Archive of Our Own

Eddie blinks as an errant, annoyingly stubborn sunbeam streams right through the crack in the shutters over his bedroom window and directly into his eye. Maybe on another day, he would groan indulgently as he got up to wash and dress. He’d pull on his well-worn hand-me-down denim pants and a patchwork button up that he would inevitably shuck off in favor of the sleeveless shirt underneath when it got too hot to breathe. He’d go to the makeshift crib in the corner of the room he shares with Shannon and run a gentle hand over the dusting of hair on his son’s head before leaving Christopher safe and sound in his wake.

Abuela would kiss his cheek as he came out into the kitchen and put one of Abuelo’s old hats on hishead to keep the sun from his eyes. He’d greet his mother and father as he tucked into his breakfast, then he’d make his way out to the stables to start the day’s work. If he was lucky, he’d take his lunch and get to spend some time out in the garden plucking herbs under Abuela’s careful direction. He’d hand pick whatever Abuela needed for all her teas and salves. When he was done working for the day, he’d maybe even get to see his Aunt Pepa who lives not too far down the road. For Eddie, that’s as ideal as his days get. Unfortunately for him and the rest of Panem, today isn’t just like any other, and it certainly isn’t an ideal one, because today is reaping day.

Eddie scowls at the sun streaming in through his window and the strip of blue sky that’s visible with it. A day like this one has no right being as bright and vibrant as it is. It feels wrong.

All he has to do is get through one more day he tells himself. One more reaping, then tomorrow he turns nineteen and his name will never appear in that drawing ever again. Instead, he’ll spend the next decade of his life agonizing about when his own son’s name will eventually appear. He tries to dispel the thought before it gets the opportunity to take root. Eddie promised himself he would leave that agony for another day.

No, after today, he’ll have to focus on the future of his family so his son’s name will never have to be added more than is legally required. In truth, Eddie’s days out in the pasture have been numbered for some time. He knew the moment his son was born what the rest of his life would look like.

He’ll have his birthday tomorrow. Abuela will make him a big plate of eggs and sweet bread because it’s his favorite. She’ll make him the tea she knows he loves. The day after he will be hastily shuttled out of District 10 with a shaved head and dressed head to toe in Peacekeeper greys.

The thing is, Christopher was born with complications. Before now, Eddie spent most days out on the farm, but Shannon spends the majority of her days dealing with Eddie’s parents and bringing Christopher back and forth to the town healer. The costs of Christopher’s care have been racking up. His parents have helped as best they can but even then— living in the district isn’t easy for anyone, much less for a child with special needs. The work he had been doing on the farm and at the meat factory for overtime were still not enough to make ends meet. That’s where Eddie got the idea to become a Peacekeeper.

He had walked down to the measly recruiter office just outside the base in the heart of District 10. Eddie constantly saw men in those grey uniforms filtering in and out of base. He’d even see them in the shops on the rare occasion he had reason and time to pop into one.

Eddie never dreamed of becoming a Peacekeeper when he was young. In fact, he’d always hoped he’d have a job out on the ranch where he could be outside most of the time and take care of the livestock with hours that would still allow him time after shift to do some of the things he loved. He was fairly good at dancing and tossing a ball around. He figured one day he’d have a family of his own, but he didn’t think too hard about what that would look like. Until then, he’d planned to try to make good use of his days when he could.

The only options he thought he’d have were ranch hand or slaughterhouse. Most people would prefer to work on the ranch than in the slaughterhouse, and Eddie was no exception. Unfortunately for him, neither of those jobs pay enough to take care of Christopher the way he needs.

He makes himself roll out of bed. Shannon is turned on her side,facing away from him, presumably still asleep. They’d fought the night before. The fight is always the same. She doesn’t want him to go, but he doesn’t see any other way. The life of a Peacekeeper won’t be easy. He’ll be shipped off to another district, because no one is allowed to work in the district that they come from, and he’ll be able to send money back home. It’s not what any of them want, but it’s the only way Eddie sees himself being able to take care of his family, even if it isn’t quite a traditional one. He can’t remember the last time they hadn’t fought. It might have been the day Christopher was born.

Shannon’s mother had been gone four months to illness when they learned Christopher was already well on his way into the world. Eddie could tell something about that affected Shannon in a way she never spoke about, but he never pushed.

Neither of them were really given the opportunity to discuss their options. His mother and father were already making plans the second he and Shannon broke the news. Eddie doesn’t know what he was expecting his parents to say or do when he told them. He was scared and so was Shannon. They had never really brought up what the future of their relationship would even look like. They’d been friends one day, the next they tried fooling around, and before Eddie knew it there was a baby on the way.

Shannon had moved into the Diaz homestead shortly after. She was nineteen, he was eighteen, and everything Eddie knew had completely shifted on its axis. His parents had pushed marriage, though that required getting a license approved. He and Shannon had been doing everything possible to delay it despite his parents pushing.

Either way, marriage or not, it had only made sense to have Shannon move in with them. Eddie’s parents had insisted, and Eddie would never have even dreamed of having it any other way. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing. He still doesn’t know. All he did know was that he needed to take care of Shannon and their kid.

After she moved in, Eddie immediately took more hours out on the farm. In the evenings, he’d come home utterly exhausted. He’d try to stay up and keep her company, listen to her talk about her day, her books, the government, but more often than not he was asleep minutes after his head hit the pillow. He’d wake up the next morning, and the cycle would begin again.

It was pretty quickly after Christopher was born that they realized whatever romance they thought was blossoming between them was over, and it was all Eddie’s fault.

They had been sitting out in Abuela’s garden on a rare afternoon turned evening that Eddie had been given off from the ranch. The foreman at the slaughterhouse had retired and everyone in town had been forced to attend a party, but the silver lining was that everything in 10 had been put on hold for the rest of the day to do it. Eddie made a point to show his face at the party before slipping out as early as was respectful so he could head home.

Shannon had set up a picnic blanket and brought Christopher out with her. They were lounging around when he finally got back home.

“You don’t love me, do you?” Eddie had frowned from where he laid on the blanket. Shannon was sitting up beside him. They had both been watching Christopher as he lifted his little chubby arms like he was going to grab the clouds and the fireflies that flew overhead as the sun began to set.

“Of course I do. You’re Christopher’s mother.”

He remembers being annoyed, defensive, about it.

Hadn’t he done everything possible to show her he was committed to this? That he cared so much about them both? He was doing everything he could possibly think of to make this work.

“Is that all I am to you?” She sounded hurt, and Eddie had winced. It was never his intention to hurt her. He cared about her. He wanted her to be happy. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t.

“That’s not–”

“Okay fine. I know you love me. I do. I love you, too.” Eddie had blown out a relieved sigh before finally looking up at her.

“Then what’s the problem, Shannon?”

“You’re not in love with me.” Eddie froze right there, eyes wide and tongue tied. He thought he had been doing so well. He thought eventually that feeling Abuela told him about would show its face. The one where he looked at someone and felt the air leave his lungs. All he had to do was put the work in. He had to be a good partner and a good dad and a good worker and eventually when he looked at Shannon he wouldn’t be able to catch his breath. He’s known her for almost a decade and that feeling hasn’t found him in any of the days he’d known her.

Shannon looked at him like she somehow knew every thought he’d just said in his own head. He wanted to reach out for her and tell her it wasn’t the truth, but he didn’t want to lie. He watched her nod and fight tears as she got up to go inside.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”

Things were different from there. They got along fine, but they didn’t kiss. They didn’t touch. Eddie still feels sick at how relieved he felt after.

Eddie lets Shannon stay in bed a little longer. It feels like the least he can do. He gets Chrisopher awake and fed. Eventually the rest of the house rises and Shannon takes over with Christopher so Eddie can head out to the garden with Abuela.

He finds her out there pruning some of the plants she has somehow managed to keep alive despite the District 10 heat. She’s one of the strongest people Eddie knows.

“Hey, Abuela.”

“Good morning, Eddito.”

He goes to her and kisses her cheek. They don’t need to talk much. He helps her with some of the gardening and she tells him all about one of the books she read a long time ago with a very complicated and intense plot.

They don’t talk about the reaping and very specifically they don’t talk about his abuelo. On any other day, his abuela is smiling at his memory as she tells Eddie another story about him. He had died in an accident at the slaughterhouse when Eddie was a baby so he never got the chance to truly know him. What he did know had always come from snatches of stories his Abuela told him along with the local knowledge that he was a good man. On a wider scale across Panem, he was known as the only person from District 10 to ever win the Hunger Games. From what Eddie was told, his Abuelo hadn’t even needed to be working the day he died. He and Abuela were comfortably living off the winnings that each victor is provided for life after they survive the games. He didn’t need to work, but he still went every day to the slaughterhouse to help out. The community respected the hell out of him for it, and Eddie did, too, even now.

On that day, his abuelo had apparently been moving cattle from outside on the pasture into the slaughterhouse. He’d gotten too close to the cattle chute door when it jammed before it came down unexpectedly and crushed him on the spot. The entire town mourned his passing. It had barely been a week when someone from the Capitol promptly kicked Abuela out of the house she shared with Abuelo and stopped sending the money he was promised after he won the games. That was when Abuela began charging for her salves and teas and moved in with Eddie’s parents. She’d been there with them ever since.

She doesn’t say his name on reaping day, and Eddie never asks her to.

Eventually, he has to go and get some minor chores done before the reaping in the very early afternoon. Afterwards, he heads back to the house to make himself presentable. It's expected of everyone in the district, especially the pool of potential tributes, to dress in their very best clothes out of respect. Apparently the Capitol wants everyone looking sharp when they pluck their sheep for slaughter.

Every year one boy and one girl are chosen to be sent off to fight to the death in the games. Which is bad enough as it is, but this year is different. This year is something known as a Quarter Quell. It’s a special version of the Games that only happens every 25 years. During the quell, instead of selecting only one boy and one girl, the tribute number is doubled which means an even higher chance of being chosen. The only relief is Shannon is twenty now and past reaping age, so at least Eddie has the security of knowing she’s safe along with most of the other Diaz family members, save for his sisters.

Eddie takes a deep breath and smoothes his button down where it’s tucked into his nicest pants. He carefully adjusts the St. Christopher medallion Shannon gave him when their son was born and grounds himself by thinking about the way the metal feels against his skin under his shirt. It’s just one more day. One more day and then he’ll be put on a train and sent off to Peacekeeper training. His son will be safe for just over eleven years. Maybe by then things will be different.

_________

The town square is absolutely packed when Eddie arrives. The adults who are past reaping age line the edges of the square. The female and male tributes are each divided to one side with oldest tributes at eighteen being closest to the ceremony stage.

Eddie finds himself on the edge of the bracket of eighteen year olds. Most of them are stone faced or cursing under their breath while the ceremony is still being prepped for. District 10 is quite large. Some of these people Eddie has never seen before as they have had to travel from further in the district to be here for the reaping.

Eddie surveys the square and finds his sisters among the crowd of female tributes. They’re separated due to their age difference. Adriana is standing tall beside the other sixteen year olds in her vicinity while Sophia is visible at the outskirts of the tributes who are fourteen. Eddie’s attention immediately moves away from them as the district’s escort speaks into the microphone with an inappropriate level of cheer.

“Welcome to the 75th Annual Hunger Games District 10 Reaping Ceremony! As we all know, this year is special because it is also the third Quarter Quell which means that we will be selecting two female tributes and two male tributes to be sent to the arena this year! How exciting. Now, ladies first and may the odds be ever in your favor!”

The second Eddie doesn’t hear either of his sister’s names called he nearly doubles over in relief. He takes a breath and smiles so small and private at them both from across the crowd before everyone falls silent to allow the families of those chosen to grieve. The female tributes that were selected somberly take their place onstage. Eddie feels that familiar swell of anger rise in him that they have to go through this at all, but he deflates quickly when he realizes there’s not a thing he could do to change it. He sighs and steels himself as the wildly dressed woman on stage finally reaches into the glass bowl with all the names of the male tributes. She slowly pulls one out and clears her throat.

“The first male tribute from District 10 for this year’s Quarter Quell is…”

Eddie holds his breath along with all the other kids in his general vicinity. Time stops then. He looks over to the crowd of girls, searching for the faces of his sisters. He catches sight of Adriana first and then Sophia. He watches in real time as the color drains from each of their faces.

“Edmundo Diaz!”

There is a collective gasp through the crowd and his sisters are crying in an instant.

