Breathe in, Breathe out • F Odair² •

XXII

Either way, the Careers didn't come this way. They listened hard for any noises, but there were no voices, no breathing except for their own, no footsteps. Not even the light, quick ones of Johanna and Katniss. Peeta was getting more restless by the second. It was only a matter of time before he would try to find Katniss by himself.

"They're not here," Peeta said. "They're not coming after us, they're coming after Katniss and Johanna! I knew I should've gone with them!"

He seemed about ready to take off, which was why Athena grabbed his arm before he could.

"Wait," she hissed. "Wait. You can't just go charging through, they'll hear you. We need to come up with a plan and quickly."

"How quickly?" he said. "What plan? This was the plan. The Careers could have Katniss right now."

Athena opened her mouth to reply, but then stopped dead, and after a split second, he could understand why. There were two sets of footsteps coming in their direction. It wasn't Katniss and Johanna, though, that much was clear at once. The footsteps were heavy, not trying to conceal their whereabouts. It was Brutus and Enobaria.

Athena acted on instinct, shoving Peeta hard so that he fell into the foliage, which shielded him from view, hissing, "Stay down!"

She was protecting him. Brutus and Enobaria couldn't kill what they couldn't see.

Brutus and Enobaria appeared closest to Beetee, so he who was they attacked first. Athena threw one of her knives, sinking it into Brutus' shoulder blades, but that didn't stop Enobaria, who shoved Beetee with all her might into the tree and buried her knife to the hilt in his thigh, dragging it along the length of his thigh. At the same moment, though, Beetee raised his knife, not to attack, but to throw it into the force field, The lightning hadn't struck yet, it was too early for that, so the force field didn't break, but the force with which the knife hit the force field sent everyone in the vicinity flying back. Instinctively, Finnick reached for Athena and covered her body with his. He was still disoriented, but he managed to roll himself and Athena over until they were hidden in some of the foliage on the ground, only able to hope that it wasn't poisonous.

Slowly, the world calmed down and became still again. There were several moments where everything was frozen, everyone too disoriented to act. There was no cannon. Everyone was still alive - for now. Athena was staring up at him, wide eyes shining in the moonlight.

"We have to do it," she whispered, as loudly as she dared. "We have to be the ones to take them out. Or keep them away from Katniss and Peeta."

He knew she was right. He nodded. Quite suddenly, as he gazed down at her, so close to the end, he found there was something he needed to say. "Athena," he choked out, his voice a faint whisper. "Athena, I love you."

And because they were so hidden in the foliage that the cameras couldn't see, Athena took his face in her hands gently, and brought his mouth to hers, kissing him deeply. She was terrified - he could feel it, with the way their chests were pressed together he could actually feel her erratic, rapid heart rate, and she could probably feel his, but the way she kissed him was almost calm. It was quick, fleeting, due to their circumstances, but it said enough.

"I love you too," she said, her voice soft.

At that moment, several things happened at once. Brutus and Enobaria began rising to their feet. Finnick's and Athena's hands went to their weapons. But there was the sound of someone yelling. Johanna.

"FINNICK! ATHENA! VOLTS! PEETA!"

Johanna normally wouldn't be stupid enough to be screaming in the middle of the jungle. She was doing this on purpose, drawing all the attention, all the danger towards her. At the same time, there was a rustling noise several yards away, and they turned to see Chaff standing there. He saw Brutus and Enobaria standing there, outnumbering him, and ran. As though they had made some split-second, silent agreement, Brutus chased after Chaff, while Enobaria ran in the direction of Johanna's voice. Peeta, seemingly unscathed, tore after Brutus, raising his long knife.