry Lisa. "It got stuck. I'm here." Lisa narrowed her eyes at Dean and Charlie. She grabbed Castiel's arm and started to drag him away. Castiel turned his head and gave Dean a wink before the elevator doors closed.

"AHHHHHH!" Charlie screamed whilst jumping up and down. Dean jumped backwards away from her.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked as he pushed the button labeled "12".

Charlie bounced on her toes. "You liiiike him! And he liiiikes you!" she squealed.

"Charlie incase no one ever told you, you're insane!" Dean stepped out of the elevator.

"No, I'm not! Come on! There's nothing wrong with having some fun while we can. We're probably going to die anyway. You said that yourself. Why not live a little?"

"Because I might have to kill him!"

"Kill who?" asked Haymitch as he walked into the living room.

"No one," said Dean.

"Making friends are we?" Haymitch rolled his eyes and walked over to get a drink. "I told you, allies are fine, but don't make friends. That's the mistake I made in the past."

Charlie walked over to Haymitch, "It couldn't have been that bad. Right?"

"It was a girl. I fell in love with her. We went our separate ways because we didn't want to hurt each other. Then, she was murdered and I had to live with it. I still live with it. Don't. Get. Attached. To anyone."

"But we're going to probably die in there. Why not live a little?"

"Others may not be as accepting with their fate as you are sweetheart," Haymitch huffed and grabbed some food. "And I thought you were going to fight."

Charlie sighed, "I'm not giving up, but I also know I'm no fighter."

"Well that's you," said Dean. "I'm going to fight. And I'm going home. So you live it up, I'm going to earn my ticket home." Dean walked into his room and allowed the doors to close behind him before he punched a wall. He held his fist in pain. He wanted to go home. He wanted to be there to take care of Sam, but he knew his chances. How was he going to win? How was he going to beat the Careers, especially when he couldn't imagine hurting one of them? He lay in bed and stared out the window that looked over the Capitol and wondered how things could possibly get any worse.

It was 11:45 p.m. Dean stared at the clock and pondered Castiel's earlier offer. Should he go…? I smell bad. He told himself. There. That was a good excuse. Dean didn't know if he blacked out, but somehow next thing he knew he was taking the fastest shower of his life. He shook his head. What was he doing? This was ridiculous. He stepped out of the shower and started looking through his clothes. How stupid could he be? He might have to kill Castiel, and there he was picking out the best clothes to go meet Castiel in secret. Eventually, Dean picked out a nice, green and grey plaid shirt, and dark blue jeans. He buttoned the sleeves at the elbow and combed his hair. I'm an idiot… He thought. He glanced at the clock. 11:55 p.m. He quickly tip-toed out of his room and couldn't be more thankful that the elevator was silent. He pressed the button labeled "lobby". The elevator came to a halt and he stepped out into the living room that was for all tributes.

Several minutes passed and Castiel was still nowhere to be found. Dean looked at the clock. 12:10. Had it been a joke? Was he a fool for even showing up? He pinched the bridge of nose and couldn't believe he had been so stupid. Just as he was ready to leave the elevator opened up to reveal Castiel. Castiel was wearing a white button up shirt and light blue jeans. He waved at Dean and hurried over. He sat next to Dean on the couch. "I'm so sorry I'm late!" he whispered. "Lisa woke up and I had to make up a story. Then I had to wait for her to fall asleep again."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you came," said Dean.

"I'm glad you came too. I wasn't sure if you'd show up," mumbled Castiel as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I realized after the elevator closed that what I said might have sounded weird…"

"No, not at all. I was mainly just surprised. I didn't think you'd want to talk to me. I mean you're a Career and I'm a loser from District 12."

"Yeah, I'm a Career… And I couldn't hate it more."

"Really?" Dean adjusted in his seat, maneuvering closer to Castiel. "I didn't think that Careers didn't like being Careers. I thought you chose to train for this."

"No. My family is trying to make it a tradition. My father won the games when he was 18. And I was supposed to do the same. But another guy volunteered before I could. Then…this year with the rule change…I had to resume my training to prepare."

Dean waved his hand. "Hold up. You knew about the rule?"