Eddie blinks. The sun is in his eyes again. There are no hats allowed at the reaping even here in sunny District 10. He wishes he had abuelo’s hat right now so he could hide from more than just the harsh sun. He can feel every eye in District 10 and beyond on him in this moment. His throat is tight and his eyes immediately flick to Christopher where Shannon holds him back behind the line of tributes. She’s standing beside his parents and Abuela. He can’t bring himself to look at anyone but his son.

He swallows thickly and tries to commit to memory the soft curve of Christopher’s cheek, his chubby little hand, and his ridiculously small socks. He takes a steadying breath and turns toward the stage, keeping his expression blank as he makes his way through the other boys around him.

One foot in front of the other, he carries himself to the stage.

“Edmundo Diaz everyone!”

Eddie doesn’t think before he opens his mouth to correct her.

“It’s Eddie.”

She looks taken aback that he’s speaking and Eddie doesn’t budge.

“Excuse me?”

“Eddie. My name is Eddie Diaz.”

“Ah. Okay then. Eddie Diaz everyone. Very well. Now. For our last tribute! The second male victor from District 10 for this year’s Quarter Quell…. Evan Buckley.”

Eddie searches the throng of bodies packed in front of the stage and sees how they suddenly part around a boy with wild blue eyes and a swipe of guava pink smeared high on his brow.

A woman with long brown hair starts sobbing seconds later. Eddie almost worries she might do something crazy like try to stop this Buckley kid from leaving, but she keeps her place in the crowd. Eddie’s eyes are drawn back and he watches as Evan’s lower lip wobbles. It’s the same color as that mark above his eye. Eddie has never seen this boy before in his life. He can tell he’s older. Probably close to if not in his last year of eligibility. Eddie feels a pang of sympathy run through him at the thought.

Eddie knows he should be thinking strategically at this point. If he wants to survive, if he wants to make it back to his son, his family, then he should be looking for weaknesses. All he can think of is how young these two girls are, the choked cry of that woman in the crowd, the look of pure terror on Evan’s face. Evan doesn’t let it consume him, though. Eddie watches as Evan takes a steadying breath and nods to himself before he makes his way to the stairs that lead to the stage.

He realizes right then and there that he likely won’t ever see District 10 again after today.

There is a part of Eddie that starts kicking and screaming against his ribcage at the thought. That part of him wants to fight tooth and nail to make sure he gets to see his son grow up. That part of him almost considers the things he would have to do to win.

Another part of him, though, almost settles, as if at peace with the knowledge that he knows how his story will end and it won’t be here in District 10.

_________

The reaping wraps up after that. Eddie and the other tributes are escorted behind the stage into the justice building it was erected in front of to wait before they’re shuttled off to the Capitol.

Normally the tributes are given a private goodbye with their families. There are two rooms in the justice building specifically designated just for that. They're rarely used for anything else throughout the year and so when Eddie and Buck are escorted into one of them, there is a layer of dust on pretty much every inch of the small space.

With four tributes instead of just two, privacy seems to be the last thing on anyone’s mind. The girls are directed to one room while Eddie and Evan are stuffed into another. Evan begins to pace the moment the door clicks shut behind them.Eddie is distantly reminded of the sound of a cattle chute door slamming closed.

Eddie watches Evan. Focusing on his swift but anxious movements almost soothes Eddie to a point. It helps him get a handle on his thoughts as they wait for their families to come through the door.

Eddie anticipates the brunette woman from the reaping will show up for Evan. He wonders who she is to him. At first he might have thought his mother, the way she wailed his name, but she looked a bit young for that. Although, what does he know? He became a dad at eighteen.

Eddie thinks he saw an older couple comforting the woman. Maybe she’s a sibling or an aunt. He doesn’t have much more time to dwell on it because in the next breath their families are rushing in.

The brunette -- Evan calls her Maddie -- comes in with a somber older couple. Eddie notes they look less sad than he would expect of two parents about to lose their son.

“My Eddito.” He hears Abuela before he sees her. She comes in behind Shannon and his own parents.

Eddie immediately looks to his mother and father.

“You’ll take care of them, right?”

They are the first words out of his mouth. Normally he would expect his mother to chastise him for his lack of manners, for making demands of his own mother and father, but she doesn’t say a word. He figures today is excuse enough to maybe skip some pleasantries.

It’s no secret his mother isn’t Shannon’s biggest fan, and Shannon certainly isn’t hers either, but all Eddie knows is that none of that matters now. Not when Eddie is staring down the barrel. He won’t be here to mediate. He won’t be here to provide anymore. He doesn’t need them feuding; he needs reassurances, especially if he is going to get through the next few days.

“Oh, Eddie.” His mother gives him a sympathetic look and Eddie can’t meet her eyes. “Of course we will. Of course. We’ll take care of Christopher, I swear it.”

He nods gratefully.

“Mi Mundo.” Abuela steps forward then and she pulls him into the tightest hug Eddie has ever been on the receiving end of. He tucks his chin over her shoulder and holds her close.

“Do not forget what you know and who you are. Your abuelo survived the games and so can you.” She says it right into his ear, soft and fierce. Eddie wishes he believed her.

Eddie swallows thickly and nods. He wants to reassure her. He wants to promise he’ll be back, but he isn’t so sure so he only speaks three words instead: “I love you.”

She says it back and kisses his cheek before she steps aside to let the rest of the family in to say their goodbyes.

“My son.” Ramon is in front of Eddie then and he puts a hand on Eddie’s shoulder. He doesn’t say much else, but he gives Eddie a squeeze. There is pain in his eyes, but they don’t talk about it. They almost never talk about anything other than work and his sisters. He wishes they had. It’s too late now.

His mother wraps her arms around him next, but it doesn’t last. Affection from her has always been sparing. Eddie feels a bit frayed at the edges as she pulls away. His parents and Abuela are gone in a matter of moments to give Eddie time alone with Shannon and Christopher.

The door closes softly behind them and Evan’s parents, too, and then it’s just the three of them and what Eddie has gleaned as Evan’s sister left.

Finally, Eddie turns his attention to Shannon. She looks unravelled. Her eyes are red and wide as she holds their son with trembling hands. He eases Christopher out of her arms.

“Eddie. You’re— you’re going to come back, right? You have to try. Do anything you have to so you can come back. I can’t— I can’t do this without you here.”

Eddie bounces Christopher as he starts to fuss. The sound always sets him on edge because he still has no idea how to calm him down when he gets like this. He’s at work all day and he’s often too exhausted when he gets home. He feels like he rarely has time to spend getting to know him and now it’s too late. He’ll never know the secret trick to get his son to settle and his heart aches about it. He looks up from where he is kissing Christopher’s hair.

“Hey. You can. You can, okay?” Eddie feels his nerves beginning to set in. She has to be able to do it without him. They don’t have a choice.

“I don’t think I can.” Shannon shakes her head.

“Hey. Yes you can. I believe in you. And I’m not just going to give up. I’m going to fight to come back to this family, but you’ll need to be there for him when— if— I don’t make it back. My family will help. You won’t be alone.”

Shannon’s eyes are full of unshed tears. He wishes he didn’t have to ask this of her. He’s already taken so much from her, but it's not just about her anymore. It's about Christopher. Eddie ducks down to meet her eyes.

“Listen I know— I know none of this has been easy. I know this isn’t the life you planned. I’m not what you planned. But I don’t regret a second of it. Because it meant we got him, okay? He’s going to need you more than ever.”

Shannon nods wordlessly, the tears finally falling with the movement.

“Hey. Look on the bright side. At least my parents didn’t manage to force us to get married.” Eddie gives her a weak but playful smile. Shannon laughs. There isn’t much humor in it, but it’s the first time Eddie has seen her smile in weeks so he’ll take it.

There’s love here. It’s not what he imagined love would feel like exactly, but it doesn’t make it any less real. He knows Shannon feels the same.

“I wouldn’t have minded being married to you if it meant—“

Eddie cuts her off so she doesn’t have to say it. Mostly because he isn’t sure he’s ready to hear it out loud just yet.

“I know.”

Shannon presses her lips together and then chuckles in amusement.

“At least you didn’t have to shave your head?” He laughs at her dark humor. He’s going to miss it.

Eddie turns his attention to Christopher, who chooses that exact moment to put his hand on Eddie’s cheek. For the first time since his name was called, he lets himself break a little. Just for a moment.

He wants things to be different so badly. He wants more than anything to take his son and run. He wants to take him far beyond the reach of the Capitol, anywhere the games can’t touch him, but the unfortunate and devastating truth is that he can’t. Nowhere in Panem is safe for Christopher Diaz. If the games don’t eat Eddie alive, then that knowledge alone will.

Eddie tries to take a breath to steady himself but it feels like all the air has been stolen from his lungs. His lips scrunch and he purses them to try to get a handle on it so his tears don’t drop onto Christopher’s sweet face. He brushes his thumb so tenderly over Christopher’s tiny forehead.

“I love you, Christopher Diaz. I have to go and I hate it, but I love you. Doesn’t matter if we never see each other again. I’m still gonna love you wherever I go. If you can count on anything, you can count on that.”

Christopher babbles back to Eddie and despite the circumstances, despite the day he’s had, Eddie smiles.

He kisses Christopher’s hair so soft and loving before he swallows and gently hands him back to Shannon.

Shannon gives Eddie one last look before she takes her leave. Then it’s just Eddie, Evan, and his sister left.

It’s then that Eddie looks over at Evan’s sister where she sits beside him on the dusty couch, her brother's hand in hers.

He hears Evan murmuring to her, expressive and rapid. He holds her hand like his life depends on it.

When Maddie looks his way, Eddie tries his best to indicate to her with just his eyes that she has nothing to fear from him. Eddie Diaz has zero intention of harming a hair on Evan Buckley’s head. The same goes for the two girls reaped today alongside them both today. He wants her to know that. One older sibling to another. He nods at her slowly and she nods back before the Peacekeepers are rushing in and pushing her out.

Evan jumps up and reaches out uselessly as they pull her from the room.

“Maddie!”

The door slams shut behind them and the frame and its hinges creak with the force of it, leaving Eddie and Evan alone for the first time since their names were called. Eddie swallows and takes the opportunity to really look at Evan. He’s tall– taller than Eddie– and thicker in a way that a lot of people in the Districts aren’t. He’s muscular but mostly he’s solid and Eddie can tell he must have a job as a ranch hand. He’s got the same calluses Eddie has on his own hands reflected back at him. Evan’s hair is slicked back with some kind of salve, but he can see where his stubborn curls are fighting to break free from it.

He wants to think of something to say. The boy across from him is likely one of the only people in all of Panem who understands exactly what Eddie is going through in this moment. He gets the feeling of being ripped away from your family when you’re painfully close to making it into adulthood alive.

Before Eddie can come up with anything to break the ice, Evan makes the first move. Eddie feels like a deer caught in headlights as Evan turns and looks at him with those big blue eyes. The only sounds in the room between them are their breathing and the clock ticking where it's mounted on the wall behind them. He thinks Evan is finally going to speak before something passes over his face and he’s scowling in an instant. The change damn near gives Eddie whiplash. He isn’t able to give it much thought because not even a minute later the Peacekeepers are back and escorting them to the bullet train that will take them straight to the Capitol.

_________

The second they step foot into the train car, Eddie already feels like he's in another world. The colors are so much brighter than he’s used to. He’s convinced all of District 10 has at least two coats of desert dust on it at all times so colors apart from the sky seem muted. He can tell with just a brief glance that this place and all its furnishings are far fancier than anything Eddie has ever seen in his life. Every surface is either unbelievably plush or sharp, shiny and sleek. Eddie has never missed his favorite quilt, the warm wood of their dining room table, and that damn desert dust more.

“Hey there.”

Eddie and Evan both startle when a tall man with cropped grey hair appears through the door that leads further into the train. He’s dressed in simple clothes and it takes Eddie a second to realize exactly who he is.

“I’m Bobby. Bobby Nash.” He gives them a small, but warm smile. He doesn’t congratulate them or pretend like this is a happy occasion. Eddie doesn’t suppose most victors would. Bobby Nash. District 3. Winner of the Hunger Games two decades ago.

Eddie watches Evan’s eyes widen.

“You must be Eddie Diaz and Evan Buckley.”

“I go by Buck.”

“Apologies. Buck then. I wish I could say it's a pleasure to meet you both, but, well, I think we can all agree we would have preferred if you never had to meet me at all.”

