We Could Have Been Great

Chapter 2

Air rushes into her lungs and coughs rattle through her body. From the corner of her eye she can see Katniss running back into the forest with the District 12 feast bag. Looking up, she sees Cato fighting Thresh.
The boy from 11 has a spear sticking out of his midsection and blood is staining the grass beneath him red but somehow he is still putting up a decent fight.

Shakily, Clove pushes herself to her feet, holding the side of the cornucopia with one hand to steady herself. She watches for a second as Thresh and Cato continue to fight, the former boy growing weaker by the second, before she takes one of her knives out of her jacket. She throws it at Thresh with a quick flick of her wrist and it lodges itself in his throat.
Finally, he slumps to the ground, writhing and gurgling as he clutches his bleeding throat before he goes still.

Cato pulls the spear from Thresh before turning and rushing to Clove's side, kneeling in the grass next to her.
"Hey, oh god I thought you were- I heard you scream- I thought I was too far away," he whispers the last part and pulls Clove to him.
She crashes into his chest and he is careful to avoid her head as he clings tightly to her. It only takes her a second to react, snaking her arms around his waist.

After a minute or so, they pull apart and Cato presses a quick kiss to the top of her forehead before helping her stand up. He wraps his arm around her waist and they grab their district bag before returning to their makeshift camp they had set up just into the bushes at the perimeter of the cornucopia clearing. There they are completely hidden from anyone in the clearing but have full view of anyone stupid enough to venture into the wide, open space.

Cato helps Clove sit down before searching through the bag. There are two things in it: a cold pack and a tin of ointment.
How did the gamemakers know they would need to pack?
Regardless, he hands it to Clove who presses it to the back of her head.

The ointment brings his attention back to his throbbing arm.
When he was scouting the perimeter of the clearing, he wandered further into the woods when he thought he heard rustling. He had then felt a sharp pain in his arm and when he looked down he had seen a small bright green snake dangling from it. He had ripped it off and killed it with his spear and was about to continue searching the forest when he had heard his name.

"Cato!"     ...     "Cato!"

It had been quiet but he had immediately recognised Clove's voice and taken off sprinting towards the clearing. He had called out her name but he knew in his heart he was too far away.

He had seen Thresh from behind, holding up Clove. Cato could clearly see the pain and terror on her face. He had never seen her scared before. Without a second thought, Cato had thrown his spear at Thresh and it had lodged itself in his midsection. He had seen Clove crumple to the ground and had only had a split second to panic before Thresh had attacked him.
He had been unbelievably angry and the rush of adrenaline he had got from that had made the fight very one sided.
He remembers thinking 'if Clove is dead everyone will have hell to pay'.

Now he opens the tin and runs some of the ointment onto the bite. Instantly, the stinging and the dizziness goes away. He screws the lid back on and puts the tin back into the pack.

Cato sits down next to Clove who is sat still holding the ice pack to the back of her head. She's silent, staring off into nothing. Cautiously and gently, he reaches out to touch her shoulder and she flinches slightly, dropping her ice pack into the dirt.
Cato picks it up and hands it back to her and she quietly thanks him. They sit in silence for another moment before Cato decides to break it.

"Are you okay?" he asks and Clove looks up at him.
Her eyes are wide and empty and his heart cracks a little at the sight.
"Yeah. Thanks for- you know," she looks back down.
"Of course. You know you really scared me for a minute. I thought- well- I'm just glad I got there in time."
"I- ," Clove starts but she cuts herself off. A moment later she starts back up, "I was scared too." It comes out as barely a whisper and Cato almost misses it.
For a second she thinks he has but his breath catches in his chest and her cheeks flush with her admission.

Cato's heart painfully twists at her words: she must truly be shaken for her to admit that out loud. He scoots closer to her and wraps his around her, pulling her so close that she's practically on his lap. She immediately hugs him back, balling the fabric of the back of his coat tightly in her fists.
They stay like that for a couple of minutes, Cato with his chin resting on top of Clove's head.
In this moment, he doesn't care if everyone in Panem can see them. He doesn't care if the people of two are jeering and throwing rocks at the screen calling them weak. Because Clove is alive. Clove is alive and that's all he cares about.

Finally, they pull apart and start sharing out the tiny amount of food they have left in their packs. It's not much - just two packs of crackers and a tin of bean stew - but with the two birds they had managed to catch during a hunt early in the morning they had plenty to eat between them.

That night, they lie next to each other in their sleeping bags, Clove curled into Cato's side, and watch the sky. There is only one face, Thresh's, blue and unsmiling. As it appears against the inky black of the night sky, Cato tightens his grip on Clove and pulls her closer into his side.

Looking up at the stars, Cato thanks every single one that there was only one face up there tonight. That the warmth at his side isn't just a figment of his imagination.
He looks at her peaceful face and presses a soft kiss to her forehead.
Cato is taking first watch and as he struggles to keep his eyes open, he catches Clove's lips tilted into a tiny smile. The pride erupts in his chest again and although they are currently in a bloody fight to the death, there is nowhere he would rather be.

_______________________

Author's note:
Aww. Just wanted to say please don't get your hopes up for this fic to ever be completed but I will try my best.
- Eva x