-Jun Kozart, 18, District 3-

Did they know?

There was no way for them to know who he was. There was no way they could possibly tell that Jun was currently surrounded by pictures of a man that he pulled the trigger on. But he was constantly paranoid that they could smell it on him. Perhaps they lived through that moment so much that they could recognize his voice. And yet, they were kind to him here. Kindness that he knew he didn't deserve.

The only things that were stopping him from telling them the truth and getting the punishment he deserved were that piano bench that was sitting over there and… The redhead that was sleeping in the mid-afternoon, she was so exhausted from everything that had happened.

For once, they were somewhat safe. This was a pretty unassuming place, and after what happened to Phil, there was no reason this family would or should be hosting rebels. After all, he was innocent, he had no part in this.

He went over to the living room where that old piano sat. That was his instruction from the Spades, after all…

"Hello Sir! Is it true that you're a rebel?"

Jun jumped hearing a voice and turned around, assuming a defensive position. "Why do you wanna know?" he asked. But… The kid that asked had absolutely no ability to hurt him and just had wide eyes. He was carrying a damn portable IV with him after all. "…Yes, I guess so."

"Wow," he said, giggling a little bit. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Jun said. "Just… Trying to find a way to thank your family for housing me and my…" Actually, what was Lizzie to him!? "Um, my…"

"Girlfriend?" he asked with a big grin.

"What?! No!" Jun said, feeling his face heat up. "Who said that?!"

"Oh," he said, tilting his head to the side. "That's too bad. She's Lizzie Afton! She's so cute! Will you let me meet her!?"

Jun put a finger over his lips. "She's resting right now," he said, not wanting to bother her. "Yeah, kid, I'll let you meet her before we leave." She was pretty damn famous after all.

"Will you ask her to play something for me?" he asked, his face growing a little sad. "There was a song my brother always played for me when I was sick, I just… I didn't know that was going to be the last time and… I wish I'd appreciated it more," he said quietly, his eyes filling with tears.

Jun could feel his chest getting heavier. He was responsible. He watched the little boy hugging his IV stand with tears in his eyes. "Of course," he said quietly. "When she wakes up I'll ask her to look at it for you."

"Henryk, what are you doing up?" Jun looked up, grating his teeth together a little bit when he saw Priapus standing there.

"I just wanted to meet them," Henryk said.

"Well…" Pri just smiled a little bit at him. "Alright. I'll talk to your parents and see if we can get you down for dinner," he said, going over to ruffle his hair. "And they still can't say no to me."

"I know, you're their favorite kid now!" he said, but he still had a sadness on his face and a tear slipped out.

"You want a buddy?" Pri asked, noticing that right away. Henryk just shook his head, turning around with his head down and going back into his room. When he was gone, Pri turned to Jun, his lips pulled tight and his eyes turned upward. "Grief is weird," he said quietly. "It's weird. Sometimes you feel fine and then… Something weird happens that reminds you of what you've lost."

Jun felt that pit in his stomach as he sat on the bench. "Yeah," he said quietly. But most of the people that he'd lost in his life were by his own doing, not at all like Pri was experiencing – still, after a year had passed. He wanted to… Apologize. But right now, he had to keep that in, at least until Lizzie was safe. He didn't want her to suffer for his sin. He doubted they would have mercy on Phil's killer. And why would they?

"Sometimes it drives you. That's why you're here, I'm sure." Pri smiled at him a little bit but his eyes were sad. "I can tell. Loss is something that you can just feel on a person."

"Um…" Jun said, rubbing his arm a little bit. "I, uh… Don't know what you're talking about."

Pri went over and sat next to him on the piano bench, gently taking his hand and pulling out his arm to rub the red, inflamed scars there. "This doesn't happen to people that aren't hurting." He looked a little bit and his lips quivered a little bit when he saw the words. "M-Memento mori," he said quietly.

Jun looked at the scars – something he struggled about, but had to live with now. "This is going to sound outlandish…" he said quietly. "But…"

"Nothing sounds outlandish to me," Pri said with a small laugh. "I was dating one of the most famous people in Panem and after just six months together, I knew I would never love anyone else." He turned away and let out a whisper of a sob.