Eddie finds himself instantly liking Bobby. He’s upfront and honest and it’s everything Eddie probably needs right now.

“As you both know, the only known victor from District 10 is unfortunately no longer with us.” Bobby gives Eddie a barely perceptible glance before he continues, “So in order to give each of you a fair and equal shot at winning, I have been asked to step in and be your mentor.

After a brief moment, Buck seems to stop suddenly and look around.

“Wait. What about the girls? Camila and Rose. Will you mentor them, too?”

“Ah. They’re with another mentor, Hen Wilson. District 4. They asked to be trained and kept separately so she’ll be with them for the remainder of the stay up until the day of the actual Games.”

Buck frowns and nods at that. Bobby explains a little bit about what the next few days will look like before he leaves them to their own devices.

It’s a long couple hours on the train. They are given the option to take a room and nap on the way there, but Eddie is too wound up to even think about sleeping, especially not in the middle of the day. Eddie and Buck mostly spend the ride sticking to opposite sides of the lounge car. At some point, Buck approaches Bobby and starts asking him all manner of questions. Eddie takes advantage of the television that is provided and catches up on the reapings from across the country.

They arrive in the Capitol uneventfully, save for the excitable crowd waiting for them as they unload at the tribute center where they will spend the four days until they’re thrown into the arena.

Eddie sees a glimpse of Camila and Rose being ushered ahead of them into the tribute building by a woman with no hair on her head and a pair of bright purple glasses balanced on her nose.

Once inside, they mill around while Bobby tells them the rest of today will be a travel day as they wait for the outer districts to arrive. The first day of training will start the day after tomorrow and last for three consecutive days. On their fifth day in the Capitol, they will be brought to this year’s arena and set loose within it. In less than a week, Eddie will have one foot in the grave. Eddie’s thoughts are interrupted when he hears Buck’s stomach growl from clear across the room.

“I’m gonna go check on dinner to see how it's coming along. I’ll be back.”

Eddie waits for Bobby to leave the room before he turns to Buck.

“Hey, man. What’s your problem?”

“You’re my problem.” Buck glowers at him. Eddie frowns. He’d thought he and Buck would be amicable at least, allies at best. He didn’t expect this.

“So that’s how this is gonna be?”

Buck blanches and at least has the good sense to look like he feels guilty. Eddie wishes he knew what was going on in that thick skull of his. If they could move past whatever was getting Buck to act like this, Eddie thinks maybe they could actually make a good team. They’re two of the oldest tributes. They could protect the girls who were reaped alongside them. They could make a plan to stay out of the fighting together. It wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be better than being alone out there.

They don’t get much time to talk about this thing between them and how to work past it before attendants are funneling in with more food than Eddie has ever seen in his eighteen years. Bobby follows right behind them with plates in his hands to help before he eventually takes a seat at the table with them. The girls are pointedly absent, and Eddie makes a note to make sure they know they’ve got nothing to worry about when he inevitably sees them both during training.

They dig into the plates of food that are presented to them. Eddie is immediately drawn to some kind of meat smothered in a sweet sauce with sides of potatoes and a colorful vegetable medley. He’s already halfway through his second plate when Bobby speaks again.

“I hear you have a son back in District 10.” Bobby looks at Eddie in a way that makes Eddie feel like he matters. He doesn’t know what to do with that so he just takes a bite of his steak and nods.

“I do, yeah. His name is Christopher. He’s six months old and he’s kind of my whole world.” Eddie can’t help but go a little soft at the mention of his name. He thinks about Christopher’s round little cheeks, his soft toothless smile, his curious hands that try to stick everything in reach right into his mouth, much to everyone in the Diaz household’s concern. Eddie will likely never get to pluck another forbidden item from Christopher’s grasp. His chest gets tight at the thought.

“For what little it’s worth, I’m truly sorry, Eddie.” He can tell Bobby means it, might even lose sleep about it even. Eddie shrugs and stares down at his plate as he pushes some mashed potatoes around with his fork. His appetite is dwindling.

“Not your fault.”

“Still.” Bobby frowns a little. “I also heard that it’s your birthday tomorrow. I thought about asking them to make you a cake but—” he sighs. “It didn’t really feel appropriate given the circumstances. I wanted to talk to you about it and let you decide what you’d want.”

Eddie pauses and really thinks. He tries to remember a time when someone– anyone– ever stopped to ask him what he wanted before right now. His parents. Shannon. All the people that have moved through his life. Even Abuela. He doesn’t think anyone ever has. He swallows past the lump forming in his throat and clears it.

“Yeah. I, uh, don’t really think I want to make a fuss, if that’s okay.”

Bobby nods sagely, like somehow he just knew and Eddie feels seen.

“Understood. If you change your mind and want anything specific, I’ll try my best to get it for you.”

Eddie smiles gratefully.

“Thank you.”

Buck stays relatively quiet throughout the exchange, and Eddie feels something bristle in him at the idea of Buck knowing so much about him already.

Dinner passes quickly and desserts are eventually wheeled out.

Eddie almost pouts when Bobby tells them they should probably get some rest, eyeing the cinnamon dusted pastry balls longingly. Eddie squashes the urge to grab more before he pushes himself away from the table to stand.

In that same moment, Buck accidentally knocks a pitcher of ice water down the pant leg of Bobby’s trousers.

“Shit.”

“Sorry, Bobby!”

“Ah. It’s okay. It’s okay, kid.”

The attendants immediately rush over to help, towels in hand. As Bobby tries to wave them off, Buck is a blur. He throws another sorry over his shoulder and darts down the hall toward the directions of their rooms.

“I’ll see you both bright and early in the morning. We’ll talk strategy.”

Eddie gives Bobby a sympathetic look before he eventually follows Buck’s lead to head to his room.

When the door slides shut behind him, the first thing Eddie thinks is that it’s too quiet. Eddie sort of hates it. Back home he got used to a near constant undercurrent of sound. Shannon’s soft breaths as she slept a few feet from him, the little grunts and giggles Christopher sometimes would make when he wakes, Abuela's humming before bed, the variety of buzzing and noises coming from the farm animals.

Here in the heart of the Capitol, the silence is suffocating.

Eddie is just climbing into bed after subjecting himself to an overly complicated, entirely too technologically advanced shower. He’s dressed in a pair of brown sleep pants, having skipped the shirt in the name of comfort and temperature regulation when he hears a soft knock on his door.

He freezes. Anyone who wanted to come in technically could. The lock on his door is nonexistent. Anyone dangerous probably wouldn’t knock anyway, but being in an unfamiliar place has already put him on edge as it is. In all likelihood, whoever is on the other side of that door isn’t a threat, but it doesn’t mean Eddie isn’t wary anyway.

He gets up and cautiously heads to the door. When he slides it open, he finds Buck on the other side. He’s biting his lip and has one hand in his pocket and the other holding what looks to be a makeshift bag of something. Buck bats his big blue eyes at Eddie and Eddie forgets his name for a second.

“Truce?” Buck raises a brow and smiles boyishly.

“You know, I think a fight has to be double sided to call for a truce.”

Buck huffs.

“Okay fine. An apology then.”

Eddie gives Buck an amused look and leans against the doorframe. “Yeah, man. Okay.”

“That’s— thank you. And listen, I saw you really liked these at dinner so I shoved a bunch down my shirt and used some kind of smock thing the Capitol left in my closet to smuggle them over.”

Eddie is flooded with a wave of fondness. He can still see the cinnamon sugar evidence down the front of Buck’s shirt.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was no big deal. Really.” Buck shrugs and presses the bag of contraband doughnuts right into Eddie’s grasp before he proceeds to stuff his hands into his pockets.

“Tell that to Bobby’s pants.”

Buck ducks his head a little and looks up at Eddie through his lashes as he laughs. “So, does this mean… are we good?”

“Yeah, man. We’re good.”

Buck lets out a visible sigh of relief. His whole body loosens with it. In the next few seconds he straightens up and then nods his head in the direction of the hallway.

“Okay, cool. Follow me.”

Eddie blinks in surprise at the sudden instruction, still holding the makeshift sack full of pastries as Buck starts taking off down the hall to the elevator.

“Wait– what?”

Eddie is baffled but he shuts the bedroom door behind him and follows after Buck anyway.

“Just trust me.” It’s a wild thing to ask of someone you’re meant to fight to the death with in less than a week, but he says it so earnestly that Eddie can’t help but listen.

Buck waits patiently for Eddie to get on the elevator with him. He holds the door open until Eddie gets with the program and then hits the button for the top floor.

_________

The roof is entirely secluded. Eddie may have thought it was completely forgotten about if not for the decorative floral arrangements and pretty wooden bench that he and Buck find as they poke around and explore. The flowers that spill out of the planters are stunning. Most of them are varieties that Eddie has only ever seen in Abuela's books on flora and fauna. Her main focus has always been on herbs specific to salves and balms for pain and illness. Those are fairly essential for any healer worth their salt, but she has always had a weakness for flowers, especially exotic ones. When Eddie was younger his abuelo always made sure that Abuela had flowers on the counter, even when all the buds were dead from the heat and he had to use scraps of paper, denim or even carved wood to make them himself. She still has every single one he made her to this day.

Eddie knows for a fact she would be able to name each stem planted here without even batting an eye. He chews the last of the cinnamon pastry he had stuffed in his mouth seconds earlier whilehe tries to identify a particular one of the flowers in the planter Buck is sitting beside. The bud itself is tiny, the petals are a deeper blue than Buck’s eyes, and the centers a bright and vibrant yellow.

“That was your son at the justice building, right?” Buck speaks suddenly.Eddie couldn’t have predicted the words that were going to come out of Buck’s mouth even if he had given it a genuine try. He looks at Buck fully and tries to gauge where his curiosity could be cunning or calculating. Eddie sees nothing but earnest interest and soft edges reflected in those expressive eyes of his.

“Yeah. Christopher.”

“I love kids.” Buck says it so cheerfully and Eddie is genuinely surprised to hear it. Most of the other guys his age aren’t excited at the idea of settling down. Hell, at nineteen, most people are still just reeling over the fact that they managed to survive past reaping age. The last thing most nineteen year olds are thinking about is having kids. He gets it. It's hard to be excited about the prospect of a family when you might have to hand them over to the government for slaughter when they turn twelve. Eddie still hasn’t wrapped his head around the concept. Yet, here Buck is in the face of all that, somehow able to smile at the very idea of children. Eddie feels his chest warm.

“Yeah? I love this one.”

“He’s precious.”

“Yeah.” Eddie’s throat is tight again.

“I’m really sorry you have to be away from him.”

Eddie sniffs and tries to keep his composure as he shakes his head. The last thing he wants is to put his problems on Buck. He’s going through enough as it is without Eddie throwing his own spiraling into the mix. “Not your fault.”

“Still.” Buck chews his lip and gracelessly yanks some of the blue and yellow flowers out of the planter beside him, pressing them right into Eddie’s unsuspecting hands. Eddie feels his face flush as Buck asks Eddie if he’s ever shorn a sheep before.

They talk for a while up there on the roof until the sky around them melts from a cerulean blue into an array of vibrant orange and purple. Buck tells Eddie all about his sister, Maddie. The fact that she is a nurse, a healer, just like Abuela.

Buck’s parents are teachers at one of the two schools in District 10. Apparently Buck had gone to that school even though he lived close to the one Eddie went to just because his parents worked there. Eddie wonders if all this would be harder if Buck and Eddie had grown up living in each other's pockets instead of coincidentally missing each other over the last eighteen years.

Buck talks about the sheep he sheers every season. He’s given them all individual names, because of course he has. Eddie laughs when Buck describes the personalities of his favorite of the bunch: Hotcake and Sausage. Apparently they’re quite the comedians.

Eddie tells Buck about Abuela's garden and the tea she makes him with some of the herbs to calm his nerves on bad days. He mentions some of the titles he’s seen in Shannon’s book collection and watches the way Buck lights up like it’s Christmas in the spring. Eddie describes Christopher’s bubbly laugh and how scary it is worrying about a baby every second of every day.

“So are you and Shannon…” Buck trails off and picks at his nails as he tries to keep his tone casual. He’s absolutely failing. Eddie feels like he could sense his restless energy a thousand miles away. “Like together?”

Eddie tries not to smile.

“We live together.”

“Oh.” Buck’s face visibly falls.

“But we’re not a couple.”

