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Chapter 12: Last Request

"He never ever saw it

coming at all..."

~ Regina Spektor - "Hero"

He would have never expected for Katniss Everdeen to be someone that would volunteer to go with him to the feast. He would've never expected her to go anywhere with him at all, period. From the minute he first saw her, he'd thought she was nothing but a coward that was just simply lucky. It's funny how easy it was for him and Clove to misjudge every single tribute before the Games. Being that they were supposed to be the ruthless Careers of district 2, they did not really have much of a choice. Thanks to the Capitol, they had one now.

Cato began to run even faster and sure enough, Katniss was right behind him. He could almost feel her tired breath on the back of his neck, as they ran. She was that good at keeping up with him. She had her bow and arrows prepared and seemed ready to shoot the second any danger shows up. He dared thinking that he was better off with Katniss, rather than Thresh. As much as he didn't like the connection between the guy and Clove, he felt somewhat relieved that she was under Thresh's protection. He was, after all, a big guy and Cato knew he'd not abandon her under any circumstances. And thanks to that, he could focus more on his task and what he had to do in order to save Clove's life.

"We're almost there!" Cato half-yelled over his shoulder, glancing up at the sky. It was probably almost noon already. His legs started speeding up without his permission. He was in a perfect shape, and yet he felt like he was about to black out. Ever since they left the building, they never stopped, not even for a second. Not even for a sip of water. It's what made him realize he actually really respected Katniss for keeping up with him the way she had been.

"Cato!" Katniss gasped.

"What?!"

"I think someone's after us!" she whisper-yelled now so quietly he almost missed it.

"Just keep going!" he told her, squeezing the handle of his sword, not even looking back. There wasn't a single thing in the arena that could stop him from getting the medicine for Clove. If anyone thought that he was lethal before, he didn't know how they would describe him now.

You promised her.

"Cato!"

"Keep going!" he yelled again, throwing a glance over his shoulder. "don't stop!"

His lungs were burning and he knew Fire Girl must have had the very same problem. Lack of oxygen made his head go dizzy. But he never stopped. He never slowed down.

You promised her.

He didn't care was there anyone following them. If Katniss was right, then whoever was behind them was dead already. Nobody was going to get in his way now.

Another ten minutes passed and they ran out of the woods into the clearing. They stopped for a brief moment, just panting heavily in silence.

"What are we doing?" Katniss choked out suddenly, feeling sweat drip down her neck.

"Get your bow ready," Cato told her, still breathing heavily, but doing a great job at pretending that he was feeling way better than he actually was. "we're gonna go along tree line until we see the cabin."

"I'm telling you someone is follow-"

"Then they must have a death wish." Cato hissed, shooting her a dangerous look, that made her look away. "We need to get to that cabin. Come on."

Cato quickly put on clothes that his trainer had left for him in his locker and took a deep breath. It was going to be easy. He knew it would.

Why the bad feeling?

Mock Games were something he'd always dreamed of being a part of. They were the key to getting picked for the real thing. And Cato knew he was the best. He had it. He'd already won.

Then why the bad feeling?

Since when did his gut begin tricking him this way? What the hell was happening to him?

Cato shook it off, ignoring his own thoughts. He exited locker room and as he started making his way down the hall, something took his breath away.

"Hey."

"Clove?" his throat went dry, as her name escaped his lips. "What are you doing here?". She was probably just taking a walk. At 3 o'clock in the morning. Dressed for Mock Games. Right. "Are you," his voice actually cracked at the thought and he looked away. "You going in too?"

"Yeah." she told him with a frown. "Why? You scared?" Clove teased him, letting that pretty smirk of hers erase the frown.

"I didn't-" he choked again on his own words. By then Clove was staring at him as if seriously considering calling for medical assistance. He had to suck it up but how? How did he not see this coming? He cleared his throat before continuing, "I didn't realize they'd picked you, too."

"Are you trying to insult me or just belittle my skills?" Clove asked and he could tell she was mad at him for what he just said.