Jun looked away from him for a second. But he owed it to Pri, who lost everything, to be honest. "I was in love with Owen O'Connor," he said quietly. "I met him while on business, but there was something about him that… Damn, I wish I had the guts to do more than send him money for his family. But I didn't ever belong there, I never belonged with him. All I could do was try to help him until the moment he… Let out his last breath," he said quietly, barely able to speak it out loud. "Nobody is safe from death, not even the good. Dare I say… Especially not the good."

"Yeah," Pri said quietly, his voice breaking as he put it in his hands. He understood that too well.

Jun frowned a little bit and took a box of tissues, passing it over to him. He was just too numb to everything to cry like that anymore. He just put a hand on Pri's arm. "I'm…" he looked away from him, feeling an ache in his throat but tears that just refused to form. "I'm so sorry for your loss." He had no idea how sorry he was.

Pri smiled through his tears and threw an arm around him, giving him a side hug and squeezing his shoulder a little bit too. "I'm sorry for yours too," he told him honestly. "You may not have ever had him, but to love and lose… Is something that we all know here."

Jun tried to look away, but he was being pulled against Pri's chest and couldn't. He didn't deserve this. How could he ever tell them now? "Thank you," he said quietly.

"You know…." Pri said quietly. "Since it happened I haven't even touched his piano bench," he confessed. "None of us ever wanted to. But… Maybe it's time." He slowly knelt down on the ground, gesturing for Jun to do the same. "I don't even know what he kept in here," he said. Jun knelt beside him. Well… This was his goal all along. Pri opened the bench slowly and put his face in his hands just seeing the music that was left there. But… Jun was pretty sure he wasn't here for the music when he saw the little disc. He pulled it out slowly, squinting at it.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Hold on," Pri said, shrugging a little bit as he closed the bench again, not sure he would ever be strong enough to empty it on his own.

Jun booted it up and the little thing still turned on, pulling up a holo asking for a password. "Um…"

"Oh," Pri said. "He kept that from school. But he was really possessive of it and I only ever saw it once. Remember, his bachelor's is in muttations, he did a few internships during his degree. And he flourished in it, of course. He was good at everything you know."

"Of course," Jun said, but he smiled a little bit that Pri would still say that about him. He wasn't sure he'd ever love someone like that again after Owen. "This information could be really helpful to us so… Do you happen to know the password?"

Pri thought about it. "Try…" he tapped his chin. "He liked to use my name, but with an exclamation point for the I and the at-sign for the A."

"Sure," said Jun, typing that in as his brows creased and the screen shook a little bit. "Nope. Try again."

"Try the same thing but with our anniversary, 0730," Pri said, telling him the numbers and Jun typed it in again, letting out a noise of shock when instead of the password bar, a countdown clock appeared below it. Jun had dealt with enough of these to know that it was going to wipe if he let it hit zero. Fuck.

"Okay, dude, shoot me another option, we have two minutes," he said, trying to stay calm but if he fucked this up, who knew what they were going to miss out on?!

"Uhhh, okay," Pri said. "Try… Piano man, same thing with the exclamation and at-sign."

Jun never typed faster. He let out a groan when the screen shook again and he lost ten seconds of tieme "Fuck, okay," he said, looking around. "Think about it, I'm going to see if he had face recognition on it," he said, putting it up by one of the many pictures of Phil around the house. The screen showed boxes over the picture's eyes and mouth. Before it vibrated again and more time was knocked off the clock. "Fuck," he hissed. Maybe that was just a bad picture.

"Okay, I have another," Pri said as Jun shined the light on another picture of Phil to no avail.

"What?!" Jun asked, now desperate. "Pri we don't have a lot of time here."

"Hand it over, I'll type it in," Pri said, his voice growing in panic. He took the device from Jun, about to type it in before…

Pri's mouth fell open when he saw the folders on the screen. Jun looked over at him for a second.

"It…" Jun said. "It recognized your face," he said. Why would Phil have programmed it to Pri's face?