“No?” Eddie definitely does not read too much into the way Buck perks up. Maybe he just thinks it’ll be easier to kill him if he doesn’t have to worry about Eddie having a sweetheart back home.

“No. We’re not a couple.”

“Oh. Okay.” Buck smiles small and nods as he leans into Eddie’s side.

Eddie bumps their shoulders together and Buck starts to fill the silence again.

After the sky finally turns over to inky black and Buck has told Eddie all about the aquifers back in District 10, the entire process of precipitation from start to finish, and the best way to brush a horse, they eventually lapse into silence. It's comfortable and quiet, but it doesn’t last, and Eddie can’t stop being grateful for it. He feels like he could listen to Buck talk for the rest of his life. He pointedly doesn’t think too hard about how he probably will be doing just that, seeing as the end of his life is probably a lot closer than it has any right being.

“I thought it would be easier.” Buck looks at him then and Eddie kind of can’t get past how blue his eyes are. “If we didn’t get along.”

Eddie purses his lips at that and glances down at their feet. “No part of this is easy, Buck.” He meets Buck’s eyes again. “It shouldn’t be.”

Buck nods somberly. “I know. I’m sorry. Look, I didn’t mean to make this harder than it has to be. I just wish–” Buck stops mid sentence and impulsively plucks at the petal of one of the flowers sitting between them. Eddie automatically leans closer, eyes flicking down to Buck’s lips like the answer to all their problems is magically going to come out of them.

“You wish what?”

Buck chews his lip a little then and shrugs. “I wish things were different.”

“Me too.” Eddie feels like he has been wishing things were different from the moment he was born.

“Do you think we would have met if this hadn’t happened?” Buck asks him softly and Eddie doesn’t really have an answer.

“I don’t know.”

“I think we would have.” Buck says it like he’s certain somehow. As if as sure as the sun rises and sets, Buck and Eddie were meant to meet. Eddie doesn’t really believe in fate or destiny, but he thinks maybe he might be starting to believe in Buck and he supposes that’s enough.

“Oh yeah?” Eddie shoots Buck an amused smile. It's honestly not that hard to imagine what life might have looked like if they’d met under different circumstances. Eddie already feels like he’s known Buck for years instead of just two days.

“Yeah.” Buck grins at him confidently as he sidles closer to Eddie, their thighs touching. “Would have met you down at the Blue Horseshoe. You would have been dancing after shift. I would have caught your eye and I wouldn’t have been able to look away.”

Eddie doesn’t tell him it's a lot more likely they would have met on the ranch or at the slaughterhouse. Eddie rarely had time for dancing anymore. They probably would have bumped elbows or shoulders while they worked. He likes Buck’s version better.

Eddie swallows thickly and thinks about what it would be like.

It’d be mighty late, way past sundown, because that's about the only free time Eddie imagines he would have after working all day even in a world where the games don’t exist. Eddie can’t speak for the other districts, but here in the country things get lively after dark. The Peacekeepers are supposed to enforce some semblance of a curfew, but almost none of them ever do because they’re usually the ones there getting piss drunk into the wee hours of the morning.

Music would be filtering through the bar, despite the illegality of it all, because that never did stop any of the folks in District 10. Eddie’s blood would be pumping, his boots knocking against the makeshift dance floor in time to the beat. He’d spin around along the line of other people dancing to their heart's content and that's when he’d see him saunter through the door. He’d be wearing a cowboy hat the color of cream and sturdy boots that looked lived in. He’d have a birthmark above his shocking blue eyes and an easy smile on his lips. Their eyes would meet and Eddie’s breath would catch right there in his throat.

His heart would hammer against his chest in a way that would maybe make him a little concerned if he didn’t have the explanation for it standing right in front of him. He’d feel that swoop of nervousness in the pit of his stomach and that fleeting urge to high tail it out of there to avoid embarrassing himself. He’d squash it down bravely, though, right under the toe of his boot. He wouldn't waste another second before making his way over to pluck that hat right off Buck’s head of sandy blond curls to put it on his own.

The image disappears as quickly as it appeared. He can almost hear the notes of the song he’d drummed up in his head fading out. He doesn’t really have time to dwell on the loss because Buck is so much closer now that Eddie is back in the present. They’re practically sharing breath at this point and Eddie is distantly wondering exactly how they got here. He feels himself leaning in when the door to the roof rattles from a particularly rough gust of wind.

They both jump apart like they’ve been burnt by a cattle brand and Eddie very suddenly remembers exactly where they are. He especially remembers that they may or may not be alone. Even up on the roof, it's likely the Capitol has surveillance, because even this close to their impending death, they still don’t get a moment of privacy or peace. People from the districts seldom ever do.

Eddie shivers from the wind and an intense vulnerability washes over him like a bucket of ice water being dumped over his head. He gives Buck a soft, nervous smile. “We should— head back downstairs.”

It seems to take a minute for Buck’s brain to come back online. Eventually, he blinks and nods in agreement. They don’t say much as they make their way to the elevator. Buck punches in the number to their floor and Eddie tries not to think about the color of Buck’s lips as Buck walks him right to his bedroom door.

They stop at the entrance and Eddie rumbles softly as he uses his thumb to gesture toward his room. “This is me.”

“Yeah.” Buck’s hands are buried in the pockets of his pants and he tips back on his heels a bit. Eddie tries so hard not to think about how in four days time, those hands won’t be plucking flower petals or sneaking pastries. They’ll be scrounging for food and water.They may even be around his neck.

“Goodnight, Eddie.” Buck smiles at him. It’s shy and sweet and makes Eddie wish things weren’t so fucked.

“Goodnight, Buck.”

Eddie closes himself in his room and barely sleeps a wink.

_________

Eddie wakes up early the next morning purely out of habit, but somehow breakfast is ready and being set out when he gets out into the dining area. Buck is already there beside Bobby, looking bleary with sleep, but he smiles tentatively when he catches sight of Eddie.

Eddie can’t help but smile back as he takes a seat beside him.

“Morning, sunshine.”

Buck groans. “It’s too early.” Eddie doesn’t say that this is sort of his everyday back in 10. He just watches Buck pout and attempts not to be too endeared by it without much success.

Bobby chuckles. “Yeah, I know, but you both need to eat before you head off to get ready for opening ceremonies, then training and we need to talk before then.”

Eddie starts loading up his plate the second the attendants leave and it’s just the three of them again.

Bobby doesn’t waste any time explaining what training will likely look like. He talks about the tributes likely forming alliances, especially the tributes from districts 1, 2, and 4. Most people in the districts and the Capitol alike call any tributes from those areas the Career Pack. Almost every year, the tributes from those districts band together to hunt down the others in an attempt to win the games. Those specific districts happen to be the wealthier ones in Panem. Some of the people there grow up preparing for the games and go as far as volunteering to get their shot at glory. The very idea of signing up to kill other kids makes Eddie nauseous.

“About making allies…” Buck talks around a mouth full of food. It should be gross --Bobby is grimacing at the sight-- but Eddie just knocks his knee against Buck’s and quietly hangs on to his every word.

“Should we maybe do that?”

Bobby purses his lips. “I know that would be your initial instinct for both of you. You’re good kids and you want to help, but I would encourage you to stay as far away from the action as possible.”

Eddie blinks at that. It’s not bad advice. He knows it isn’t, but it’s not what he’s expecting from Bobby and he can’t pinpoint why. Maybe it's because Bobby seems like a helper. Someone who would encourage them to go out and put others first. Instead he’s telling them to put themselves first. Eddie guesses that’s kind of his job.

Bobby doesn’t touch his breakfast much as they continue talking.

“Another thing. There are going to be a lot of tables and stations with a ton of different survival skills to learn and weaponry to practice with. I want you to focus on those survival skills. You already have an advantage on most of the other tributes in the strength department. Neither of you is going to become an expert with a bow or a sword overnight. You can check out the weapons but focus on those other skills. Hopefully they will be what works in your favor.”

Eddie nods. “Got it.”

“One more thing. I’m sure you’ve both seen the spectacle of the opening ceremonies every year since you were old enough to be part of the pool. They’re going to dress you in something inevitably ridiculous. I’ll do my best to keep them from going too far, but just do yourself a favor and try to go with it. The good news is District 10 normally gets a western theme because where you all are geographically. It’s definitely better than some of the pathetic excuses for costumes I’ve seen years prior in other districts.”

Buck huffs. “Yeah, didn’t they make District 12 show up one year covered in nothing but coal dust? That was wild.”

Eddie nearly chokes on his juice when the image of Buck covered in smears of coal dust suddenly appears unbidden. He shakes his head desperately to get rid of it, but not before his mind wanders.

“Yeah. I’m not gonna let that happen, so you two just go with whatever your stylists propose and it should be over quick. Once we’re all done there they’ll bring you back here to the tribute center so you can spend the rest of the day training.”

Eddie and Buck agree easily enough.

The rest of breakfast passes quickly, and before Eddie knows it he’s being loaded onto the back of a chariot dressed head to toe in the most outrageously bright colored cowboy get up he’s ever seen. Buck is at his side looking equally as overwhelmed as Eddie feels.

Eddie can’t exactly say the outfit is ugly. The back of his burnt orange velvet shirt is embroidered with a desert scene across the expanse of his shoulders. Below that there is a light colored bronco in the middle surrounded by cacti on either side. Sequins and tiny rhinestones are scattered across the fabric.

He’s got a very thick pair of brand new denim pants. They’re so new the fabric is stiff. It’s almost painfully clear the stylist has never worked with denim before. Eddie squats a bit to try to loosen the fabric, but as he suspects, it doesn’t do much good.

Along with the unbelievably detailed shirt, Eddie wears a cream colored pair of leather chaps that have light brown detailing at the waist and leather fringe that travels down the length of his legs. The outfit is tied together with a pair boots, gloves, and a cowboy hat to match.

Buck is dressed in an outfit almost exactly the same, but with an entirely different color scheme. Where Eddie’s velvet top is orange, Buck’s is a dark blue. The desert scene that stretches across his wide shoulders is done in colors that represent the night sky and the bronco on his back is a deep black.

His chaps are black along with his boots, gloves and hat. Eddie almost forgets how to breathe at the sight of him. His gaze drops to Buck’s thighs and he wonders if the denim is chafing him there, too.

Buck seems to catch Eddie staring then and takes a moment to tip his hat at Eddie and wink. Eddie grips the wood of the chariot to hold himself upright as he gives Buck a winded smile, their ankles pressed together in the enclosed space. If the games don’t kill him then Buck in chaps just might.

The citizens who are gathered for the ceremony seem to catch their interaction and cheer even louder. Eddie feels his cheeks warm, making himself face forward to try to focus on the journey up to the podium where the President waits.

The thing is while the colors and extravagant details of their costumes scream Capitol, Eddie can quietly and begrudgingly admit to himself that he does see the influence of District 10 behind it all. Their outfits are made of materials they couldn’t even dream of, much less actually get their hands on back home. Not to mention the impracticality of pretty much every part of it. He shudders at the thought of wearing velvet and unprocessed denim to do his daily chores. He suspects he’d pass out from heat stroke within an hour or two.

Still, despite it, Eddie finds himself a little impressed with the way they look, especially Buck. He isn’t surprised by the reaction the crowd has to them as they are shown off for all of Panem and the President. The small fleeting enjoyment of knowing he looks good and getting to play dress up with Buck doesn’t last long though. It’s only a few seconds into the President's speech that Eddie remembers what this is all for and what it means. The spectacle of it all is a punishment to the districts and entertainment for the Capitol.

The adoration and praise that gets sent their way isn’t enough to combat the way Eddie’s stomach stays sour until they’re finally funneled out of the open air coliseum and back to the tribute center.

The contrast of the booming crowd of the coliseum to the quiet murmuring in the training area is a welcome relief. That’s how Eddie finds himself and Buck surrounded by forty-six other tributes in close quarters. They stick close to one another and stop by each and every table to learn what each station and the person running it has to offer. There’s the fire starter station. Back home Eddie would normally use a flint to get any fire going but out in the arena they don’t have the luxury. It takes Eddie a while to get the hang of it, but Buck picks up on it pretty fast. He waits until Eddie gets the hang of it before they continue making the rounds around the training area.

Eddie is incredible at the edible plant station. He goes through all the combinations of different plants and their uses. He sends Abuela a silent thank you for the years of knowledge she helped beat into his head.