"The Capitol always informs District 1 and District 2 about Quarter Quell rule changes so that us Careers can better prepare for a good show. And being 20 years old, I was their first choice. So my family was the first to know about it."

"No offense, but that's sick and wrong."

Castiel nodded his head. "Oh I completely agree. I don't want any part of this. But I have no choice. Believe me, it's not fun being feared. It's horrible. I've spent my whole life trained to be a killer. And all I ever wanted was to be normal. In more ways than one…" Castiel trailed off.

"I've never been very comfortable with it either," whispered Dean in a comforting tone. "My father guessed about one day, and told me he'd kick me out if I ever brought a guy home. I was supposed to woo a girl and keep the Winchester name strong, as if that matters these days."

Castiel's eyebrows knit. "I'm so sorry." Dean shrugged. "If it helps, I had to hide too. Hell if my dad ever found out, I think he'd kill me. I'm supposed to win these games and keep the Novak name honorable and feared in District 2. Then of course, I'm supposed to marry this girl Hannah."

"Wait, what?" asked Dean a little too loudly. He brought his head down and whispered, "Wait, what? You're kidding right?" Castiel shook his head. "Does she know?" Castiel shook his head again. "So, if you win, you're still going to go through with that marriage?"

Castiel sighed, "Yes. I don't want to, but I don't have a choice. Hannah is a beautiful woman. And if my father suspects anything, I will have been better off dying in the games."

"Well, despite that, I hope you win," whispered Dean with a small smile. "You've been training so long, I'm sure you'll be fine."

Castiel smiled and looked away. He stared out the window that looked out into the city. "That's kind, but I don't know. Part of me doesn't want to win, even if that means dying. I'd rather someone who deserves to win go home. Someone who deserves to return to their family." Castiel looked up at Dean with a soft expression. "Someone like you."

"How could you possibly know I deserve to go home?"

"Because you volunteered to go into these games to save your brother's life, not to take the lives of others. You're a protector. I'm a killer."

Dean placed his hand on Castiel's knee. "No, you're not a killer. Have you killed someone?" Castiel shook his head lightly, holding Dean's gaze. "Then you're not."

"But I will be. These games are going to make me into something I'm not. Or worse, they'll make me into something that I've been trained to be. And all these years I've spent fighting it will be for nothing." Castiel could feel tears gathering in his eyes. He tried to push them back, but for some reason, he felt like it was okay for Dean to see him vulnerable. "I don't want to win these games." A tear rolled down Castiel's cheek. "But I don't want to die."

Dean scooted closer to Castiel and put his arm around Castiel. "Hey, it's okay. We're all scared. I don't want to die either… It'll be okay, Cas."

"Cas?" Castiel chuckled and wiped away his tears. "Why did you call me Cas?"

Dean felt himself blush, and was grateful it was dark. The only light in the room was from the moon. He could see Castiel's facial features, but couldn't distinguish any color, aside from his eyes. "I tend to give nicknames to people that I…know." That I care about… He thought.

"I like it," whispered Castiel trying not to tear up anymore. He wiped at his eyes and sniffled slightly. "Sorry for getting worked up. I guess I've just been holding in a lot."

"No, no, it's fine. I've been holding in a lot too. Letting it out in the middle of the night is usually the best time; when there's no cameras." Dean rubbed Castiel's shoulder lightly before pulling away. He didn't want to pull away from Castiel, but he knew if he stayed like that and someone came into the living room, explaining would be nearly impossible.

"Well, we should probably go get some sleep…" mumbled Castiel, not really wanting to leave. "We've got training in the morning after all." Dean nodded in agreement.

"Do you want to meet here again tomorrow night?" he asked shyly.

Castiel smiled, "Yes, I do." He got up from the couch and walked over to the elevator. "Goodnight, Dean."

"Goodnight…Cas."

Castiel grinned from ear to ear at Dean until the elevator doors closed. Dean smiled impishly to himself as he got onto the elevator, walked into his room, changed his clothes to sleepwear, and climbed into bed. His smile simply wouldn't fade. It stuck with him until he drifted to sleep.

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading! I had a great time working on this chapter. It got me through school. XD I hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to leave me a review to tell me your thoughts. And check out my other stories if you haven't already. Bye bye~