-Cadmus Brekken, 17, District 9-

Living in a barn wasn't so bad. Okay, so it was bad, living in a pile of cow shit and hay and not ever feeling totally clean. And yeah it was bad that the showers were not much better than getting sprayed down with a hose so then he went from covered in shit to covered in wet shit. Not to mention that he was away from his siblings in the middle of the war with a trained killer and three Capitolites.

Oh, fuck positive thinking, this was horrible. Everything about this was horrible, he didn't ask for any of it. He never wanted this, and all because this group of so-called vigilantes could get an in with a few of the tributes, now Cadmus was here, just waiting for the next cow to fart in his face. He did not know before this that cows had four stomachs, he knew it now, whether he wanted to or not.

And the worst part about it was that there was nothing Cadmus could do to change any of it. Thack and Calliope were very clear that they were here to protect the tributes, but if he went rogue, they would not come after him. They were barely older than the tributes themselves and just trying to do their jobs, he couldn't blame them. But sometimes he laid awake against a cow trying to make a plan to run away, back home, steal the van, and pick up his siblings, and then… What? That was the problem, he didn't know. And it was a risk he wasn't willing to take without a clear idea of a plan.

After the first day went past, the others started going out at night. Cadmus considered it, but he was really tired of hearing Nadia complain, Odessa argue back, and Thack get angry about it. He didn't agree at all with what was happening, but saying that wasn't going to get them anywhere. He learned that very quickly. At this point, he agreed with Calliope. Just be grateful to be alive, and do your damndest to stay that way.

It was a particularly starry night and for once, there were no complaints that he could hear outside the barn. That was rare. Maybe Nadia finally just learned her lesson and gave up. Or maybe it was just so nice to be out of the barn that she didn't have a bad thought in her brain. Yeah right. If anything, it was just nice for him to have a moment to be alone. Well, not truly alone considering he was surrounded by animals. But apart from other people, especially those other people. Each of them was stressed, tired, opinionated, and angry, and they made Cadmus feel the same, they were in the middle of a fucking war for fuck's sake. He couldn't blame them, but he was also happy to get some reprieve.

Unfortunately, his reprieve didn't last as soon the door was opened and Cadmus looked up at the figure that entered.

"Oh. Just you."

"Hi Cadmus." The older man gave him a warm smile as the pig that was his companion let out a few snorts and started towards the hay. "I was able to get to the market and make some cookies." He came over to him and sat down next to him, smiling when a cow laid down by him as well. Jem handed Cadmus a glass of milk with a lid and a straw so it wouldn't spill anywhere. "And some milk that is pasteurized."

Cadmus wanted to tell him to go away. But he wasn't sure he'd ever smelled better chocolate chip cookies in his life. He quickly sipped the milk and made a grabby motion for the plate of cookies. "Thanks," he said, only after he swallowed.

"No problem," Jem said, gently rubbing the head of a cow. "How are you, Cadmus?" he asked finally.

Cadmus gave him an incredulous look at that. "What?" he asked finally. "What kind of question is that?"

Jem sighed, looking over at his pig which was eating the hay without a worry in the world, before turning back to Cadmus. "I know. I'm sure you're tired, worried, and stressed. But if you hold all of that in, that will only make it worse. And… Cookies make everything better, right?"

"Pssh," Cadmus said, still trying to figure the farmer out. "But being honest makes me sound ungrateful," Cadmus mumbled. But he sighed a little bit when he put a cookie in his mouth. And it was good.

Jem just gave him a small smile, though his blue eyes were very serious. "Thack and Calliope are young and still processing the death of their friend. They are truly doing their best for you. But they're not the best to talk to. But you can talk to me."

Cadmus looked at the kind expression on his face for a moment before he rubbed his own arm a little bit. "What do you want from me?" he asked him, finally. "You have a dead son you're trying to replace or somethin? You want someone singing your praises for holding us here?" He just couldn't get a read on this man. He just seemed… Nice. But nobody was ever just nice.

Jem just sighed a little bit. "Lost a custody battle for my step-daughter, but no dead son," he said honestly, his face resembling a grimace. "I only want to help you right now. We're in a war. But everyone needs a little kindness." He shrugged a little bit as Cadmus gave him a look. His smile faded and he just sighed. "Cadmus, I grew up in this District. I've seen the best it has to offer. And… The worst," he added quietly, rubbing the great head of the cow that was laying by him.

