But, You're Dead? [Clovniss]

Part Of The Journey Is The End

Katniss stares at the crumpled body of the elderly man, her body frozen in shock. Her eyes are focused on the handle of a knife protruding from his back, not a hint of blood in sight. She glances up at the District Two gunman, taking in his closed eyes and annoyed frown.

"Tell me, Astro. Was that really necessary?" He questions, shifting his gaze to the shadows of the alley. "Please, do tell me if it was do explain your reasoning."

A tall, broad-shouldered woman melts away from the shadows, spinning a knife in her left hand. "Yeah, it was." She smirks, arrogance laced through her thick accent. "You got a problem with that, Triton?"

Triton- or so he's called- shakes his head in announces, waving the hired killer away and back into the shadows. "Just keep watch while I deal with this one. Who knows if another would be saviour is coming."

"Forgive my sister." A low voice drifts out from the shadows, with a similar accent to Astro. "She is an idiot."

"It's fine, Dax." Triton sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Katniss finds her voice, and clears her throat to catch the gunman's attention. "You- there was no need. To kill him. You could have spared him. He didn't deserve to die."

"Sorry," Triton shrugs, not an ounce of remorse audible in his tone. "Now, how about we finish this. For good, this time. There's no one to save you. You're all alone. No Fuhrman or Fenton to the rescue." He aims the weapon at Katniss's face, finger hovering over the trigger.

A shadow shifts at the entrance to the alley, the light from the moon glinting off a flash of metal.

Katniss chuckles, eyes shining with mirth. "I've fought mutts, I've won the Games, won a war. Do you really think one idiot with a gun and a godawful name could kill me?"

"Weren't you named after a plant?" Triton points out, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "And today is the day you die. There is no way out."

"Think again, Triton."

A knife comes flying out from the shadows, barely missing Katniss's ear and lodges into the frame of the window. Clove runs out of the shadows, throwing a knife into Triton's shoulder. He drops his gun, and the Career drops into a slide as his accomplices burst out of the darkness, fists raised.

They descend on Clove in a flurry of blows, working in tandem to deliver painful punches that even Clove struggles to block.

Katniss wrenches the knife free of the frame and throws herself on Triton, tackling him to the ground. She rolls away from him, slashing at his stomach as she does so, skilfully evading any counter attacks. She smirks, jumping to her foot and waving the knife at him.

He lunges forward, throwing a punch at her head. She dodges the hit, bringing her knife up and cutting deeply into his wrist, dancing out of his reach. They continue to trade blows, Triton desperate to land a hit as Katniss slashes and jabs at his delicate flesh. Both are tiring quickly, but he can feel himself lagging from the blood loss.

In a desperate bid, he throws his entire body forward at the archer, taking her completely by surprise. He body slams her into the ground and quickly climbs atop her, pummelling her chest and face with unrelenting punches. She twists between him but he refuses to be dislodged, intent on taking revenge for those he has lost.

Clove is not fairing much better with her own opponents, they are throwing punches faster than she can block and she is weak from previous injuries. She finds an opening when Astro makes the mistake of burying a knife in her thigh, and she grabs the hired killer by the wrist before she can rip the knife free again, yanking her forward only to stop her with an elbow to the face.

Astro falls back and hits the ground hard, the breath knocked out of her.

Without pause, Clove rips the knife out of her thigh and surges upwards; stabbing the knife deep is the sternum of Dax. She wrenches the knife from side to side, making sure to twist it right before she pulls it out. She drops the bloodied weapon as the man's body crumples, blood gushing from the ravaged wounds at a nauseating speed.

"No!" Astro screams at the sight of her brother falling, drawing her gun from its holster. She fires off three shots, one of the bullets managing to catch Clove in the side and sending her stumbling back into the wall.

The sight fuels Katniss with renewed strength. Her knee flies upward to land a nasty blow to Triton's crotch, her fist smashing into his jaw. She reaches for the fallen knife while he's disoriented, her fingers managing to clasp the handle before he regains his composure.

His hand fists in her collar and forces her head down to the ground, his other hand raising up into a punch.

Katniss bares her teeth at him and brings her knife up, slashing his throat open before he can land another punch. She shoves his twitching body off and climbs to her feet, seeing Astro fighting Clove, who has a worrying sway to her stance.

Triton's gun lies only a foot away and Katniss dives for it as Astro raises her knife, shooting the large woman five times in the back and surely saving Clove's life.

Clove staggers to lean against the wall, pressing a hand to the wound on her side. Of course she had to get shot, karma for doing the same for Hunter. She doesn't even notice Katniss getting up and coming closer until warm arms wind around her and she is guided to the ground with the upper half of her torso and head in Katniss's lap.

"You're okay, Clove." Katniss soothes, hearing concerned voices drawing nearer. "Just focus on my voice and stay awake, okay? Stay awake for me, please."

"No promises, Fire Girl." Clove chuckles, cut short by a pained wheeze. She's fighting a losing battle to stay conscious, but she has to listen to Katniss. She has to say her piece. "I'm sorry for I saw at the Cornucopia. It was cr-cruel. I know you tried to save Rue."

Katniss carefully brushes the hair away from Clove's forehead, feeling her heart shatter at the mention of her District Eleven friend, Gods she misses the little girl every day. "You can apologise later, just keep fighting."

Footsteps draw nearer, the voices growing louder.

"Just stay with me, please."

"Always."