Pri's face softened up a little bit as he handed it back to Jun. "I… Yeah," he said quietly. "What?"

Jun looked through the files for a second. That… This wasn't right, these were prototypes that not even Jun knew about. "What?" he asked quietly.

"I don't get it, what's going on?" Pri asked, watching him rotate the skeletons.

Jun's brows creased in confusion. "These must have been… Top secret," he said. How did Phil get ahold of these?! Unless… "Pri?" he asked quietly.

"What?" asked Pri as he looked at the muscle structures on the screen with a list of pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses for each set.

Jun just shook his head a little bit as he looked at these files, all neatly labelled and organized.

"…I don't think your boyfriend was as innocent as we all thought."

Pri blinked in shock. But they both jumped a little bit when they heard a knock at the door. "Hide just in case," Pri said, going over to them, but they didn't stay hidden for long when even he heard the familiar voice.

"Cowabunga, now let us in, Pri!" Jun looked up when Kat made herself right at home, flanked by Tessa, Jace, and Jill.

"There you are," Kat said, taking a few deep breaths.

"Look, before you rat me out," Jun said quickly, protecting his coochie. "We have some important information about biological weapons made by the Capitol and we have to get it to a specialist."

Kat's eyebrows shot up at that. "Really?"

"Yes," Pri said, and Jun couldn't help that feeling that Pri should not be protecting him right now. "And, he has Lizzie. She's sleeping."

"Lizzie is really here?!" Tessa asked. "Oh, that's such a relief," she said, excited to see her when she woke up.

"And, Trap currently has that idiot Freddy," Kat said, before sighing. "And… When they found him, he was with Vasilisa and… Bonnie."

Jun perked up at that right the fuck away. "You guys captured Bunsen!? That's amazing! Oh, Lizzie will be so happy to hear that her friends are safe with us – or going to be locked up by us."

"Don't rush ahead of yourself, he was the one that broke Freddy and Lis out."

Jun's brows creased. "Why the fuck would he do that?"

Kat sighed. "It's a long story that would add on way too many words to this," she said. "The point is that you totally fucked us over when you left! But…" She crossed her arms. "Well, at least you made yourself half useful," she said. "So I'll save you the rant 'til Stellan and I are back together. We have to get you on-course to District Eleven right away."

"I'm going too," said Pri.

"Like hell you are," Kat told him right away. "I'm not letting my best friend's brother go out and get himself in trouble."

"First of all, I'm older than Calliope, and secondly, the device only responds to my face."

Kat narrowed her eyes at him. "Fine," she said. "But I'm not sending you without a couple nerds to get you there safely. And… I want Lizzie to come with us."

"A couple nerds?" asked Jun. "And hold on, Lizzie already escaped once, she gets to choose." Surely she would choose to keep travelling with him… Right? But also, why would she?

"Yes, you heard me, little boy."

Jun balled his fists at her and just stuck out his tongue. "Eehh!"

"EEHHH!" Kat said louder, sticking out her own tongue at him.

"Okay, that's enough!" Pri said, shaking his head in disbelief at them. "So it's settled. We'll pack our bags and get moving toward District Eleven at the crack of dawn tomorrow."

Jun looked over to where Lizzie was sleeping and felt a wave of worry course over him that they were going to end up apart again. Not that it really mattered, as long as she was safe. He would just feel better if he was the one to protect her.

"Alright," he surrendered. "Sounds like a plan."

~.~.

-Kaoru Morikawa, 16, District 5-

He never had his own room before. Even now, sharing it with only one other person, it was better than he had back home in District Five. His heart ached every time he thought about his home. And his mind was still blown at all this new information that kept getting thrown at him. He couldn't believe it.

He sat there rotating the Rubik's Cube in his fingers. He had only played with something like this one other time and he just couldn't figure it out. Keelan was trying to make the most of his time in the commune, outside working out with a few of the members of the Falconers. It was real quiet and tucked away, simple. But no lack of space, no lack of food, no lack of technology here. Really, it wasn't a terrible place to stay.

He looked up when he heard a knock and the door was pulled open. "Kaoru?"