He could see his own expression reflected on Jem's face. This man… He was different than the others. He was the one person that even had a chance at understanding what Cadmus had been through… It was worth a shot. Maybe if he opened up a little bit, this man would promise to protect his family too. "It's my four siblings," he said quietly, trying to keep his voice from sounding too angry. "They're alone right now. I was their only guardian, we lost both of our parents…" He grit his teeth at the lump he felt in his throat talking about them. Fuck. He couldn't open up too much. But when he looked up at Jem, the man was just looking at him, a sad expression on his face, and nodding. "I had to resort to desperate measures to take care of them, just like my parents," Cadmus said slowly, trying to figure him out, but he just got the same expression from him in return. Fuck. What did this man want from him!? "Well!?" he asked, his voice going up in volume a little bit. "I dealt drugs! Aren't you going to say something about that?!" He balled his fists a little bit and squeezed them.

Jem just gave him a sad smile. "It sounds like you were desperate to make ends meet," he said. "I've been there too. This District is created to force people like your family to live in poverty, while the rich live in luxury. Hell, the whole country is rigged that way."

"Everyone just loves to say that," Cadmus said, rolling his eyes. "Maybe that's just propaganda to get everyone to take a side, send their family members out to war."

Jem was quiet for a moment and Cadmus was just staring at him. How could he be so… Quiet!? Did he not have something to say about this? Why was he here if he didn't?

Cadmus took a long sip of milk and grit his teeth again in frustration and worry and sadness and stress and just… So many things. "How are you not terrified!? We're going to war! You're hosting fugitives! If they find us here we're all gonna die including you!" the last word came out half as a sob and he squeezed his eyes shut before the tears could come out.

Jem still remained calm as he looked at Cadmus with that level expression on his face. How was he not angry that Cadmus was going off on him like this?! Any of the others he was locked in this stupid barn with would have started yelling by now. Why not him? This man… He was different. He understood Cadmus, in a way. He wasn't just here to argue… It made Cadmus feel like he could lower his borders. But he didn't trust that this was going to last.

"This war was always going to happen whether I wanted to or not," he said. "But I've seen the poorest parts of the District. I've had students die in the Games, and witnessed their families reaction. I've seen orphans begging to be sheltered, I've seen families that had a bad crop begging for money. I care enough about all of them to be here. And I have nothing left. I know that's not the case for you, and I know what it's like to not be able to protect people you love. I'm an old man, Cadmus. I've experienced it all. This is something I care about this much. I would rather lose my life for something I care about than one of you be forced to die for something you don't believe in like I do."

Cadmus stared at him for a moment, cursing himself when the first tear dripped out of his eye. He just… Didn't understand this at all. "Why?" he asked quietly. "How could you support a war like this, that puts those same families and orphans and you in danger?"

Jem smiled sadly at his tears and gently reached over to touch his knee. "In honesty, Cadmus… I've been on the other side," he said with a small smile. "I grew up in a three-story mansion. I got cakes every year for my birthday, and always the presents I wanted, hell, I had my own convertible. I was once the mayor of this District," he added, his face growing dark at that thought. "I tried to obtain funds for us, tried to protect our children, and realized that the higher-ups always could do that, but always chose to keep it all for themselves. And when I tried to call them out on it… They killed the man I loved," he said, his voice growing even quieter. But he forced a smile when he put his head back up. "I believe in this enough to make myself guilty rather than lose another innocent. And there are people like me all around the country, that have lost just as much and care just as much. Including Mr. Jansing, and those two chasing fireflies outside."

Cadmus frowned at that. "I lost that much too…" he said slowly. "But… I can't leave my siblings behind. This all just puts them in danger."

Jem nodded at that. "I understand that," he said gently. "Your second oldest is how old?"

Cadmus felt more tears in his eyes thinking about them. "Fifteen."

"With tesserae?"

"Too many," he said quietly. "I know what you're going to say. This will keep them from being reaped. But that isn't going to do them any good if they're dead because of this war. I get it, the Games suck, trust me, I know better than anyone right now. But how are they going to make it through a war without me?! You saw what the Capitol thinks of orphans, they bomb them!" He grabbed handfuls of his pants and pulled his knees up to his face, sick just thinking about that.

"Well, even when you guys are taken somewhere safer, I'll still be here," Jem said, leaning forward to take a piece of hair out of Cadmus's snotty nose and tuck it back away from his face. "Can you trust me to handle it?"

Cadmus's jaw fell open a little bit as he pulled his face out of his knees to look at him. "Seriously?"