They discover Buck is good with an axe. Eddie finds himself staring a little too long as Buck swings it around to test the weight of it.

After a few hours, they finally get a break for lunch. Buck and Eddie sit thigh to thigh as they eat the tray of sandwiches that they’re given. Eddie is sort of floored at how comfortable he is with Buck in less than twenty-four hours. He tries to imagine being this close to anyone back home, but there isn’t a single person that comes to mind. Eddie is both warmed and saddened at the thought.

When they get back out onto the floor, Eddie notices the pack of tributes from the career districts watching him and Buck as they go from station to station. Eddie gets suspicious pretty quickly that they may be up to something and he’s proven right when they corner him and Buck near the archery station.

“Buckley. Diaz.”

Eddie looks up from where he was examining some of the arrows laid out on one of the tables when the careers make their appearance. Buck is in the middle of trying and failing to shoot the bow when one of them, Eddie thinks his name is Sal, rips an arrow right from Eddie’s hand without warning.

“How cute. These two think a bow and arrow is gonna keep them alive in there.” Sal grins and some of the other career tributes with him snicker. There are twelve of them in total.

Buck lets the bowstring go and watches as his arrow clatters to the training room floor, missing the target entirely.

Sal and the rest of the careers laugh raucously. “That clearly isn’t going to last very long.”

Buck scowls at the group of them. “Well if a bow doesn’t work there’s always an axe.”

Eddie tries to keep his cool.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re good with weapons or survival. You two aren’t going to last more than a day.”

Another one of the members of their merry little murderous gang steps up, a girl. Her hair is long and red and she has a glint in her eye as she gets into Buck’s space. She grins catlike and sharp.

“Shame this pretty face is gonna go to waste.” She reaches up to touch Buck and runs her pointer finger along the cut of his jaw. He shifts back to try to pull away, but ends up backing right into the rack of bows behind him, trapped.

“Moira. Take it easy.” Sal says from the sidelines. Moira doesn’t pay him any mind.

Eddie makes a low noise and immediately makes his way over, carefully grabbing Moira’s wrist and bringing it down and away from Buck’s face.

“Anyone ever taught you to keep your hands to yourself?”

In the same breath, a blond boy walks over and growls. Eddie thinks he recognizes him from the playbacks of this year’s reapings that he watched on the train ride to the Capitol. Jonah Greenway from District 1.

“Better keep those hands to yourself, Diaz, before I take them off right here and now,” Jonah spits as he grabs at the front of Eddie’s training shirt. Eddie hears Buck growl softly beside him but before either of them have time to react, the archery coach comes back and immediately squashes the fight before it even starts. “Separate. Now. Before I call the Peacekeepers.”

Moira and Jonah scoff and glare before they wander off to the hand to hand weapons with Sal and the others in tow.

Eddie shakes his head and turns to Buck to look him over. “You good?”

Buck licks his lips and nods then. “Yeah. I’m good. You can have my back any day.”

Eddie smiles at that.

“And you can have mine.”

The rest of their training day passes by quickly. No more fights break out. Eddie and Buck wander quite a bit and by the end of it they happily take the elevator to the tenth floor to get settled in for the evening.

_________

Buck is off showering when Eddie wanders out to the sitting room to wait for him to finish.

Eddie doesn’t really expect anyone to be hanging around the common area of their floor. It’s usually fairly deserted, especially in the late evening hours, but when Eddie does wander out he finds Bobby there, seated on one of the velvet magenta couches that take up a large portion of the sitting area.

He’s facing away from Eddie and looking at a large pocket watch he’s got cracked open in one of his hands. The body of the watch is scuffed gold with a delicate pattern inlaid along the edges. On the bottom, the dial ticks with each passing second. At the top, there is a photo of a woman cut to fit into the space. She has dark hair and dark eyes and Eddie can see where Bobby brushes his thumb over the image tenderly.

Eddie freezes, not entirely sure what he should do. He’s worried that he’s in the process of disrupting an emotional and private moment, something absolutely not meant for him, but without taking his eyes off the watch, Bobby’s voice carries across the room.

“It’s alright, Eddie. Come on in.” Bobby finally looks up from the photo and he gives Eddie one of those soft smiles that Eddie has started to realize are sort of his signature thing. The kind that makes Eddie feel like he matters. He flushes a bit at being caught staring, but Bobby doesn’t call him on it. Of course he doesn’t. Instead of giving Eddie shit, Bobby just gestures to the space beside him on the couch. An invitation. “You doing okay?”

Eddie swallows and stares at the couch cushion. He briefly considers making an excuse to leave. What is he supposed to say? I know there isn’t anything you can do, but I’m feeling pretty restless on account of my impending doom? He doesn’t expect that would go over well, and not because Bobby would respond badly, but rather it would just make them both upset. Eddie doesn’t want to upset Bobby. Some desperate part of him wants to make him proud, but he’s not sure that’s even possible.

Eddie decides to stay because Buck is busy and something about being around Bobby calms him. Eddie might think Bobby was some kind of saint if he believed in that kind of thing. He shrugs as he finally comes over and sits beside Bobby.

He repeats Bobby’s question to himself. Is he okay? Is anyone really okay? “I guess.”

Bobby purses his lips and nods.

“Yeah that was a bit of a dumb question, wasn’t it?” Bobby gently closes his watch and carefully tucks it into his pocket. “Okay, how about this one. What’s on your mind?”

Eddie has had a lot on his mind. It feels like his mind has been racing since the day Shannon told him he was going to be a dad.

He knows Bobby means smaller scale, specific to the games, so he tries to narrow down the noise in his head.

“Just thinking about what I’m going to do out there.”

Bobby nods.

“Yeah. It’s a lot to wrap your head around.”

“I, uh—“ Eddie clears his throat and tries again. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to hurt anyone who doesn’t try to hurt me first.”

Eddie chews his lower lip.

“My Abuela is a healer. I’m– I just can’t see myself taking someone’s life like that without cause. Besides Buck, most of them are so much younger than me, so much smaller. It isn’t fair. I’m not sure I could live with myself…”

Eddie trails off, throat tight and making it impossible to speak.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, Eddie.”

Eddie nods mechanically, but he does. If he didn’t then he wouldn’t be here.

“Hey.” Bobby waits for Eddie to meet his eyes. “I mean that. I know you’re in a much different position than any of the other tributes here and you didn’t have a choice on being here, but you don’t have to change who you are because you think it’s what is expected of you in there. You don’t have to be what they want you to be.”

Eddie looks at Bobby helplessly.

“Were you what they wanted you to be?”

Bobby takes a breath before he sighs.

“No. I was worse.”

Before Eddie has any time to ask him exactly what that means, Buck appears and Eddie is thoroughly distracted by him.

He’s wearing a sleeveless shirt, his hair still damp and curling against his forehead. He scratches his little belly and looks between Eddie and Bobby curiously.

“Is it dinner time yet?”

Bobby lays eyes on Buck and immediately softens around the edges. If Eddie didn’t know already, he’d say their mentor had a soft spot for Buck. The thought should worry Eddie. It should make him concerned that Bobby might favor Buck over him while they’re in the arena, but somehow it actually soothes Eddie. He doesn’t let himself really explore the reasoning there, just watches Bobby smile and get up from the couch to head toward the kitchen.

“Let me see what I can do.”

_________

Eddie is turning over the conversation he had with Bobby in his head when Buck inevitably finds him again after dinner that same night. Buck had hung back with Bobby for a while, but inevitably Buck came to find him, because that’s just what they do now.

Eddie invites him into his room and they make themselves comfortable as they spend their free time getting to know each other. At some point, Buck discovers the remote that was provided with the room and decides to test out all the buttons and functions. He quickly discovers the remote controls the temperature of the room, the lights, and it also has a very neat feature that can turn all the walls of Eddie’s room into some kind of scenery. There are a variety of options to choose from: a forest, a bustling city street that Eddie assumes must be from the Capitol, a desert, a wintery landscape, a field of flowers, and finally the ocean. They share a look and wordlessly decide to leave the ocean scene on. Eddie has never seen the ocean before but part of him wishes he could. He supposes this is as close as he’s ever going to get.

“I hope there isn’t a lot of water. I’m kind of a shitty swimmer.” Buck is reclined back on the right side of Eddie’s bed, arms tucked behind his head. His shirt is riding up a little to expose his stomach.

Eddie gets distracted momentarily before he gives Buck an unimpressed look. Buck literally told him at some point in the last twenty-four hours about all the time he spends out at the lake back on his side of 10.

“Okay I don’t like swimming.” Buck gives him a sheepish look.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure the gamemakers care a ton about your preference for staying dry.” Eddie snorts and kicks his feet out to lay down beside Buck. “Look at it this way, if there’s water at least we won’t die of dehydration.”

Buck turns over on his side and raises a finger in Eddie’s direction. “Not true actually. Even if there is water. No guarantee it’ll be drinkable.”

Eddie exhales loudly. Buck is right because of course he is. He’s too smart for his own good. Eddie hopes endlessly that it helps Buck stay alive in the arena. Eddie suddenly wonders when he started hoping Buck would win.

“Fair point.” Eddie frowns. “Well, that’s depressing.”

Buck rolls over on his back again and impersonates the woman who presented at their reaping ceremony as he says, “Sure is. Happy Hunger Games!”

Eddie knows he really probably shouldn’t, but he laughs anyway and shoves Buck’s shoulder playfully. Buck cackles right along with him though so Eddie can’t find it in himself to feel too bad. After they both settle down, Buck sighs and leans his head against Eddie’s shoulder.

“Hey, Eds?” This is the first time Buck has ever used the nickname and Eddie melts.

“Yeah, Buck?”

“Do you think I could maybe– stay in here with you? I hate sleeping alone.” Buck looks at Eddie with wide hopeful eyes. Eddie doesn’t even hesitate.

“Yeah, Buck, of course you can.”

Buck lets out a loud relieved noise and immediately wiggles closer to curl around the length of Eddie’s body, head tucked into the crook of Eddie’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Eddie.” Buck breathes against his neck and Eddie gently rests his head on top of Buck’s. His sandy colored curls tickle his nose, but Eddie doesn’t mind one bit. He falls asleep to the simulated sounds of water crashing against the beach and the steady rhythm of Buck’s breathing.

_________

The next day of training passes fairly uneventfully. The people who are there from the Capitol make it clear that there are to be no fights and so the Career Pack doesn’t actively engage with Eddie or Buck. Instead they sneer and laugh and spend the day focusing on weapons training.

Eddie and Buck visit all of the survival stations again and again. Eddie makes Buck stick with him at the plant station for the second day in a row. Eddie has no idea if it will actually do him any good out in the arena. For all he knows they could be dumped somewhere with little to no plant life, but Eddie finds comfort in sharpening these skills that already exist within him.

Eddie and Buck spend the rest of their second training day trying to lock in and focus, but eventually this inevitably devolves into talking with some of the other tributes.

Eddie and Buck decided together before training even began that they didn’t want the other tributes to feel threatened by either of them. Yes, Buck and Eddie are the oldest of all forty-eight tributes but it doesn’t mean they’re a threat. Eddie certainly isn’t and he kind of wonders how Buck could hurt a fly, much less another human being.

They promised Bobby they wouldn’t agree to be allies with anyone but each other. Eddie makes sure to honor that and he knows Buck does, too, but it certainly doesn’t stop a bunch of the kids from flocking to them anyway. They take to Buck especially fast and something in Eddie melts when he sees how soft and kind he is with each and every tribute who ends up being brave enough to approach them.

It takes a bit of time, but soon most of the other tributes who aren’t part of the career pack, even Camila and Rose from 10, warm up to the both of them. It’s not long before Eddie finds himself teaching a gaggle of tributes from various districts all about the various edible plants they can use out in the arena if they’re readily available. Meanwhile, Buck is dragged off to another station by some kids so they can pick his brain about axes and fire starting.

Eddie watches as Buck plops down on the floor of the training center and helps teach some of the younger kids how to start a fire without flint. They watch raptly and Buck smiles at each of them patiently as they all try their best to replicate the skill Buck seems able to do with complete ease. Every time one of them starts a fire on their own Buck whoops so loud that attendants at several of the stations frown. The sight of it can’t help but make Eddie laugh. It’s at that moment he envisions Buck back in District 10, older than he is now, with a baby on his hip and a teenager with sandy blonde curls and green eyes at his side. A faceless partner is beside him and Shannon is nearby. It’s all Eddie can think about for the rest of the afternoon.