Kaoru smiled a little when he saw Ruthie. "Hey, you," he said. "Not running about with Vyka?"

Ruthie sighed. "Vyka is running around looking for cute guys," she said, shaking her head. "Not my cup of tea."

"I dunno, I could use some cute guys in my life right now," Kaoru said with a small smile. "Or chicks."

"You!? Oh I can't imagine you dating someone, no offense."

"Hey, I would be a wonderful boyfriend," Kaoru said, chuckling to himself. "You know… I never thought about dating back home. I was too wrapped up in my family. I still think about them all the time, but… There's nothing I can do here for them."

Ruthie sat up on his bunk next to him, dangling her feet off the edge and swinging them a little bit. "Well… Was there anything you really could have done there for them?" she asked quietly.

"I was another working man," Kaoru said with a sigh. "Dating and socializing would just take away from money that could be used for her." But… Now that there wasn't a hope of Victor money on the table, there really wasn't much he could do here for them. "Wasn't much because I was trying to get into college so I could make real money for them. But I choked," he said quietly. "I choked on the exam and didn't make the cut."

Ruthie was quiet for a second. "I can't imagine. I have high hopes to go to school too, to have them all crushed…"

Kaoru sighed, looking away from her for a second. "Ruthie, I can't lie to you anymore."

Ruthie glanced over at him, one of her eyebrows crooking up. "Huh…?"

Kaoru bit his lip, trying to keep his expression firm. "Ruthie… I lied to you. Before the Games. I… Well, I was planning to go for you first. First day, first kill. I was…" he looked away from her. "I was using you. As a strategy to show the Capitol I would do whatever it took to get home to my family."

He didn't look over at her and she didn't say anything to indicate to him how she was feeling, so Kaoru kept talking.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to. But I felt like I needed to. I knew if I let you live, I would have ended up dying in your place. I couldn't let that happen. And now that we're not in that place anymore, I would never betray you like that. Now I actually can protect you, and I will. It was just… In there, only one person comes out alive. If you were gonna kill me, I wouldn't blame you."

Still, silence from her.

Kaoru just sighed, not having anything else to say so he just waited.

"Well… Fuck you too! I can't believe I trusted you with my life for any amount of time!" she burst out, a small sob breaking through. "I can't believe I was such a fool," she added, jumping down from the top bunk without even using the ladder and landing a little weird on her ankle with a yelp.

"Ruthie!"

But she hobbled out of the room before he could get to her, leaving him standing in the middle of the room, in shock. He touched his dry face, where tears had yet to form and his only expression was one of shock. It had to happen eventually, and he couldn't say he wasn't expecting it.

"Tough break, eh?" Kaoru looked up when Ruthie was replaced by the man himself, Pointer Pocomoke. Leader of the Falconers, and the one that got them out of the wilderness.

"It had to happen sometime," Kaoru said with a shrug. But the longer she was gone, to heavier his heart felt.

"I don't know why she's surprised. Deep down, I'm sure she understands that as human beings, our instinct is to survive." Pointer sat down on Keelan's bed before he quickly sat up. "Woof, that man has taken way too much advantage of our access to body sprays."

Kaoru stared at him for a second, not sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, and honestly not feeling like he could do either even if he tried. He didn't really feel anything anymore.

"What do you want from me?"

"Well…" Pointer shrugged. "I wanted to check on each of our guests. Keelan is showing off to everyone and making them all swoon with those muscles. I think this is a foolish endeavor, I value intelligence above all else."

"I just value titties." Kaoru shrugged a little bit at the look that earned him.

"Foolish boy," Pointer said, but he shrugged. "But direct. I appreciate direct more than anything." He sat up on the ladder and looked at Kaoru for a second. "You're of great value to me, Mr. Kaoru. You and all of your friends. My squad, you see, they need weapons. And reinforcements. District Seven is under attack. It's my home. I worry that once your forces leave with you in tow… It's going to fall." He sighed a little bit and Kaoru could see his hands shaking with stress. "That happens, I get arrested and we all die."