"I can't make any promises except for I'll do what I can to prevent innocents from danger," Jem said. He made a noise of surprise when Cadmus lunged at him and gave him a tight hug.

"Thank you so much," he said, knowing that it came out as a sob and not even caring at that moment. "I…I… I don't even know how to repay you…"

"No need to think about that." Jem just smiled.

And in that moment… Even though everything smelled, and he was surrounded by cows and shit and not clean and tired and stressed and away from his siblings and in the middle of a war with a trained killer and all those Capitolites… At least he had someone here that he could understand. And better… Even had his back.

He didn't know what he did to deserve that. For once, Cadmus Brekken didn't have to act or manipulate his way into it… It just happened to him. What was this feeling? Happy. Grateful. Appreciation. Friendship. Trust.

Cadmus pulled back a little bit once his tears stopped. And he knew exactly what to say.

"Cookies really do make everything better after all."

~.~.

-Jun Kozart, 18, District 3-

The old, withered wooden door stared him in the face.

He'd been here once before. He went basically anywhere that someone reported anomalies or so-called supernatural activity. Usually, those leads were all busts – hallucinations, attention-seekers, some other easy explanation that could have been found if any of them had fucking used their damn heads.

But not this one.

This was one place that he was sure was used as a safehold for the Ace of Spades. If only he could have broken inside, he surely would have gotten proof at the time. The stupid Ace of Spades had gotten him into to so much fucking trouble through his time working as a secret agent. And yet he still wanted to know more.

The stories that he heard from his grandfather about the organization, about the mysterious pocket watches that zapped tributes away just off-camera – but right in front of his parents' eyes. The strange few with no traceable past and no family history, with alter-egos out the wazoo everywhere they went. The only indication that they were not from this time being the pocketwatches that took them on their adventures, the vessel through which the energy transferred, usually a coat of some sort, and unnaturally bright blue eyes.

His cousins listened out of respect to him, but were soon off playing with whatever shiny new toy they owned. But to Jun, the one with a single mother that was often absent through his childhood, through no fault of her own… They were one of the few things he looked forward to. He loved going to visit his grandfather and hear his stories, even when Mom was working overtime. And as he got older, he put all of his energy into gathering information about how the Spades could possibly be meddling in their present.

That was what sent him to District Five that evening to question Owen. Something about his appearance, he just had to know if he had any history – or lineage – with the Spades. He looked just like Atticus Hollow, one of the confirmed Spades from Grandpa Deck. He could have been the very same, they were time travelers for fuck's sake, who knew when they were born, how they grew up, or where they came from!? His investigation led him to a dead end, of course. Just a fucking crush that killed him inside, nothing more than that.

Just when he stopped searching for the Spades, he found them. Or, well… They found him. Manipulating the timeline to cause… Some big difference of events. But a single mortal like him would never know exactly how that one event in this timeline would make a difference. But it did lead him to think. What would happen in the timeline where he didn't find Lizzie? Obviously they knew if they took it upon themselves to come "fix" this timeline in the favor of the rebels. And this is the change they chose. Not to save Phil from him, not to give Wolf or Kat some needed pep in their step or whatever, but to come to Jun.

All of this was just far too big for him to wrap his head around. And most people wouldn't think anything of it. But for someone that had spent most of his teenage life studying how the Spades manipulated time – and why – it was a big fucking deal. They had infinite universes to choose from, infinite timelines to try and fix. But they chose his, for just a few moments.

A few moments that would change his life. And change the trajectory of events. It really could be a change as small as a butterfly, flapping its wings at a different time, to change everything. All the while, himself and the others were naught but slaves to time, waiting to see how each event would impact them. What a life to live.

Now he was here. He still didn't know how this one change was going to impact the turning of events. Perhaps because Lizzie would kill him, and they would turn the propaganda somehow to get the rebels more support. Perhaps so he could bring Lizzie home to her friends and they could rain down hell together. Or perhaps because something had already happened to her – or would happen in the future – that he was meant to witness. God, please no…

He didn't know, but for whatever reason, the puppeteers of fate were bringing them together. That would be a great pickup line, it was straight out of a cheesy sci-fi novel. In any other world. But here, in a war-torn Panem… They all had to simply focus on the next step. Whether it was staying alive, in Lizzie's case, or… Helping Wolf until he repaid his debt, like Jun.