"I don't-"

"Better watch your back, Hawks. I'll strike when you'll least expect it." she told him, the freezing tone of her voice made chills run down his spine. And with that she just went and walked away from him. And he was left there, feeling one hundred procent helpless and anything but confident. Why did they choose her all of a sudden? They probably told her to join the Games right after he'd been told to replace Amos. They were playing him.

Bitches.

It seemed like days had passed before Cato finally saw a glimpse of the cabin between the trees. It felt as if something super heavy fell off of his shoulders.

He stopped abruptly, panting heavily like never before. A few seconds later right next to him, he heard Katniss' gasps for more oxygen. "You're a good runner." he told her matter-of-factly, "We need to make a plan." he added, ignoring the surprised look on her face, as he turned to face her. "I'm gonna go in, you stay back here and cover me. If you see anyone running towards the cabin," he paused, throwing a brief glance at the bow in her hands. "Kill them."

Katniss' eyes grew wider and she opened her mouth as if to say something, but he didn't really give her a chance. He was already stepping out of the woods, when a small hand grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him back surprisingly hard.

"What the-"

He didn't have the time to finish that thought, because a girl with long, dark-blond hair suddenly appeared in the clearing. Katniss let go of his jacket and he turned to glare at her. "The fuck was that?"

"I was thinking it'd be a good idea to wait for someone else to go inside that cabin first. See if she makes it out okay." Katniss told him, as if that was the most obvious thing ever. And he hated how courageous she seemed all of a sudden. That was something new to him. He was used to people looking at him with anxiety filling their eyes. But then there was Clove. She had never looked at him that way before. She'd never been afraid of him. And that was probably what had him fall for her in the first place. He could relate to her so much; in fact, much more than he would ever want to admit.

"Okay." Cato said with a simple nod, his glare softening a bit. "Let's wait."

He stood on a metal circle, that looked exactly the same as the ones they had in the real arena. The wind was ruffling his hair a bit and with the coolness of it, he felt a light shiver run down his spine. Was it just the wind? Or was it something else, too?

His eyes found her, standing a couple feet away to his right on the very same metal circle. Her small hands were clenched into fists and she looked whiter on the face than normal. Cato swallowed hard at the sight of her. He knew these were just Mock Games. But shit, did they not feel real enough.

"Let the 74th Hunger Games begin." A creepy-sounding voice echoed in their ears. "And may the odds be ever in your favor."

The countdown had begun before Cato had a chance to think of a way to win this thing. He looked around. More or less familiar faces surrounded him. Only one stood out, though. And he had no idea what to do. Should he try allying with her? Those were not real Games, but they sure had a great chance of getting hurt. He would hate to see her bleed for the trainers' entertainment. But then again, if she got elimated fast enough, she'd probably get taken off the list for the real thing.

"Five... Four.."

Think, Cato. Think.

"Three."

He could risk trying to be her ally, but there was a great chance she'd just try to kill him off. She seemed mad earlier. And then what? How would he make sure she doesn't survive long enough for the Game Makers to consider her seriously for the future tribute?

"Two.. One."

The oh-too-familiar gong interrupted all his confused thoughts and he had no more time to wonder. He just had to go out there and see how things would turn out. Cato jumped off the circle and sprinted toward the Cornucopia. So did every single player. Of course that would have never happened if they'd been part of real Hunger Games. But all of them had been trained hard enough to know what to do. All of them were tough and lethal. They were still no match for him. Or Clove, as it turned out. He might have been stronger, but she was definitely faster. And she made it to Cornucopia first. He saw her grab one of the backpacks and a sword. He smiled to himself.

Before she decided which way to turn and whom to fight first, Cato was already grabbing a sword himself and coming up behind her. She sensed someone's presence extremely fast, but not fast enough.

There was a noise of metal swords colliding against each other, followed by a cry of pain. Cato finished the job by punching them out into unconciousness. First cannon echoed around the arena.

Clove looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

"What?" Cato asked, smirking at her. "He was gonna kill you off."

She narrowed her eyes at him angrily and lifted her sword to try and eliminate him. He could tell she longed to hurt him. At least just a bit; he really must have gotten under her skin. His arm shot up and stopped her hand so fast she let out a surprised gasp. Cato pushed her against the wall, surprisingly gently, but firmly. "Think I'm gonna let you kill me?" he asked her with a smile, ignoring the daggers her eyes were shooting at him. "In your dreams, little girl."