_________

When training is over, this time it’s Eddie’s turn to disappear for a shower while he leaves Buck to do the same. Eddie takes his time and it's no surprise to him when he inevitably finds Buck hanging around Bobby when he makes his way out into the common area. If Buck isn’t with Eddie then he’s following Bobby around and asking him a million questions. Eddie can’t help but smile fondly when he hears Buck in the middle of trying to convince Bobby to teach him how to cook breakfast foods.

“Come on, Bobby. We still have two days left before the games and I want to know how to make a decent hotcake! Maddie says I’m the worst cook she knows.”

“Alright, fine. Bright and early tomorrow. I’ll make sure the kitchen is clear and I’ll show you how to make breakfast for you, me, and Eddie. How’s that sound?”

“Yes! Sounds great. I can’t wait. Should I write down your recipes and, like, study them?”

“I promise you they’re not that complicated. Just meet me in the morning and I’ll tell you everything you need to know then.”

Buck is practically vibrating when Eddie makes his presence known.

“Eddie, hey! You’re back.”

“I am. You ready to go hangout?”

“Definitely.”

“Great. Do you think you can go get the room ready and I’ll grab some snacks from the kitchen?”

Buck grins and jumps out of his seat eagerly.

“On it.” He mock-salutes Eddie and smiles excitedly over at Bobby before he’s scampering down the hall to their room. Eddie sees the way Bobby watches Buck go. The look in his eyes is both fond and heartbroken.

“Hey, Bobby. You got a second?”

Bobby looks over, whatever thought he was caught up in breaking. He still gives Eddie his full attention.

“Yeah, Eddie. Sure.” Bobby raises a brow. “Are you trying to enlist me to get you food from the kitchen?”

Eddie smiles and shakes his head. “Actually, no. I, uh, wanted to talk to you about Buck.”

Bobby sobers then and nods as he waits for Eddie to speak.

“I know part of your job is to market us to the people in the Capitol. Find us sponsors. I appreciate everything you’ve been doing for us. I do. I just— I want you to focus on Buck.”

Bobby frowns and tilts his head. “On Buck?”

“Yeah. The sponsors, the supplies. When we’re in there, I think you should spend whatever we get on him.”

“That’s not exactly how it works, Eddie.”

“I’m not asking, Bobby.” Eddie takes a breath and stands up a little taller. “If I get donations, I want you to use them for him, okay?”

“Eddie, it’s my job to advocate for and take care of you both.”

“I know that and you have. You’ve done that but I can handle this myself. I just— I want him to have the best chance possible of getting out of there.”

“And what about you, Eddie? What about your chances?”

Eddie gives Bobby a watery smile.

“My chances disappeared the second my name was called.”

“Eddie…” Bobby frowns and reaches across the table for Eddie. Eddie doesn’t move away but stays just out of reach. It’s easier this way.

“Just promise me. Promise me you’ll look out for him. I’m going to try— I’m gonna do whatever I can, but he’s going to need help.”

Bobby shakes his head but Eddie doesn’t budge. He doesn’t want to negotiate. He doesn’t want to bargain. He wants Bobby’s word that he’s going to look after Buck during the games and after.

“I promise, Eddie.”

“Thank you.” Eddie nods and stands, pushing off from the table. “I’m gonna go grab leftovers from the kitchen. See you in the morning, Bobby.”

“See you in the morning, kid.”

_________

It’s later that evening when they’re back in Eddie’s room.

Eddie reaches for the remote and hands it off to Buck automatically. Buck doesn’t waste any time before putting the oceanscape on and turning out the lights. He does it like its routine and they’ve been bunking together for months instead of a grand total of two days.

They’ve already changed into their sleep clothes. Buck is wearing socks because he says he hates sleeping without them. Meanwhile, Eddie’s got his bare feet propped up and his hands behind his head.

They’re talking about a game Buck used to play in school with a pigskin when Buck stops.

Edde opens his eyes when the sound of Buck’s voice ceases and frowns in concern. “Buck? You good?”

“What’s this?”

Eddie’s breath hitches when Buck leans into his space and gently touches the medallion laying against his chest in the small thatch of chest hair there.

He feels goosebumps erupt across his shoulders and arms at the delicate touch of Buck’s fingertips against his skin.

“Its— my token.”

Each tribute is allowed to bring a single approved item into the arena with them. It's meant to be something symbolic for them or of their district. It will have to be thoroughly inspected before they get dropped into the arena as anything that can give them an advantage is strictly prohibited, but there’s nothing secret or special about the necklace apart from its sentimental value.

“Does it mean something?”

Eddie smiles.

“Uh yeah. It’s— St. Christopher. Patron Saint of Travelers. Shannon gave it to me the day Christopher was born.” It’s a pleasant memory, the day he met Christopher.

“To protect you, right? When you went off to be a Peacekeeper?” Buck watches him and stays pressed into Eddie’s space. Eddie nods.

“Yeah.”

Buck sighs softly and rolls over onto his back.

“I don’t have a token.” Buck stares up at the ceiling at that. “Didn’t really have anything back home that was really special to me, I guess. I mean besides my sister, but I don’t need anything physical with me to remember how much I love her so I guess I don’t really need one.”

Eddie reaches over and squeezes Buck’s hand as they lapse into silence. Buck puts his head on Eddie’s shoulder then and they lay there for a little while just sinking into each other’s company.

“Hey, Buck?”

“Yeah, Eddie?”

“Can you promise me something?”

Buck looks up at Eddie from his shoulder and doesn’t even hesitate before he answers. “Anything.”

“If you win…”

“Eddie–”

“Let me finish.”

Buck swallows and closes his mouth to wait.

“Promise me you’ll look after Chris. I’m not– I’m not saying you have to take care of him. Shannon will be there, but he’s going to need stuff and I won’t be there to– I know it’s a lot to ask, but I have to. He’s my world.”

Buck’s face is all soft edges and sad eyes.

“Of course, Eddie. That’s– it's not even a question. But you’re going to be fine, okay?”

Eddie makes a noncommittal noise and Buck has the decency not to argue.

Eddie tries not to think too hard about how easy things are with Buck and how after tonight, they’ll never have this again. Instead he lets Buck wind his arms around his waist and he tangles his legs with Buck’s before they close their eyes for the last time outside the arena.

_________

Bobby finds them in Eddie’s room in the morning and wakes them both up early.

They get ready silently, brush their teeth alongside each other and then take turns in the shower. They’re both quiet the entire time. All Eddie can think about is how he misses the sound of Buck’s voice.

They head to breakfast and let Bobby walk them through their strategies again and again.

Stay away from the main part of the arena called the cornucopia. There will be a large supply of packs and resources laid out for the taking there, but this is exactly where the career pack will go so they can keep the others from getting anything they can use to fight or survive. Search for safe and clean water. Find food. Keep away from The Careers. Simple enough and yet Eddie wonders if it will be enough.

When they finish breakfast they leave the tribute center with Bobby at their side and are brought to what Eddie assumes is the arena via hovercraft. Eddie and Buck are strapped in for the ride beside one another, thighs and shoulders touching. Eddie feels Buck gasp when someone comes by and inserts his tracker and biofeedback chip into his arm. Eddie grits his teeth and braces to receive his own. Any tokens being brought in by the tributes are inspected during the ride and Eddie secures his medallion around his neck when it is inevitably returned to him.

Once the hovercraft finally lands each tribute is taken out one by one to be brought to their assigned entry point into the arena. Eddie and Buck are the only ones left on the hovercraft waiting to be escorted in. This is where they part. They won’t see each other again until they’re in the arena. Eddie’s hands shake.

He meets Buck’s gaze and sees the same thing he's feeling inside looking back at him. Fear. Buck’s eyes are glassy and he gives Eddie a small nervous smile.

“Guess this is it?” Buck says. Eddie can tell he is trying his best to keep his tone light. They both know he’s failing, but Eddie is endlessly grateful that Buck is trying at all.

“Guess so.”

Buck swallows and fidgets. “I’ve got your back. You know that, right?”

“Always. And I’ve got yours.” Eddie takes a deep breath. “You find me in there, Buckley. You hear me?”

Buck swallows thickly in front of him and nods.

“And if I don’t make it and you do? Remember what I said.”

Buck’s head jerks as he nods and tries to bite his lower lip to keep it from wobbling.

“I’m– I’m really glad I met you, Buck.”

Buck lets out a soft wounded noise at that and it takes everything in Eddie not to do something crazy right then and there.

Before Eddie has the chance to contemplate doing anything, crazy or not, Buck is getting his arms around him. Eddie inhales sharply and immediately leans into it.

“I’m really glad I met you, too, Eddie.”

Eddie sighs softly as he burrows into the juncture of Buck’s neck. He takes a few seconds to breathe and soak up the warmth from the line of Buck’s body against his before he hears the hovercraft door wrench open behind them. Eddie hears the Peacekeeper before he sees him.

“Diaz, let’s go. You’re next.”

Eddie sucks in a breath and nods to himself. It’s time. He pulls back from Buck and squeezes his shoulder firmly.

“Bye, Buck.”

Eddie turns and smiles over his shoulder when Buck says goodbye right back then lets himself be ushered out. It's a few minutes later that he’s stepping into the room that he assumes is a sublevel of the arena.

The timer begins to countdown from thirty over unseen speakers not even a moment after Eddie steps into the room. He clutches his Saint Christopher medallion as he steps onto the marked platform. He thinks about his family huddled around the tiny tv in their kitchen waiting for the games to begin. Shannon would have Christopher bouncing on her lap as Abuela rubbed the beads of her rosary.

Somewhere across District 10, Buck’s family would sit waiting, too.

Eddie braces himself and the platform begins its ascent. The second he emerges into the arena, Eddie is immediately blinded by the sun. He blinks rapidly as his eyes attempt to adjust. He can see in a line expanding on his left and right, the rest of the platforms the other tributes have appeared on. The cornucopia is of course set up straight ahead with all manner of weapons and packs littering the area. He tries to survey what he can see of the rest of the arena. He almost laughs out loud when it comes into focus. It’s bright and hot just like District 10 and there is a mix of desert and woods for as far as the eye can see. He turns his head instinctively to make a joke about the irony of it just to see Buck laugh, but it dies on his tongue when the reality of their situation comes crashing back.

Eddie turns his attention back to the line of tributes, squinting as he desperately attempts to catch sight of Buck among them. With forty-six other kids to sort through it’s damn near impossible, until it isn’t. Eddie finally finds him. He’s too far away for any of his features to really confirm it’s him, but his long legs are a dead giveaway. He’s one of the furthest platforms away from Eddie’s and if Eddie believed in the power of the universe, he would think it had a vendetta against him.

He tries to keep his eyes on Buck as the announcer alerts them and everyone watching at home that the Games are beginning, but before Eddie even has the chance to head in Buck’s direction all hell breaks loose.

_________

The next few minutes are complete madness. Eddie is terrified at the number of tributes he sees go down in those first moments. The Careers waste absolutely no time grabbing weapons and cutting down the weaker tributes right off the bat.

Eddie’s first thought is to run just like Bobby told him to. On both sides of the arena there is a thick stretch of woods, but separating them down the middle is an open swath of desert with what looks to be a mountain in the distance. The thing is Bobby had warned them both to stay away from the supplies and the action. He said their best bet at surviving would be trying to avoid conflict and live off whatever the arena had to offer if possible. Eddie should completely ignore the supplies and make a beeline for the wooded area to his left.

The problem? Buck is likely on the other side of all this bedlam and the idea of being separated from him is making Eddie panic. Even if Eddie manages to connect with Buck, what if neither of them has picked up supplies and the dry heat here has killed off the vegetation or worse? What if they aren’t able to find water and just dehydrate to death? It’s that thought that makes Eddie do something stupid and head straight for a black and orange backpack he sees on the edge of the Cornucopia.

Eddie is swift as he runs straight to it and snags it in his arms as he runs by. He turns over his shoulder to see if he can catch sight of Buck and can get through to him amidst all the weapons being thrown about but before he can even get a good look at what's going on around him, a throwing star whizzes almost two inches away from his face. He gasps and turns, fully expecting to see another tribute coming his way, but he figures out quickly the throwing star wasn’t actually aimed at him but rather a near fatal accident. It's in that moment that Eddie sees one of the girls from District 10, Camila, run into view and Eddie watches in horror as Sal grabs her by her hair and drags her back.