So he knocked on the door. Whatever it was that was going to happen, it was all engineered to happen this way. By other human beings playing god, trying to make this work. But that was just it. They were still humans. Nothing was guaranteed. This could all still descend into fiery chaos. And they could just jump out, but people like Jun had to stay and face the consequences of their meddling. Whether they were good consequences or not.

Suddenly the door was thrown open, and on the other side he saw a feral Lizzie, waving a curtain rod around like crazy and yelling at the top of her lungs.

"AYAYAYAYAYAYE! DIE! HI-YAH! YOU WANT SOMEA THIS!? WHIPPAH!"

Jun jumped out of the way, putting up his hands to show he had no weapons and yelling over her. "Woah woah woah! Hey! It's just me! AYE!" He made a small yell when she whacked him between the legs. For one singular instance in his entire life, Jun was actually so happy he did not have a penis. Still, she put some arm into that swing, and it hurt like a bitch and had Jun holding his crotch.

Lizzie finally put down the curtain rod before she struck him again. When she saw who it was, she threw down the curtain rod, which clanked and clamored on the ground. "Alvis!" she said, hurrying over to him. "Oh my God I'm so sorry Alvis!" she said, grabbing his hand to pull him up. "Are you okay!?" she asked, holding his cheeks for a moment before she knelt down and started touching his hips and pelvis.

Jun cleared his throat loudly, heavily conflicted about having a pretty girl touching his bits while they were throbbing in pain. "I'm fine," he reassured her. "Let's get inside. I don't trust that there aren't guards stationed near here." He led the way inside the little dingy place, still cradling himself a little bit. Yeah, he had so much more respect for people that gave birth now.

"Ooooh oh oh, I'm so sorry," Lizzie said as she threw the door shut and barricaded it like an expert. Jun raised an eyebrow at that. How did she know how to do that? She didn't know. "Ooooh," she said, her voice full of worry as she directed him to sit down on the little loveseat. When he did, a cloud of dust formed around his face and he started coughing as Lizzie produced a cold water bottle him from a little mini-fridge in the far corner and stuck it between his legs. "Ooh I'm so sorry," she said again, stepping back from him and putting her hand over her mouth, her green eyes wide in shock still. "Are you okay?!"

Jun held the water bottle for a few seconds, sighing a little bit. But when he saw her there, just standing there and staring at him and still covering her mouth, he realized he was such a fucking idiot for sitting there and holding a water bottle on his cooch! He threw it to the side and jumped up, hurrying over to her and giving her a tight hug. "Are you okay?! Lizzie! Oh my God. Thank God you're okay," he said quickly. And… Smelly. Very smelly. But okay, that was what mattered most.

Lizzie hugged him back and laughed a little bit. "What are you doing here?" she asked finally. "I thought you were going into the Games and I'd never see you again…"

Jun pulled back to blink for a few seconds at her. "Oh…" he said. "You… Might want to sit down for this," Jun said, smiling when she went to sit down on a wooden rocking chair that… was definitely homemade with the number of nails sticking out the side of it. But Lizzie didn't seem to mind. She looked up at him with wide, expectant green eyes. How was he going to put this lightly…? Jun slowly started to explain what happened to the Arena and the tributes as he retrieved the water bottle to put it back between his legs as his cooch was still a little cranky from getting smacked with a curtain rod. Lizzie hung on each of his words, but as soon as he was done, he knew what she was going to ask.

"Where are my friends?"

Jun chuckled a little bit. All of that – a fucking war coming – and she was just worried about her friends. "Mari is with us," he said. Though he wasn't even sure if he counted as us anymore. Surely he would, now that he'd successfully found her and was going to bring her back. "She's hidden off in the catacombs of the Capitol with Rose." Oh man, he had to explain that too… "Freddy is under the Capitol's protection. Different side, but he's safe at least and will remain that way for a long time, as long as he's there. Out of Spite is sprinkled around a few Districts with Wolf and Kat and nothing bad has happened to them. And… Well, I think that's it."

Lizzie shook her head and after a second asked in a quiet voice. "What about Bonnie?" she asked softly.

Jun saw red hearing her ask that. After everything he'd put her through – stringing her and the rest of the band along just to chase after Out of Spite, and worse, sending Peacekeepers to manhandle and essentially arrest her just so that he could get ahead in the ranks of that filthy institution… And here she was, after running away from his plan, hair messy, eyes dark and baggy, a changed woman in such a short amount of time all because of him, and she was asking if he was alright?! "He got exactly what he wanted," Jun said bitterly. "I bet he's sitting at Commander Apollo's side right now, like a loyal little lapdog, waiting for his next command. Maybe to hijack Freddy to get him to comply, I don't know."

