Chapter Seventeen

A/N: No reviewers.

The quiet of confusion lasted barely a split second once the boy had showed his face, before Harry had seized the knife from Abby's hand, advancing on the intruder into their camp.

"Abby, get back!" he instructed her in a shout, before taking a lunge towards Alex. The boy deftly dodged the potential blow, as he did the next, and the one after that. However, when Harry made a fourth attempt, he misjudged, and went tumbling over the edge of the cave. Abby shrieked, as did Belle and Costa, but the other male in the group was far quicker to react than they were, throwing himself to his knees and grasping Harry's upper arms, using all his strength to haul the boy back into the cave.

Once they were all safely back inside, the group fell into silence, shocked by how events had taken shape. Harry seemed the most shocked of all, rightly so; he had assumed that as one of the Career pack, Alex would have wanted to take out as many of them as possible, especially when it would have been so easily to allow him to fall and claim he couldn't save him, to infiltrate the group and kill the others later. He had never thought that the boy might be the one to save him.

"What are you doing here, Alex?" questioned Abby, asking the question they had all been too afraid to. Alex shrugged his shoulders slightly, appearing far more nonchalant than anyone should be in such a dangerous situation.

"I promised I would keep you safe. That's what I'm going to do." he responded, bringing her back to the conversation they had had on the train from District Twelve. It seemed to have been months ago, years even, when it had been scarcely more than two weeks ago.

"We've been in the Arena for ten days, Alex!" she exclaimed, her anger finally bubbling over. "For ten days, I've been trying to avoid being killed, and you were nowhere to be seen, because you'd already teamed up with the Careers before we got up the rock face. You probably led them right to us! So, tell me, how have you been keeping me safe?!"

"That's exactly what I've been doing!" he cried out in response. The rest of the group had fallen silent, all of them concentrating on the argument unfolding between the two Tributes from District Twelve, which was becoming steadily more heated with each word they exchanged.

"What, by joining up with the group of people trying to kill us?!" she asked, sarcasm creeping into her tone, alongside the anger. Harry winced a little at this; he knew from past experience that she was now becoming furious. "You just stood there and watched while Harry was attacked by that maniac girl from District One! You didn't even try to help him, you just let her rip him to pieces!"

"I didn't promise to protect Harry, I promised to protect you." he told her, seeming to be dismissive of her fury. Abby did not take this well at all.

"What, so you were going to just let him die?!" she questioned, her voice harsh with both anger and disbelief. Alex gave her a nod, only the slightest nod, but a nod all the same. "No! That's not how we do things here, we stick together."

"And what about when you've taken out all the Careers? What then?" They froze, silence reigning over the cave.

The group had always tried to avoid this particular conversation, and had brushed it off whenever the subject was brought to light, knowing that it would be only too painful to speak of. Once they had dealt with all of the Careers, it would only be them left. Their alliance would be over and they would be forced to kill each other. There was still hope, in Abby's mind. After all, her parents had both escaped the Arena twice together, and on the second occasion, there had been three others with them. But the Gamemakers were wise to that now. They would ensure there was only one Victor, even if it ended up meaning they had none.

"You don't know what'll happen, do you?" Alex asked, seeming almost a little smug. His District partner's stomach began to turn. 'He's changed with the Careers.' she realised. 'He really has become one of them.' "I'll tell you what'll happen. You'll keep fighting until you've defeated all your enemies, hoping and praying that some of you will die in the process. Because if you don't, then you'll be fighting to the death against people who've become your friends. Better for someone else to kill them than you, right?"

"What's the point you're trying to make?" Abby asked him, trying to hide the shiver in her voice. This wasn't the Alex she had confided to on the train, this wasn't the boy with whom she had shared her hopes and fears for the Games. This was a different Alex, his soft friendly exterior worn away by the Capitol until there was nothing but stone remaining. 'This is their doing, the Gamemakers. They've done worse than kill him. They've made him like them.'

"I'm not trying to make a point." he told her, and suddenly, he sounded like the old Alex again. "I just wanted you to remember that the Games is dangerous. You can't always rely on your friends to protect you when they might have to kill you in the end."

"Alright, you've given us your little message, Jonstone." Harry suddenly spoke, his voice filled with venom. He had evidently noticed the change in the boy as well, and he didn't like it one bit. "Now, run along back to your Career buddies."

"I ran from them. Why do you think I'm here?" When Harry squared up to him, he did not back away. They had just begun to circle each other again when Abby stepped in the middle of them.

"Stop it! Alex is right." she told Harry, and the young man balked at her defending the former Career ally so passionately. "If he goes back to them, they'll kill him as a deserter. We have to let him stay with us."

"I don't trust him." Harry protested.

"But I do." she rebuked his argument with no effort, and the boy fell silent, though he still seethed silently. 'I have to find a way to make him believe in this.' she thought, wracking her brains desperately to find one. Suddenly, her stomach flipped twice over. She had had a thought, a sickening one, but if it was what she had to do to make him believe her, she would do it. So, she drew in a deep breath and spoke. "And if he falls out of line, or tries to hurt any one of us... I'll kill him myself."

A/N: So, guys, who do you think Abby will end up with, now that Alex is back on the scene? Please review!