"Get the hell off me before the others get here." she told him, struggling.

"Allies?" Cato asked her, oddly amused.

"Fuck you, get off!" Clove swore at him, fighting him even harder, but with no result. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two guys running toward them. "Ugh, fine! Get off me!"

Cato managed another smirk before turning on his heels just in time to stop one of the tributes from stabbing him with his weapon. Clove pushed herself off of the wall and in a blink of an eye, she was already sword fighting the other guy before he had a chance to attack Cato.

They were a perfect team.

Cato tapped his hand against his leg impatiently, as he and Katniss waited for the girl to get out of the cabin. He looked up at the sky and he was sure that time was running out.

"I'm going." he said, more to himself than to Katniss.

"Wait!" she hissed, grabbing his arm and making him grit his teeth in anger.

"It's been too long!" he barked at her with a glare, shaking her hand off of his arm. "Back the hell off!"

And without waiting for a response, he stormed away from their hiding place and ran into the clearing. He needed to get to that cabin. He had to get that medicine. The memory of Clove's pale, sweaty face made him run faster, fatigue that he felt a few seconds ago was long forgotten.

Despite that, he didn't get nearly as far as he hoped without any interruptions. He was almost halfway there, when he saw two other tributes quickly making their way to the cabin from the other side. Cato squeezed the handle of his sword and ran faster, gritting his teeth hard enough to hurt. They didn't see him coming; both of them were way too focused on getting inside as fast as they could. He didn't recognize them. He had no idea which districts either one of them was from. And he didn't care.

When they finally noticed him running toward them, it was far too late to get back. So they continued to run for the cabin, anxiety and fear effectively slowing them down. Cato reached them a few feet away from the door. He punched one of them so hard he collapsed on the ground stright away. The other boy, who was taller and heavier than the first one, retrieved his spear and tried to stab him with it. Apparently, every team in the arena was now in possesion of some weapons. At least now he felt like he was a part of Hunger Games, not a camping trip.

Cato avoided his opponent's spear with ease every time he tried to hurt him with it. Tired of his lousy efforts, he decided it was time to just get this over with. Something wasn't letting him do it, though. Something inside of him was stopping him from reaching forward and putting the sword through that kid's body. He saw how scared he was. His pale face, his glistening eyes. He saw how he did not want to die. And what was worse... Cato didn't want to have to kill him.

What about Clove? Do you want her to die?

Cato winced, as his subconcious voice echoed throughout his head. Of course he didn't. He was there for her. He was about to kill an innocent kid for her. He didn't have a choice. He didn't want to kill that boy. But he was not going to let Clove die.

"Sorry." Cato rasped and knocked the spear out of the kid's shaking hands with one swing of his sword. The brown-haired boy stared at him in shock, tears sprung to his eyes. Cato looked back at him, determined to make it as quick and painless as he possibly could. But before he could do anything, he heard a quiet gasp of pain right behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw the guy he had punched out earlier standing there with wide eyes. A second later he collapsed on the ground yet again, a black arrow was sticking out of his back. Startled, Cato looked up and saw no one else, but Katniss, standing a few feet away and lowering her bow. A look of pain crossed her features as she met his gaze. He didn't have to ask her to know she had never killed a person before. She looked away and wiped a hand across her mouth with a sniff. She was doing a pretty good job at hiding how she really felt about what she had done. He knew that feeling. He felt similar when he was taking Glimmer's life.

A rustle brought him back to reality and as he turned his head, he saw the other kid disappearing inside the cabin.

"Shit." he swore and took off running after him.

"Cato!" Katniss called after him, but he didn't stop.

"C'mon!" he yelled at her without looking back. The girl had just saved his life. And if that was an exaggeration, then she had at least saved him from getting hurt. And that in his book was something. But he didn't have the time or guts to act like he was grateful. It wasn't his image or reputation he was worried about, because first of all, he had already managed to ruin those himself. And secondly, it's not like that mattered anymore. He was not getting out of the arena. But by saving him, she was also saving Clove. And for that he really was grateful.