Lizzie gasped in horror, her eyes filling up with tears. "Stop!" she said, her lips quivering a little bit. And Jun hated to see her cry, but he didn't feel bad. She had to know the truth about that man. "I know Bonnie, he wouldn't do that."

"Sweetheart, why do you think he was trying to get you in cuffs?" Jun asked her, shaking his head a little bit. "No friend would do that. He's been taking advantage of your kindness this entire time."

Lizzie just blinked at him, still processing all of this. "I…" she sniffled a little bit, her eyes squinting as she stubbornly tried to be strong. "You're probably right," she said quietly. "He lied to us. He lied to all of us."

Jun sighed a little bit at the tears in her eyes as he turned to face her square-on. "He did. And he's not the only one that's been lying," he said quietly. "Out of Spite aren't who they said they are either. All of them are tributes from previous Games that were thought to be dead, but were revived by Wolf and his team."

"Like Bonnie said…" she said softly, and Jun sighed and nodded.

"Lizzie…" he sighed a little bit, but he had to rip off the bandaid. "They're not the only ones that lied to you…" He frowned at the heavy look on her face, the pain in her eyes, but he couldn't go back now. "I have too."

Lizzie leaned back and away from him, her eyes widening as she reached for her curtain rod again. "What?!"

"Please don't hit me again," he said. But she had every right to. "I never lied about my intentions, I just want to keep you safe. But… My name isn't Alvis. It's Jun. Jun Kozart." He frowned a little bit, unable to read her as he spoke. "Alvis Shirogane is just an alter-ego I use as a secret agent. I worked for the Capitol, but since last year I've been a double agent working with Wolf. Part of the reason everything in the Arena happened how it did was because of me. I knew the plan the whole time. And even though I pretended I was working for them… I still wanted to keep you safe, so much that I diverged from the plan just to come try to find you… But I still did lie. I'm sorry." He looked over at her chewing her lip in thought.

"That's it?" she asked finally.

It wasn't at all. She still didn't know the truth about him being the one that killed Phil. But he couldn't tell her that right now, it just felt too good to have her smiling at him like that. Accepting him.

"Did you really think I'd believe you used your real name in the Games while on agent duty?" she asked him, punching his arm a little bit. "I'm naïve but not that naïve. I'm surprised that you're working with the rebels, but…" she shrugged. "I knew that you were going to keep me safe. I believe you." She smiled and leaned over to take his hand, smiling over at him. Jun looked away, feeling his cheeks grow a little hot despite himself at how cute she was. "So… Your name is Jun. Let me guess, you're not actually blonde either."

Jun laughed a little bit, and after all the stress and suicidal thoughts and hell on earth he'd been through, to laugh felt like a thousand pounds were lifted off of his chest. "No," he said finally. "You would not believe how much bleach stinks."

"I wouldn't know, I'm a natural blonde," Lizzie said, giving him a smile that he couldn't help but return.

"Lucky you," Jun said, but he didn't know that about her and smiled at her. "I see." Oh it just felt so good to have someone again… Someone to ravel with, he meant! A companion. Not, like, a girlfriend, who ever said that?! Not him. He didn't say it.

"So… I think I know what we're supposed to do next," Lizzie said, giving him a slightly sad smile at having to change the subject. She produced a map from her pocket and unfolded it to show him the address written on it. Jun squinted at it for a moment and his eyes widened. It matched the one that was written on his page to a T. "I, uh… Conveniently found this. Yup."

There was something she wasn't telling him, by the glint in her eyes, but he decided not to push it. "I see. Well, I guess we were meant to go together, because I conveniently found the same address on my way to find you. Huh. Seems like it's just fate, we were meant to go together."

Lizzie giggled at that and thought she was being oh so slick hiding her blush from him, but she wasn't slick at all. "Well then, Jun, I guess we're going there together. I'll make us some soup and we'll leave first thing in the morning."

Jun smiled at her, and the little skip she had in her step on the way to make their dinner for the night. He'd done enough looming and glooming the past few days, for once, he tried to let himself relax. He was totally off the grid, and he'd done the mission he succeeded at. It was like coming home at the end of the day and being off work. It kind of did feel like home, with Lizzie there.

But also…

He was in the fucking screaming shack, surrounded by evidence of the Spades! He felt like a kid again. He was going to look at everything and glean everything he could about the Spades like he always wanted to. He couldn't wait to get home to his family at the end of all this shit.