Kaoru frowned a little bit. He could see that Pointer actually did care a lot about his home. And Kaoru did care about District Five too… "Oh."

"Sometimes I think I would be happy to die," Pointer said quietly, looking up as his eyes filled with tears and his hand wrapped itself around the necklace on his neck – the same rune that was tattooed on Robin and shown during the chariot ride. "My little sister, Asteria."

Kaoru looked up at him. "Now you're just bullshitting me with a sob story like my own to soften me up before you try to get something out of me."

Pointer looked at him for a moment and then started laughing, until he was full-on cackling. "Dude, that is a great idea!" he said. "Why didn't I think of that?" He sighed a little bit. "I wish I was being manipulative. But I can show you her suicide note if you wish."

Kaoru went pale, feeling like an idiot for assuming that – mostly for being wrong about it. "N-No thanks," he stammered.

Pointer sighed. "She was the reason I realized that things aren't right. The Capitol was tyrannical. They like us to think that it's not. But unlike her, trying to run away from it, I decided I wanted to fight it. For people like her, who had the courage to see me through my doses of black market testosterone and yet feared the Capitol so much. She wanted to fly free, like a falcon. It's all just too perfect, isn't it?"

"Explains it all," Kaoru agreed. "I'm sorry for the loss of your sister. I'm worried that without me, my own will succumb to her illness."

"Ah," Pointer said quietly. "Well, Mr. Kaoru… If that happens, it's not your fault," he said. "We, perhaps as men, perhaps as brothers, perhaps as humans… We like to blame ourselves for things that are our of our control. But you can break the cycle." He put a hand on Kaoru's shoulder before his holo buzzed. "Oh, goody, our friends are here!" he said, perking up right away and clapping his hands. "Come with me," he said. "If anyone understands my point of view, Kaoru… It's you."

Kaoru sighed a little bit but he nodded, allowing Pointer to lead him out to the middle of the commune where his house was – not big by any means, but the biggest of them all. As they walked, everyone around stopped and started to whisper. One group of adults even fell to their knees at his feet, calling out to him.

"What is happening?" Kaoru asked when he heard a few of them call, "Oh great leader!"

"Sometimes… People are easier to control when they have something to believe in," he said.

"Some beliefs," Kaoru said.

"Oh great Leader, healer of our District, protector of our people! Ee!" said a girl, clapping her hands and flipping a long high ponytail over her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Tani," he said. "This isn't a matter for little girls."

"It's Eteri," she said quietly. "I want to meet Joelle Margolis! Please Great Leader!" she said, clasping her hands.

"What's the big deal?" Kaoru asked her.

"Uhhh come on!" she said. "She was dating two tributes that were saved by the rebels!" she said. "She's amazing! And also beautiful. Since, you know, things are a little rocky with me and the Great Leader right now."

Kaoru squinted at her. "He doesn't even know your name," he said.

"Why must you hurt me this way?"

Kaoru just laughed a little at her reeking of desperation. "Well, I'll try to put in a good word for you, ah…"

"Eteri," she said. "Okay well bye!" she called as Kaoru hurried over with Pointer again.

"Ah, I see you met the town flirt," Pointer said with a laugh. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen, so too young for any of you," Kaoru said, shaking his head. "I just act like an old man."

"Oh, that you do," Pointer said with a laugh as he got in the building and saw them all there. "Welcome friends!"

"We are not your fucking friends," Coda said right way, and Kaoru just blinked in shock at him.

"Kaoru! Where are the others?! What did they do to you? Blink twice if we need to start shootin'," Malloy said, looking at him in concern.

"We're here to rescue them!" Coda said, pulling out his cane and whacking Pointer between the legs.

"OW! AAGH!" cried Pointer. "THAT WAS MY COOCHIE!"

Kaoru was barely even phased by that and just stared at the group of them. "Um… I'm fine," he said with a shrug while Pointer was groaning out in agony. "Just told my ally that I was gonna kill her and now she hates me, but such is life, right?"

"I… Yeeeah," Jo said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Alright Coda, be nice."