Before Eddie can even stop himself he’s running straight for Sal. He uses every ounce of his body weight to slam into him and get him to the ground. Sal loses his grip on Camila and Eddie looks up to see her frozen like a deer in headlights.

“Go!”

He yells at her but she doesn’t budge and Sal reaches for Eddie. Rose suddenly appears from nowhere and starts tugging Camila’s arm to get her to go. Eddie glances over and sees them hesitate, looking over their shoulders at him. Sal punches him then and Eddie goes down hard.

He braces himself before he hits the ground and immediately rolls away to get out of reach. He scrambles to his feet and throws one last look at the girls. “Get out of here! Now!”

They spring into action and begin running. Eddie doesn’t have time to see where they go because Sal is back on his feet.

The last thing Eddie wants to do is leave, but behind Sal some of the other careers are starting to gather as their fights are slowing down. Eddie isn’t armed and neither is Sal, but a fight right here and now with the boy will leave Eddie outnumbered in no time.

It’s not exactly his proudest moment, but Eddie knows he’s fast and it wouldn’t take long for him to outrun Sal. This might be his only chance. Before either of them is even able to take another breath, Eddie is taking off into the woods. He fully expects Sal or some of the other careers to chase after him. Eddie is pushing himself in order to get a good lead, thighs on fire, but shouting breaks out from somewhere behind him and the sounds of anyone who might have been pursuing him fade out. He doesn’t risk looking back just in case.

After what feels like ages, Eddie finally stops running and pants softly to catch his breath. Once he’s stopped he hears the cannon begin to fire. Each one represents a single tribute lost. Eddie counts twenty and nearly doubles over from the mixture of grief and relief of it. He sends up a prayer to anyone listening that Buck is okay, that he is still out there and he’s waiting for the both of them to find each other. Before Eddie allows himself time to panic any more he starts to walk again so he can find a quieter place further from the center of the arena. Once he feels he has put a respectable distance between him and the chaos that just erupted, he can assess what supplies he managed to get away with and figure out his next move.

Eddie estimates he’s been walking for another twenty minutes before he finally feels safe enough to stop. He ducks down to look through the contents of his backpack. Inside, he finds two jugs of water, two potatoes, an apple, and a bag of jerky. It's not going to last the two of them very long, but it's more than he had before, so Eddie tries to focus on the silver lining of it. He knows Buck is a big fan of apples so he opts to save that for when he finds Buck again and plans to have some potato for dinner when he inevitably finds somewhere to make camp.

Eddie spends the rest of the day walking further and further into the woods. He tries to mentally map out what he can of the arena as he keeps an eye out for somewhere to make camp for the night. He’ll need to rest, especially if the careers are intent on coming to look for him and for when he starts looking for Buck in the morning. He doesn’t see any kind of vegetation that he thinks will be genuinely helpful and he curses the gamemakers and the President, certainly not for the first time in the last five days.

Inevitably, Eddie finds himself beginning to tire. Running for your life will do that to a person. His shirt is already soaked through with sweat and he tries to be as sparing as possible when drinking the water he has, but he knows the heat is absolutely getting to him. Nighttime finally provides the slightest amount of relief. Eddie can physically feel the way the air around him drops a few degrees. He finds a partially concealed area under a fallen tree and he tucks himself as best he can underneath the foliage there in hopes that even if someone did pass by they wouldn’t be able to tell he was hiding there. He allows himself half of a potato for dinner and then settles in for the evening.

A little while later, Eddie is staring up at the night sky as he waits nervously for the photos of the fallen tributes to display there. It's part of Hunger Games tradition. Twenty tributes’ faces flash above him and Eddie nearly tears up in visceral relief when he sees that Buck isn’t one of them. It means Buck is still out there and it means that there is still a chance he’ll get to see Buck at least one more time before all this is over.

Eddie tries to let himself sleep, but he tosses and turns, too anxious at the idea of letting himself be vulnerable. The stress of the day does catch up with him though and it's a couple of hours after nightfall that he eventually drops off to get some rest.

Eddie doesn’t actually know how long he’s been asleep when he suddenly hears rustling leaves and heavy footfalls.

He sits bolt upright in his hiding spot, ears perked to try to determine how close or far the person is from where Eddie is hunkered down. His heart beat is hammering in his ears and his hands nearly shake with it. He doesn’t have a weapon, but if necessary Eddie can at least get the drop on them if they get aggressive.

He hears a familiar groan. “Eddie? Fuck. Eddie.”

Eddie nearly passes out when he hears Buck’s voice nearby. He scrambles out of his hiding area and immediately starts scanning the area for Buck. His eyes widen when his gaze find’s Buck’s lumbering form. He looks rough. There is old dried blood on his shirt and he is hunched over as he calls out Eddie’s name.

Eddie rushes over in an instant. “Shh, shh. Hey. Buck. Holy shit. It’s okay. I’m here.”

Buck reaches out for Eddie automatically and Eddie is still in disbelief as he gets a hand curled around Buck’s bicep to steady him.

“How did you even find me, Buck? It's the middle of the night.”

Buck opens his mouth to say something, but nothing ever comes out. Before Eddie even knows what is happening, Buck’s knees are buckling as he passes out right there in front of him. Eddie immediately reaches out to grab Buck and break his fall.

Eddie is wracking his brain trying to think of anything that could help as he lays Buck onto his back. If Buck was stung by something or was poisoned, there are very specific things that could help with that. The plants he does remember that could be used for situations like this don’t do him any good because in all the hours he spent trekking through the woods, he never saw a single one of them. Charcoal tablets could possibly help, but only depending on the severity of the situation and Eddie had zero access to any of these here in the arena.

Eddie runs a hand through his hair anxiously and starts to pace when he hears a very soft distinct beeping noise coming from the sky. He looks up just in time to see a drone release a small canister with a parachute affixed to the top of it. It floats down from the sky gracefully and Eddie immediately raises his arms to catch it in midair, hurriedly tearing the lid off to look inside.

On top of a small glass bottle is a note in a very clear script. Eddie squints to read it in the minimal light he gets from the moon above.

This will do the trick, kid. Make it count. – Bobby

Eddie takes a deep breath and then immediately pulls out the glass bottle. There is a mostly clear colored liquid on the inside of it. Eddie doesn’t know exactly what it is, but he can tell it smells distinctly medicinal. Whatever this is, it's going to cure Buck. Of that much Eddie is sure. It likely wasn’t cheap either. Based on the note and the quality of an item like this, Eddie surmises that this is all the two of them will be able to expect from any sponsors while they're in the arena. Eddie can’t even find it in himself to be worried about that. All he can think about is that Bobby came through on his promise and Buck is going to be okay. In the end, that’s what matters.

Eddie carefully squats down beside Buck and moves to prop him up. Buck groans softly, still clutching his stomach. Eddie pets some of his curls back from his forehead tenderly and starts rubbing over Buck’s throat gently. Once he can feel Buck’s jaw go a little slack he carefully tips the contents of the bottle into Buck’s mouth and down his throat. Buck tries to resist at first, but Eddie keeps rubbing the column of his throat and murmurs to him softly.

“Come on, Buck. It’s okay. Trust me. Drink up. You’ll feel better, I promise.”

After that, Buck swallows every drop, and Eddie settles in to watch over Buck and wait.

_________

It's sometime the next morning and Eddie decides to take a minute to clean Buck up. He has been trying to wait for the medicine to do its job but the longer Buck stays asleep the more concerned Eddie gets. He starts to wipe Buck down with just a little bit of the water they have. He uses a ripped scrap of his t-shirt to blot Buck’s cheeks, his neck, and his chest. That’s when he sees it. A hint of gold chain peeking out from underneath the shirt Buck was dressed in before getting thrown into the arena.

Eddie knows distinctly that Buck didn’t come with a token. It was one of the things they’d talked about during the days leading up to the games. Eddie gently hooks his finger along the chain and carefully follows along the length of it to its source. There against Buck’s sternum rests Bobby’s pocket watch.

Eddie purses his lips to keep from getting emotional over it so he can focus on the task at hand. The physical reminder of Bobby’s care for Buck spurs Eddie on.

Buck has people out there who love him. He’s got someone who loves him right here. Eddie isn’t letting Buck go that easy.

Eventually, Eddie is able to ease some water down Buck’s throat the same way he got the medicine down, and it isn’t long after that that Buck is rousing.

Slowly, but surely, those bright blue eyes open.

Eddie is sitting beside Buck checking over their supplies when he hears Buck begin to rumble.

Eddie drops the pack and lets out a relieved sigh at the sight of him.

“Morning, sleeping beauty.”

Buck grunts and smacks his lips loudly. Eddie is up in an instant with more water.

“Easy, easy.” Buck takes slow sips before he finishes the little bit of liquid. He reaches up to rub his eyes and squint.

“What happened?”

“Thought maybe you could tell me? I was asleep out here last night fully intending to come look for you in the morning but before I got the chance I woke up in the middle of the night to you wandering around out here calling my name. I stepped out of hiding before you promptly passed out.”

Buck grimaces and flushes.

“Well that's kind of embarrassing.”

“Did you even sleep?” Eddie asks the question but he already suspects the answer.

“Before I found you? No. I sort of walked all day and night hoping I’d run into you. Think by the time I found you I was feeling kind of out of it? I, uh, didn’t mean to draw attention to myself or you. Could have gotten either one of us killed.”

Buck’s frown deepens and his brows furrow. Eddie gets the overwhelming urge to lean over and smooth them out with his thumb, but he somehow manages to refrain.

“But you didn’t. We’re fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Sounds like you weren’t in good shape anyway. Any idea why?”

“Might have been the cactus water I had?” Buck rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and Eddie raises a brow.

“Cactus water.”

“Yeah. You know we were talking about all the edible plants and stuff and I had to pass through that desert area to get to this side of the arena. I had been walking for hours at that point and I was so thirsty I thought I could get water from a cactus like we talked about.”

“Oh, Buck.” Eddie laughs helplessly. “You went for a tall skinny one, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t mean to! But, uh, I guess so?” Buck frowns again.

“Buck, you are so–” Eddie shakes his head and smiles because Buck is alive and almost killed himself before Eddie even had a chance to protect him. He loves Buck so much he thinks he might burst at the seams. “Listen, Bobby sent us some kind of medicine. Seems like it did the trick. Maybe next time just leave the plant stuff to me so you don’t accidentally almost kill yourself again, okay?”

“Ugh. Being poisoned kind of sucks.” Eddie doesn’t tell Buck that drinking toxic cactus water probably doesn’t exactly count as being poisoned.

“More than kind of.” Eddie brushes Buck’s damp curls back from his forehead. “Gave me a scare there, Buckley.”

Buck leans into the affection and hums. “Sorry about that.”

“Just don’t do it again, got it?”

Buck gives Eddie a cheeky albeit tired little grin and salutes Eddie.

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Eddie snorts and shakes his head as he gets up to head back over to their packs. Buck pouts and makes a displeased noise when Eddie goes.

“I know, I know, but you want dinner, don’t you?”

Buck makes a conflicted noise as he reaches down to get a hand over his stomach.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

“You’re going to need to eat to help settle your stomach. Trust me.”

Buck nods at that. “Okay. What’s on the menu tonight, Mr. Diaz?”

Eddie looks at their food pile. It’s meager and they’ll definitely need to find more if they’re going to survive for longer than another day or two.

“Well. I snagged a pack from the cornucopia before I got the hell out of there. I went through the bag you managed to get while you were out, but I didn’t see much in there but some rope, a dagger, and some bandages.”

“Yeah, I got a shitty one. I did get that axe though.” Buck looks sullen but nods over to the axe Eddie had propped up on a tree beside them.

“You kind of did, but the good news is we've got a potato and a half, an apple, and a bag of jerky.”

“Dealer’s choice.”

“Potatoes it is then. The starch will probably help your stomach anyway.”

“Whatever you say.” Buck’s stomach growls then and Eddie can’t help but smile in soft amusement. He halves the potato with the dagger he happened to find on Buck when he took inventory of Buck’s things and hands Buck his portion automatically.

“There you are, sir.” Eddie mock bows like he’s one of the attendants who catered their food leading up to the games and it gets Buck to crack a smile.

In an ideal world, Eddie would have started a fire to get the potatoes cooked for the two of them. Unfortunately for them, the games are nowhere even close to being ideal. Ultimately, he doesn’t want to risk giving away their location with the smoke so the two of them munch on their potato in companionable quiet.