For once, he would have a Spades story to tell Grandpa!

~.~.

-Vasilisa Castle, 17, District 11-

She knew she was supposed to be sleeping. She knew it would probably be one of the few times that she was allowed to sleep. But how was she supposed to sleep in a literal bush in the middle of who knew where? She was so far away from her home, from her daddy, and everything she ever knew. And she was here. Hiding in a fucking bush near the train tracks. Don't even ask her about the state of her hair at that moment. Her skin had never felt rougher and less smooth. Her nails had never been more dirty, some of them grimy and dirty at this point. She couldn't have felt further from everything she knew.

Well… At least she had one thing that she knew here. Two, really. But she had a feeling that the boy that was here with them now wasn't the same boy she grew up with in primary school. But she was comforted by the sounds of Freddy's snores, just as much here as she was back in that… That prison!

She just kept running her fingers through his hair softly.

"I really can't convince you to try?" Bonnie looked down at Freddy. For once, he didn't even make a face hearing him speak, indicating that he was really and truly asleep.

"It wouldn't get me anywhere," she said simply.

"Laying down and closing your eyes may not count as sleep, but it does relax your muscles and organs, even if you don't fall asleep," he said with a shrug.

"I have too many questions," Lis said softly, shaking her head. "What were they going to do to me that day? Why did you suddenly change your mind, what changed? And why would you take us with you and risk the dead weight…?" she asked quietly, even if she could deduce the answer to the last question by the longing looks he gave to Freddy when he thought she wasn't looking.

Bonnie closed his eyes and cracked his knuckles nervously with a quiet sigh. "Well, now that I'm officially a criminal, guess I can catch you up." He tweaked his glasses a little bit nervously, his hand on the gun on his hip as he shook his head in disbelief at himself. "They were sure you and Freddy would comply without any other means, and that was what they wanted. But they were going to get what they wanted out of you either way. Better for the presses to show you well and in your right minds. Hijacked people… They have a certain way about them," he said.

"They were going to do that to me?" Lis asked, her eyes widening in horror. "They could have stolen my memories of Freddy… Of my father…" She put her hands in her hair and shook her head quickly as her eyes filled with tears at just the thought. "They could have set me against Freddy. I couldn't have ever forgiven myself if something happened to him because of me." Just the thought of hurting him made her sob and Bonnie quickly put a hand on her back to remind her to keep the noise level down. She wanted to be surprised that the Capitol authorities would do that to one of their own… But… She wasn't surprised. Not even a little bit. She knew that they would have done whatever it took to get her to do what they wanted. She just never wanted to believe it as a tribute… But it was true.

"Well it didn't," Bonnie said. "It's best not to linger on the what-ifs." He kept his hand on Lis's back and his touch was comforting to her.

She shook her head a little bit, trying to will the thoughts of what could have happened out of her mind, but it was just so hard with how scary it was. "Thank you for getting me out of there," she said quietly, her heart still pounding just at the thought of how different things would have been. Despite all of her struggles and flaws… She didn't want to be anyone else, she wanted to keep being herself. She didn't want to lose that… "Can people that get hijacked ever change back?" she asked quietly.

Bonnie just sighed and shook his head a little bit. "No. They can try to reconstruct the puzzle of their brains with time, effort, and training, but… There will always be pieces missing, misshapen, and broken."

Lis hugged him a little bit, suddenly so thankful for him. "I'm sure Freddy will be happy to hear that you protected me…" she said, glancing at the boy who was sleeping against her. "How could you sell him out like that?" she asked quietly. "He loved you…" She just didn't understand.

Bonnie looked away from her, his cheeks heating up in shame. "I didn't know what I wanted. I wanted to be successful, like my father. Not a wild child, not a criminal like my mother…" he sighed a little bit and laughed bitterly at the gun on his hip, ready to use if he had to. "God."

Lis frowned and shook her head. "What changed?" she asked softly. "I mean, Bonnie… What do you want?"

Bonnie looked at Freddy for a moment and his glasses misted up. "Kin is dead," he said quietly, his voice devoid of all emotion. Lis's jaw fell open at that.

"No," she said quietly. But he was younger than Bonnie. She blinked a few times in disbelief before her vision became completely blurred by tears. Hearing him say that, and seeing the silent tears on his face, brought back all of the pain she felt when she watched Dante die. Just a few days ago… But it felt like years, and seconds, all at the same time.