Two cannons echoed around the arena, just as Cato stormed inside the cabin, almost breaking the door as he did. He stopped abruptly at the sight before his eyes and he did not have any time to think about whether one of the cannons could have belonged to Clove, nor did he have to. Everything he ate since yesterday twirled unpleasantly in his stomach.

A big, black wolf was dragging the brown-haired boy, that he'd failed to kill, by his throat, painting the floor dark red. Next to him, there was the girl they'd seen running inside the cabin earlier. Her dark blond hair was wet from blood and covered her face, but not enough to veil her wide open eyes that were no longer looking.

Cato felt Katniss' heavy breaths on the back of his neck. His palms started sweating so much he realized he had to tighten his grip on the sword as to avoid it from slipping from his hand. He slightly turned his head to the side, seeing Katniss' pale face out of the corner of his eye.

"Stay still," he whispered to her, fighting nausea. Katniss choked back a sob, a few tears rolled down her cheeks. The wolf licked at the wound for another few seconds before landing his hungry eyes on them and baring his teeth. Cato knew there was no chance they could just get past him or walk away. And he couldn't be more right. The wolf took another couple seconds before he decided to attack. Cato was just as fast, though and before the beast could sink its teeth in his throat, he got his sword dirty in its blood. The wolf squealed horribly and hit the wall on their left hard, then fell on the bloody floor and ceased moving.

Katniss let out a a deep breath she must have been holding for the last minute or so and he glanced at her over his shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay." he told her quietly. "Stay behind me."

She bit her shaking lip and nodded, her eyes expressing gratitude. He ignored the look she gave him, because he had no idea how to feel about it. So he slowly turned away and having his sword ready, he walked down the hall, trying not to look at the boy's or the girl's dead and ripped bodies. He couldn't help but feel relieved that the wolf spared him from killing them himself. When they walked past the two fallen tributes, Katniss muffled another sob, pressing the back of her hand to her trembling lips.

They walked inside the room where Cato had first met Clove in the arena. He felt a weird feeling tickling the very bottom of his stomach at the memory of her tiny body pressed against his chest, as he held her against the wall. He shook his head to get rid of that picture then looked around.

"See anything?" he asked Katniss who walked away to check the other side of the room.

"No, I don't see any-"

She did not get the chance to finish. The window in front of them cracked into a thousand pieces, as another, even bigger wolf jumped through it and brought Katniss down to the floor with him, growling furiously. She screamed in shock and grabbed it to try and throw it off of her, but the wolf was strong and going for her neck.

To his surprise, Cato didn't waste any time; he did not hesitate or stop to think. Before the wolf could cause her any demage, he was already throwing him off of her. The animal rolled over and quickly got back up, then jumped Cato with such force that he hit the wall behind him. His sword fell on the floor. Cato used his elbow to punch the animal's snout, but when that didn't work, he used all the power he had left to push him off and away. He had maybe a second to grab the sword from the floor before the wolf was back just to have the blade pierce its head right through. Cato kicked the wolf back, getting his sword out of the animal's head. He got on his feet in a hurry, facing a white-faced Katniss with drops of blood and dirty saliva all over her face and neck.

"You hurt?" he asked her and she shook her head firmly. "We need to find that backpack, let's go!" he told her and ran out of the room expecting more wolves to suddenly jump them. And for once in his life he wished he was wrong.

"Fuck."

About six pairs of blood-thirsty eyes were glaring at them both from the hall. Katniss sucked in a breath, her hand unintentionally grabbed and squeezed Cato's arm in fear. He didn't react, busy going through his mind to try and find at least one idea that'd get them out of that cabin fairly intact and with the medicine for Clove.

But how?

"Katniss." he whispered, thankful for being able to make his voice sound strong and for being able to come up with a solution that maybe would save at least one of them. "Go find it." he told her in a firm voice, putting his sword in front of him. "now!"

Thankfully, Katniss didn't waste another second. She turned on her heels and ran in the other direction to check the other side of the cabin for the backpacks. The reaction of the animals was immediate. All at once they began sprinting toward Cato who was now blocking the hall and trying to make sure they would not get to go after Katniss. However, he knew he would not be able to last much longer.