"You're not my mom," Coda said, sticking his tongue out at her, but he listened to her anyway and just crossed his arms at Pointer. "But if this motherfucker's gonna be an asshole, I'm gonna whack him in the damn head with my fuckin leg."

"Okay little boy, I don't want to be mean to you and your friends," Pointer said, doubled over and grabbing his crotch in pain. "I want to make a deal with you."

"And that's why we're here," Jo said. "Let's cut to the chase. We need these tributes alive and well, and as we're all going for the same thing here, this should be nice and easy."

"I want to kiss Stellan on the mouth."

Kaoru blinked in surprise at the gaped mouths of the three bargainers as Pointer continued.

"Thirty seconds, no tongue."

"What?!" Malloy asked. "No!" he shook his head in disbelief.

"Aw, man, I thought I'd at least ask. His friend Tuck was better looking, and a real rebel, now that's a man."

"The hell is wrong with you?" Jo asked, staring at him in disbelief.

"Oh, so many things, Sister."

"Okay, first of all, are you okay?" Malloy asked Kaoru, trying to hide that he was holding Jo's hand behind their backs.

"Oh, I'm fine," Kaoru said. "Really. Keelan's working out, Vyka's trying to flirt, and Ruthie…" He didn't know now. "Probably sulking under a blanket pile at this point and writing in her journal."

"We want the tributes alive and well as much as you do," Pointer told them, rubbing Kaoru's shoulder for a minute. "It's… It's what Robin would have wanted for them," he said softly. "And what Robin would have wanted for our District is to be safe. I have a true proposition for you, let's go into my office area to talk big boy numbers." He stopped. "Though I will have to erase the kiss addendum."

"We're going to get you out of this crackhouse," Malloy told Kaoru quietly. He squared his shoulders and Jo turned to check on both him and Coda before they followed Pointer into the room and closed the door.

~.~.

-Ridley Ostreuck, 18, District 4-

"Alright recruits, break!"

"Phew," Ember said, stopping by them and picking up her water bottle, wiping sweat off her forehead. Mary stopped with her and grabbed her water bottle, taking a huge few gulps of it.

Amiah was going to go get her water when Ridley grabbed her hand. "Let's walk a lap, if you stop too suddenly and drink to much cold water, your body won't know what to do.

Amiah grinned and nodded at her, squeezing her hand a little bit as they walked down the field together. It was a hot, sticky summer night of conditioning under the moon, but at least they got to go outside for a little bit, even if it she could tell how much is stressed out Camellia and Mari, who were on constant alert in case someone sent surveillance out their way. But as far as any of them knew, this was desolate, unlivable slums, demolished a long time ago and never restored. The only people caught around here would be hoodlums and the poor that they wanted to choke out anyways.

"Like hell I'm going to break," Kodi said, slamming down his water bottle and running off for another lap. Ridley could hear how heavily he was breathing when he passed and turned around to look at the others.

Ryder was slowing down, but when they saw Kodi running ahead, they put their head down with a little wheeze and took off after him again, brows furrowed in concentration.

"Those two are foolish for overdoing it," Ridley said to herself.

"That was my first thought," Ember said, watching Kodi singing to himself as he was running to push himself faster. "But I admire their determination."

"Determination means nothing without intentionality," Ridley said thoughtfully. "That's what they always said at the academy. Ugh, I used to hate those old shitbags, but… I think I understand them now."

"Be nice," Mari said, and Ridley and Amiah exchanged a grin at how defensive she was over Ryder. "Both of them. They just… Aren't handling the news well."

Silence fell over the other four before Ember spoke.

"I can't imagine what I would be doing if they took my family," she said quietly. "And… Sometimes I stay awake and worry that they're next," she said quietly.

Worried silence fell over them all.

"They can take my dad next," Mary said. "He hurt me enough, he can take it for once."

Amiah made a strained little noise and shook her head quickly, her face deeply troubled hearing her say something like that.

"It's true," said Mary quietly, rolling her eyes a little at Amiah.