Bonnie's jaw was tense as he nodded very stiffly. Lis let out a small sob despite herself and moved away from Freddy so that she could hug him tightly. But he stayed totally still – no hug back, no tears, each breath was deliberate and slow. "They got a lead at the Oaks and left no survivors," he said quietly.

"I understand, I'm still grieving too," Lis said quietly, burying her face in his neck a little bit for a little comfort. She missed her friend so much… And she couldn't save him, just like Bonnie. "I'm so sorry, you didn't deserve that."

"Maybe I did. I couldn't stay there after that. And after I got Freddy into this mess…" he sighed and shook his head at himself. "I had to get him out of it too. And you too."

Lis sniffled, wiping her nose on her arm, but seeing him look so sad just broke her heart again and the tears started up again, warm in her eyes as they trailed down her face with a little tickle. She knew that he was trying to hold it all back… And she wished that she could be strong like that too. But she couldn't. She just knew how much Bonnie lost. He lost a parent just like she did, in fact they were good friends both determined to make the best birthday dessert for their second grade class. Now they were both left without guidance, a new gaping hole in each of their hearts, and hiding in a fucking bush with Freddy Smith.

Though Lis didn't mind that last one quite as much.

"What the fuck happened to us?" Lis finally asked, trying to get him to crack a smile as she gently punched his arm. "We went from primary school sweethearts to fucking war criminals."

"Don't even ask me that question," Bonnie said. "I'm a criminal and I'm responsible for both of you. To get to a bunker that I don't even really know where I'm going because Lester is shit at giving directions!"

"Bonnie Bunsen!? Going rogue without a plan?!" Lis asked, trying to use humor to hide the fact that she was terrified that he didn't know where they were going. He was always the man with the plan.

"Trust me, I'm about as thrilled about it as you think I'd be," he said with a sigh.

Lis let the silence linger for just an extra second before she changed the subject. "So… Lester…"

Bonnie looked over at her. "What about him?"

Lis just smiled and shrugged at him. "I dunno. When you were drunk at the party, you just couldn't stop talking about him."

Bonnie got bright red at that. "Lis we are on the run right now, it's not the time to spill tea!"

"So you admit that there's tea!" Lis said, pointing her finger to his cheek with a laugh with a giggle. "Come on, I bet it's piping."

Bonnie huffed a little bit and crossed his arms. "Not really," he said, puffing out his red cheeks. "We're exes."

"Seems like you weren't totally over him the other night," Lis said with a grin. "Just saying, you two make a hot couple. Then again, he was also hot with Kodi…"

"Zip it," Bonnie said quickly, shaking his head. "He doesn't live with Kodi and he hasn't taken care of Kodi, he just wanted a quick fuck."

"Too bad your skin isn't green, otherwise I could have made a great joke about green with envy," she teased him. "So? You're gonna get to that bunker and he's going to run into your arms and you're gonna kiss and make up already!"

"If he made a successful case for me," Bonnie said, closing his eyes with a sigh. "I'm public enemy number one right now because I was close to knowing Out of Spite's secret identities and going to report it to the Commander," he told her. "But hopefully they'll at least shelter you."

Lis frowned at that. "Oh," she said quietly. "Well… Seems like Lester is pretty good at getting what he wants. No?"

"He's the damn smartest idiot I've ever met." Bonnie shook his head in disbelief at him, but had a lovesick smile on his face.

Lis grinned, but her face softened after a moment. "Bonnie? I'll make a case for you," she said quietly.

Bonnie glanced over at her with his eyebrows raised. "What?"

"If they still don't want to see that you've changed. I'll make a case for you. To whoever we run into there, and… To Freddy to," she said quietly, glancing over at him. "I've got your back, Bonny Bon," she said, offering him a sad smile. "Who hasn't changed since those mines blew up?" she asked, shaking her head. "I know I have. If you guide me and Freddy to safety, and they still don't see that you've changed… Then I'm not going to go with them. I'll stay with you."

Bonnie frowned at that just a little bit. "Thanks," he said softly. "I appreciate it. Ultimately, you need to stay with Freddy. He needs someone he can trust. And… He really likes you, did you know that?"

"I may have guessed," Lis said with a giggle. "Neither of us is the type to try and pretend, unlike you and your boy," she said with a laugh. "He made those few days bearable. And he's making this bearable too. And you too. Thank you for busting us out of there," she said, giving him another squeeze. "I appreciate it and I know he does too, even if he won't say it."