Letting out a scream of pure rage, Cato cut the wolf who was now closest to ripping his throat open, then used the handle of his sword to punch the other one. Another wolf sank its teeth in the sleeve of his jacket and hanging from it, while the other two were about ready to jump him. "Damn it, Katniss, hurry UP!" he yelled, shaking the wild dog off of his arm and kicking one of those that was halfway to his neck. He was about to pick up his sword to cut through the third one, but all of a sudden, it let out a painful squeal and fell on the floor with a thud. Cato spun around and saw Katniss running toward him, getting another arrow ready, a black backpack hanging from her arm.

"Catch!" she gasped, throwing it at him. He caught it, put it on his back and followed Katniss, who was already running out of the cabin. They weren't even five feet from the door when they heard furious howling behind them.

Cato looked over his shoulder while running at full speed and saw at least a dozen wolves, following them just as fast. He knew it was a matter of time before they were going to catch up with them. His head hurt from exhaustion and all his thoughts that he was having a hard time putting together.

He promised her he'd come back.

But in that moment, while he could basically feel death's breath on the back of his neck, there was only one choice he had left.

Cato stopped running and quickly took the backpack off of his back, "Hey!" he yelled to Katniss, who turned around, panting, her wide eyes asking him what the hell did he think he was doing. But Cato was not about to answer her silent question. He threw the backpack toward her, just far enough for her to swiftly catch it in the air. She looked at it before glancing up and staring right into his eyes, her lips parting in shock and confusion.

"What are-"

"Take it and go!" Cato cut her off, glancing over his shoulder quickly to make sure he had enough time for talking.

"Cato-"

"Make sure Clove gets it!" Cato shouted at her but it was not an order. It was a request. His last request. The tone of his voice was pleading, rather than dictating. And the look in his eyes told her what he was about to do before he actually did it. "GO!" he yelled one last time before putting two fingers between his lips and releasing a loud whistle to lure the wolves. They heard their furious barks and judging by how loud they were, the distance between them and the wild, hungry animals was not big. Cato turned on his heels and took off in the opposite direction. Katniss put the backpack on her back and approached the nearest tree, then climbed it as fast as she could. She was halfway on top, when she saw the wolves following the smell of Cato and his whistles.

Katniss held onto the tree as tight as she could, digging her fingernails in its trunk painfully and panting. Panting so hard she thought she was going to choke the life out of her own lungs.

A few minutes had passed before she allowed herself to slowly climb back down the tree. Once her feet hit the ground, she looked at the spot where she'd last seen Cato and just stared. Tears filled her eyes and she had no idea why. But for all she knew, Cato might have just saved her life. She knew he probably didn't mean to save her. It was Clove he did that for. But nonetheless, he spared her life, too. He could have left her behind. He could have tried hurting her and leaving her for the wolves to feast on.

Katniss slowly turned around and proceeded to make her way back to where her allies had been waiting. She didn't have enough strenght to keep running at full speed so she jogged, exhausted and resigned. She couldn't tell how much time it had been before she heard the one thing she prayed she would not hear.

Cannon broke through the silence, scaring birds that had been hiding in the trees.

With a heart in her throat, she stopped and looked in the direction she had come from. She realized she was actually hoping that Cato was about to come running, safe and sound. That he was not back there, all bloody and ruined. That it was not his cannon. That perhaps it was not his end.

A tear of unidentified sorrow rolled down her cold cheek before she squeezed her eyes shut and shook off all those thoughts out of her head, deciding to focus on what had to be done and on those people that she could still help.

One last thought went through her mind before she carried on jogging through the forest:

I'm sorry, Cato..

A/N: Thank you so very much for reading and for your reviews. I really appreciate each and every one of them. I know I've been pretty bad at updating, but unfortunately my personal life has gotten in the way and I find it hard to find time and inspiration these days. I am for sure not abandoning this story, though. I'm thinking that there may be around three chapters left until the end. I hope you enjoyed this one and leave me a little comment. I'd love to know what you think!

Hope everyone's having a great week!