"They're just trying to do whatever they can to get to sleep tonight," Camellia said quietly as she watched them and shook her head, the pain written all over her face. "They had my brother too, differently of course, but all I could do was sit at home and watch," she said quietly, her voice quivering before it broke. "It's a burden unlike any other." She sighed and looked at her feet. "And… I know what it's like to have the man I cared about more than anything taken from me too," she added. "I know Kodi didn't spend a lot of time with Lester, but I could still recognize the look on his face," she whispered.

"Surely there's something more we can do than just sit and watch," Ridley said, her brows creasing. She was starting to think about what it would be like if it was her on the other side of the screen from her family. Her parents, her siblings, her friends. And… Honestly, she hoped she never had to know that feeling because now that she was here, having witnessed the things she did with the people beside her… She didn't think she could take it. She was barely going to be able to do what she volunteered for, there was no way she could have killed any of them after the night before their Games. And, as relieved as she was that she wouldn't have to, she was just now seeing the bigger picture, what that meant for her and the people she loved back home. They didn't deserve this because Ridley jumped the gun and volunteered, and for what? She didn't know.

"That's what we're trying to help you do," Mari said. "But we need you safe and healthy."

"Well I need my family safe and healthy," Ridley said, and Amiah nodded quickly at that and held onto her arm tightly. "I can't have my little sister be the next person on the screen."

"There's no reason for them to be in danger, Ryder's family were known conspirators and…" she shook her head a little bit. "So was Lester."

"You mean, so was Bonnie," Camellia said.

"Don't say his name!" Mari snapped a little at her and Camellia looked a little angry and a little hurt by her lashing out.

"So what, we're expected to just sit around until something terrible happens to them?" Ridley asked, shaking her head. "I… I can't do that." Amiah nodded and made the sign for me-too.

Camellia frowned and sighed. "Let's just… Talk about this inside," she said. "Please."

"Of course," Ember said. She let Mary go before her, following second. Camellia gestured for Ridley to go and she took Amiah back into the bunker.

The girls – and the other Careers – were out for a little longer. More time passed, and more, enough time that Ridley could see Ember counting on her fingers – five things you see, five things you see. Mary was trying to tune Malloy's old guitar by ear even as her fingers shook a little bit. Amiah was sitting on the floor and pulling up pieces of the rug.

"If they're not back in five, I'm going to look," Ridley said. But she had a terrible feeling. What if something were to happen to Camellia and Mari? What would they even do, they'd be helpless and trapped in an old bomb shelter just waiting to get smoked out by Peacekeepers. Those would be a lot of big decisions for Ridley to have to make and she didn't feel like she was ready to make them. Ridley couldn't be in charge of the group… She… She felt like she was just a stupid kid. She wasn't ready to take control of her life… She was just playing into a huge charade. All the things that she felt at the party – that newfound wave of confidence and independence… It was all just an act. The truth was… She didn't know how to be responsible for and protect the others like they deserved.

Ridley wasn't strong like them, not deep inside. Deep inside she was just… Some crazy, misguided teen that thought she knew it all, but actually knew nothing at all. How was she supposed to keep her family safe from the Capitol? Both her family back home in District Four, and…. Her family here, in this very living room.

Ridley felt a tear drip out of her eye before she could stop it, quickly reaching up to wipe it away. She couldn't break like this. What if something terrible actually did happen? She let out a small noise of surprise as she felt a paper touch her hand and looked down at Amiah, who was looking at her with a reassuring smile. Ridley took it and Amiah did a few signs that she was really struggling to keep up with.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I… I can't."

Amiah just smiled and nodded to the paper. Ridley opened it up for a second.

Don't forget to look for the light.

Ridley felt another tear drip out of her eye onto the paper. She smiled and nodded a little bit as she thought about their first time talking together. "You're right," she told her, opening her arms and giving her a tight hug, smiling at her support. Ridley pulled back a little bit to smile and sign for her as she spoke. "Thanks."

Amiah just nodded and gave her nose a little nuzzle. Ridley leaned forward to return the eskimo kiss and then pulled back. "I'm going after them."

Ridley went out the door but saw them right at the entrance to the bunker, the girls in the front.

"Oh!" Mari said in surprise, putting a hand on her chest. "That scared me."