"Don't even mention it," Bonnie said, waving his hand. "I'm just trying to amend what I fucked up."

Lis smiled a little bit. "I think I do want to try for some shut-eye," she said, stretching her arms. She still didn't feel tired at all. But at least she could have a few moments of rest.

"A wise idea," Bonnie said, smiling when she laid down on his lap, reaching over to still stroke Freddy's hair softly. It was calming to her.

Lis had barely closed her eyes when she was awakened by a piercing sound that made her shoot up right away. Bonnie's eyes widened as he looked up. Freddy sat up and blearily rubbed his eyes as they heard the same sound repeat. Bonnie was alert right away at that, and Lis hated the expression on his face because she knew exactly what that sound was now. Unmistakably. Another scream piercing through the air confirmed it for sure.

"LESTER!" Bonnie yelled, shooting up and squinting into the air when he didn't see anyone there except for birds. "Fuck."

Freddy took Lis by the arm, standing in front of her protectively when they both stood up slowly. Lis frowned at the pain on Bonnie's face hearing the sound echo over and over again.

"It's not real!" Freddy said, pulling on Bonnie's arm to get him to snap out of it. But they might as well have been sirens alerting the forces to where they were. "Bonnie! It's not him!"

"I know," Bonnie said, his mouth open a little bit and his gaze focused on where the birds were flying around them in circles. "Fuck."

Lis frowned a little bit. It was common knowledge at this point that a jabberjay couldn't construct a sound on its own. They had to get it from somewhere.

"He's coming back for me!" the jabberjays said mockingly in Lester's defiant voice. "He's going to save me…" Right next to Lis's ear, a bird flew past and made only a wet coughing sound that she had only heard once before, the night before the Games… Another flew past them, with the same sentence, cut off with the same wet cough. Her heart started beating harder in terror. It couldn't have been real, he said Lester was already out of there!

With a loud crack, Bonnie shot the first bird out of the sky. His face was clear of all emotion as he aimed his second shot, sending it up with a crack – and another one of the voices silenced as another fell out of the sky. But soon over the sounds of Lester's screams came the sound of the cargo train approaching and Bonnie snapped his head over. "We have to jump," he said as it started getting closer, having to yell over the sounds of the screams that filled the air. Lester's screams were soon joined with a chorus of other horrible sounds – some from a female, and some from another one or two that Lis couldn't recognize.

"How the fuck are we supposed to jump on that thing!?" Freddy asked, staring at Bonnie with wide eyes over the sounds of all the yelling – and the sounds of twigs breaking under heavy footsteps.

Bonnie stared at the train approaching. "I don't know," he said finally. The screams only got louder and Bonnie's brow knit with determination. "You just have to trust me," he said quietly. Lis could barely breathe and the next few seconds happened in slow motion. Bonnie waited for a few seconds before he yelled out, "NOW!"

They burst out from the foliage, gunshots cracking as Bonnie's footsteps thundered towards the train, which seemed to be slowing down for them. Lis followed him, Freddy behind her trying to shield her with his body as they got closer to the back of the train.

"Get ready to jump!" Bonnie yelled, bracing himself as he took a few more steps and heard men's voices in the clamor calling to each other. "NOW!" Bonnie said, launching himself onto the back platform and pulling Lis with him. Freddy let out a cry of surprise and hurried along the side. Bonnie grabbed Lis's waist and held her there as she kept holding Freddy's hand and he jumped, along with her and Bonnie boosting, onto the platform. Bonnie covered them with himself. "Into the back car!" he instructed loudly, aiming his gun at one of the birds and shooting it down as the train jolted to top speeds, causing Lis to scream in surprise. What the fuck was happening!?

Freddy covered her as she went back into the car and heard the cracks of Bonnie shooting the birds which were still screaming in terror.

"Come in Bonnie, they'll get fatigued!" Lis said, horrified for him. And the things that could have happened to Lester.

"Coming," Bonnie said, as Lis was trying to place the voices and make sure none of them belonged to people she knew. She didn't recognize most of the screaming voices. But just as the door closed behind Bonnie, in the chorus of screaming jabberjays, was the one that would continue to haunt her dreams.

"HELP! FUCKING HELP ME!" cried out the voice of a boy, probably her own age, as Bonnie slammed the door shut.

"I CAN'T FUCKING SEE!"

~.~.

A/N: We still chuggin along.

Hope you're well, happy Easter, sending summer vibes your way.

Next chap is all moi because we're getting Kodi, Chiwi, and Lester.