"Sorry," said Ridley, stepping aside to let them through.

"So," said Camellia with a sigh. "We… have a bit of a situation."

Nothing good ever started that way. But this time was… A little different.

"It's me. I'm the situation."

Ridley's eyes widened. "Luke!?" She could barely recognize him with the state he was in. He looked awful.

"Guess what we picked up off the side of the street," Mari said, trying to stay positive.

"This is fine," Camellia said, walking around in a circle and looking like it was not at all fine.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't just abandon him." Kodi and Ryder followed the girls and Luke inside and tightly barricaded the door.

"I know," Camellia said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I understand. Nobody gets left behind."

"Why were you out there!?" Ridley asked in disbelief.

Luke just chuckled a little bit. "Just the queer I wanted to see," he said with a smile as he kept Ridley from hugging him at an arm's distance. "Don't, I stink."

Amiah hugged him anyway. Ridley fanned her nose jokingly, but after days in the middle of nowhere, he didn't at all smell good.

Luke smiled at them all and shrugged. "At the party, I just… Kept hiding. I kept hiding until my parent decided to retire without me for the night. I hid out in a hotel room under an alias until I ran outta money, then hid out behind buildings for a while. Til I got lost and ended up here, and shit went down and my parent hid out with the other Victors. So…" he gave a toothy grin and shrugged. "Guess I'm free now. Eh?"

Ridley gaped at him. "Dude. I- um…" she didn't even know what to say. "That's great!"

"I'm glad for you," Kodi said, squeezing his shoulder and shaking it a little bit, but his smile held back a heaping load of pain. Ryder looked even worse, if that was even possible.

"Well, hit the showers folks. Ridley, you go last," Mari said with a pointed look. Kodi was the other shower culprit, but was obviously wanting to be alone.

"Just because I took all the hot water one time!" she whined, but smiled. "That's okay. I don't mind catching up."

Me too, Amiah signed and stayed tight by Ridley's side. When Ridley sat down across from Luke at the table, she sat down beside her as the group slowly disbanded and Ember and Mary went back to their room.

"This is a nice place you got here," Luke said, before his goofy smile got a little serious. "But I don't want to hide forever. I want to do something good for the world, and not just… Hang around and be a lazy, spoiled brat my whole life."

"I don't think anyone sees you that way," Ridley said.

"Oh please," Luke said, shaking his head a little bit. "I feel that way about myself. I stumbled over here to you for a reason, and that reason isn't going to be wasting away my days. I was subjected to some of that shitty games stuff from my parent as well. Not nearly as bad though, so it doesn't really matter. But… Yeah, I want to help bring it to an end."

Mari looked over to Camellia, who was in thought. "Well," she said finally. "There is something that we don't have a man on yet," she said. "Your ally Basil went rogue. The threats to his family were too much for him, and he escaped in the night. The tributes that were kept there are currently en route to the safe house in District Two. But we're going to need a connection with them. But, this job is dangerous. Despite the best efforts, it's still a Capitol stronghold. Stellan is refusing to send any of us there, and I'm sure that would include tributes. But… If you wanted to head the mission," she said to Luke thoughtfully.

"Sure!" Luke said right away. "I'm tired of sitting around."

"I'm not letting him go alone," Ridley said, and Amiah signed, Me too.

Camellia sighed a little bit, but she couldn't help but smile. "Very well," she told them all. "I understand how you feel and I can't stop you from doing what you know is right just because we're all afraid for you."

"I'll protect them," Ridley said, finding a new purpose in those words as she looked over to Luke, and then Amiah.

Camellia smiled at her. "I know you will," she said, bestowing her greatest praise unto them with only a sentence.

"There are few others I would trust with that task."

~.~.

A/N: Long update times lol. It's been a summer. My first SYOT Community IRL meeting with Lauren, getting the 'vid (sorry Lauren), a vacation, getting engaged, and moving. I'm a Grown Up ™ now.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter pushing things along. Out into the Abyss it goes.

Next chapter: The Tweedles are reunited, the D9 group say goodbye to the cows, and what is Junius's assassin up to anyway?