_________

Most of the next day goes uneventfully. Neither of them are able to find much to eat and they start to move again through the arena.

They continue to map out the lay of the land and talk about all sorts of things as they go. The canon goes off only a couple times during that day and Eddie feels an overwhelming wave of sadness overcome him each time.

That night when they’ve found another secluded area to hunker down, Eddie takes first watch and gets emotional when he sees some of the faces of the kids who followed Buck around like ducklings during training

After a few hours, Eddie and Buck swap off and Eddie uses the opportunity to get a solid amount of sleep. He and Buck share the apple for breakfast and drink some of their dwindling water before setting out again.

Eddie had been trying to follow the woods to the edge of wherever the area lies. He’d hoped they might find something to sustain them on the way, but so far no plants offer any kind of safe food options and they have barely seen as much as a squirrel, much less any kind of animal they could try to hunt and use for food.

Eddie is starting to worry that sticking to the edges of the arena may not be sustainable unless they are able to secure some more supplies. He tells Buck as much and Buck agrees.

They decide to change direction then and get somewhat close to the center of the arena in the hopes that the closer they get to danger the gamemakers will have at least provided some incentive to keep them there.

Eddie is very disappointed when they have walked for hours and still not come across any useful plant life or animals.

“I’m starting to think they wanted most of us to succumb to the elements. Why else would they drop us in a desert climate with absolutely nothing to work with??”

Buck nods. “Yeah. Most of the years prior the tributes had something to work with. Except that year they dumped all twenty-four tributes in an old building with nothing but a bunch of old rusty weapons.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah. It was kind of a bloodbath.”

Eddie opens his mouth to tell Buck he isn’t surprised when an arrow comes flying out of nowhere and misses Eddie by maybe a hair.

“Eddie!”

Buck yells then and grabs Eddie by his arm to pull him in the opposite direction. Eddie gets a brief look at the person attacking them. It’s one of the careers, Eddie knows that much. She’s got black hair down to her shoulders and she’s grinning at them like hunting people for sport is a pastime for her.

Lucky for them, she’s slow on the uptick and she isn’t able to get loaded fast enough to really get another shot close enough to Buck or Eddie to be lethal. Eddie hears the girl growl loudly in frustration before the sounds of her yelling for the other members of the pack to come to her aid.

Buck is panting beside Eddie as they run. Eddie can tell he’s having a hard time keeping up so he slows them to a walk after just a few minutes.

“That was fucking close.” Buck takes in a ragged breath and Eddie nods in agreement.

It's then that Eddie feels the first sting and it doesn’t quite register at first. The adrenaline from their run in with the girl with the bow keeps him from recognizing it for what it is. The second sting and Buck’s voice is what alerts him to the danger. He sees Buck look above their head and his face contorts from fear.

“Eddie! It’s tracker jackers!! Run!!!”

Eddie instinctively takes off into a sprint. He tries to look over his shoulder to find Buck but he’s lost sight of him almost instantly and he can hear the buzzing of more tracker jackers gaining on him.

He isn’t fast enough and he feels one more sting before he breaks through the line of trees into a clearing.

“Buck??” He spins around and everything around him gets blurry.

Eddie goes down and his face meets the dirt below him. The sun is breaking through the treetops and in his eyes again.

Why does the sun hate him? He tries to ask it but it doesn’t answer back and he gets distracted because his arms are throbbing all the sudden.

He wishes Buck was here. The pain is starting to get worse. He tries crawling further into the clearing. He thinks he can see the church his family goes to back in District 10 in the distance. If he can just get there. If his legs would just work, but they're starting to throb, too. Eddie tries to get up but trips over a sheep and faceplants right back into the dirt.

When he rolls over someone is standing over him. He looks to be about sixteen. He’s got curly blonde hair, red glasses, and crutches on both his arms. Eddie doesn’t remember meeting him at the Tribute Center.

“Hello?”

The boy looks down at him with angry eyes.

“You need to get up.”

Eddie pouts. He hasn’t even introduced himself. That’s kind of rude. Also, this place doesn’t look like the woods he knows. How did he get here?

“Where am I?”

The boy seems to have zero patience for Eddie right now. He tries to explain to this kid that all his limbs feel like lead, but his tongue is stuck to the top of his throat.

“You need to get up. Right now, Dad. Get up.”

Dad? Eddie’s breath catches. He frowns in confusion.

“Christopher?” Eddie scrambles to sit up. The world turns over and Eddie feels dizzy as he makes himself get to his feet. “Christopher!”

Eddie is shuffling further into the clearing and trying desperately to stay upright. If he can just get to the church someone will tell him where to go. He keeps walking until he finds what appears to be a very nice tree. It hugs him and he yawns as he falls right asleep against it.

_________

When Eddie wakes up. The first thing he thinks is about how incredibly dry his mouth is. He’s so thirsty and he thinks if he doesn’t get water he might keel over. He grunts softly as he moves to get up.

“Woah, take it easy there, hotshot.”

Eddie opens his eyes and there Buck is. He’s smiling at him and his hands are gently easing Eddie back into the sitting position.

“What do you need?”

Eddie grunts and tries not to pout. “Thirsty.”

“Right. On it.” Buck is a flurry of motion as he grabs one of their water bottles and brings it back to Eddie, carefully pressing the mouth of it to Eddie’s lips. Eddie takes slow slips and tries not to drain the bottle but Buck encourages him to keep drinking until half the bottle is gone.

“How do you feel?”

That’s a loaded question. Eddie’s exhausted and hungry and still thirsty, but his tracker jacker stings feel only itchy and slightly sore. A far cry from the zip of pain and throbbing he remembers them being when he first was stung.

“Like shit. But better than I did– how long ago did I get stung?”

“It’s been almost two days.”

“Fuck.”

Buck looks at him sympathetically. “Yeah.”

Eddie glances at the sky. It’s the middle of the day and so even though he looks up instinctively to see if the face of the tributes who have died would be displayed there, they’re not. He’ll have to wait for nightfall to see any tribute who passed during this day and rely on Buck’s account for the others.

“How many are left?”.

“Apart from us? Six. I, uh, think most of the ones left are from the Career Pack.”

“Camila and Rose?”

Buck looks at Eddie helplessly. “Last night. Both of them, uh, appeared in the sky. I’m sorry.”

Eddie lays back down and gently bangs his head against the makeshift pillow Buck made for him out of their survival pack. He takes a steadying breath and tries not to let himself cry. He thinks about those two girls that came with them from 10 and all the other kids that he and Buck came across at training. He thinks about the look in Rose’s eyes as he yelled at her to run.

They didn’t deserve this. None of them. Eddie is so angry and frustrated, but mostly he’s just sad. He should have done more. Maybe he should have gone after the careers himself to save the others the pain of dying at their hands. The outcome would have been the same though. Only one person is going to leave this arena and Eddie is trying to do everything in his power to make sure that person is Buck Buckley.

Eddie looks down at himself and sees the small lumps exposed where he had been stung two days before. They have some kind of gel on them.

Buck must catch him staring and clears his throat.

“I remembered that you’re supposed to pull the stingers out when you’re stung by a wasp or a bee or in this case tracker jackers. When I found you in the meadow, you were hallucinating, so first thing I did was pull them out.”

Smart. Eddie reminds himself how lucky he is to have Buck for what feels like the millionth time in less than a week.

“Yeah, it cuts off the venom from getting any deeper.”

“Once I got us somewhere safe, I remembered that you said aloe can be used to treat bee stings because you said you got stung in your abuela’s garden that one time and she put some of that on to treat it.”

“Yeah, I did say that.”

“Anyway, when we split up to escape the hive, I actually kind of tripped over an aloe plant so I went back to look for it so I could use some of it on your stings.”

Eddie scowls at Buck and doesn’t even pause before chastising him. “Buck! You could have gotten stung, too!”

“But I didn’t. I wasn’t going to just let you suffer, Eds. I had to do something.”

Eddie meets Buck’s eyes and purses his lips as he sighs and nods. He shouldn’t know Buck this well already. They’ve known each other for less than a week, but somehow it feels like they’ve been in each other’s lives for a lot longer. Maybe that’s why Eddie knows Buck would rather get stung a thousand times himself than sit back and do nothing.

“I know you did.”

Buck gives him a sheepish smile before he insists Eddie eat some jerky rations and have more of their meager water supply. He tries to fight him on it, but if there is one person more stubborn than Eddie himself, it’s Buck.

Eventually, when dinner is done, Buck reapplies fresh aloe to Eddie’s stings and they curl up together as each one of them takes turns keeping watch.

_________

Night passes and with the morning sun, the heat comes back. Eddie knows they need to find more water if they’re going to keep alive in the arena.

He rouses Buck from his sleep and helps him pack up their things so they can head back toward the more barren section of the arena where he knows cacti are present. Some of the same cacti Buck had tried to hydrate from previously.

“You sure heading back to the desert is a good idea, Eddie? What if someone sees us?”

“They aren’t going to see us.” Eddie pokes Buck in his chest as they stand across from each other. “You are going to hang back at the treeline and I am going to find the cacti that aren’t toxic so I can fill up our canteens. Once I fill them up then we’ll head back for the woods and try to keep a low profile. Hopefully, we can wait everyone else out.”

Buck frowns.

“What is it?”

He sees Buck chew his lip before he talks again.

“What if that works? What happens then?”

“What do you mean?”

“If it's just me and you. What's the plan?”

“Buck. The plan is what we talked about. When you make it out of here, you’re going to do everything you possibly can to be happy and you’re going to take care of Chris.”

“That’s the plan if I make it out and you don’t. If we both are alive and it's just us then–”

“We’re not negotiating about this.” Eddie doesn’t leave any room for it and yet.

“The hell we aren’t.”

Eddie sighs heavily. He knew Buck was going to fight him on this. He really wishes he wouldn’t.

“We’re talking about a scenario that might not even happen! If it does then we’ll talk about what you need to do.”

“What I need to do? Eddie, I’m not doing anything. Not to you if that’s what you’re trying to say. I won’t.” Buck’s jaw clenches stubbornly. Eddie wants to shake him and kiss him all at once.

“Buck, please. It’s hot and we need water. We don’t have time for this.”

“We need to make time.”

Eddie throws his hands up and growls in frustration.

“Fine! If you don’t want to do anything then I will, okay?”

Buck blinks. “You will?”

“Yes. I’ll find some nightlock or get some of that toxic cactus water you managed to find and I’ll do it so you don’t have to. Okay? Now let’s go.” Eddie goes to turn to lead the way through the woods again. He barely gets a foot before Buck speaks again.

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“I mean no. I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself for me.”

“It's my choice, Buck.”

“What about my choice, huh?”

“You’ll have plenty of time to make more choices when you’re alive and well back in District 10 with your sister and my son.”

“Eddie,” Buck whimpers and Eddie sighs. He goes to Buck and takes his hand.

“Let's not think about this now. We can talk again if we even get there. For now, we need to make sure we have water so neither of us dehydrates to death. Sound like a plan?”

Buck nods silently and doesn’t let go of Eddie’s hand. Eddie doesn’t blame him and he makes no move to let go either.

“Alright. Now that that’s settled. Tell me about the aquifers back in 10 again. Maybe hearing about water will help motivate us.”

Buck tentatively starts telling Eddie about the aquifers that exist out in the desert and Eddie sinks into the sound of Buck’s voice as he leads them to the other end of the arena. They’re only walking for a little while when they hear the sound of a canon. They freeze along the path in the woods and Eddie tries to focus on even a whisper of sound near them but it’s only the sound of their own breathing between them and some sort of chirping insects.

“Might have been dehydration or something,” Buck murmurs softly.

“Maybe.” Eddie starts to walk again as quietly as he can manage and Buck follows suit. The only issue is he’s a lot less light on his feet. In any other scenario, Eddie would find it entirely endearing the way Buck couldn’t keep himself and his insanely long legs from lumbering around. While he’s trying to keep Buck alive, though, he’s absolutely terrified he might give them away.

The cannon sounds again twice after what Eddie estimates as another ten minutes of walking and it sets him entirely on edge. Buck seems to sense this and squeezes his hand reassuringly.

The cannon has sounded a total of three times since they left their makeshift camp. That means there are a total of three tributes left besides him and Buck. In a way, Eddie feels comforted by that fact, but a small part of him is scared, too. The more the numbers dwindle, the less time he has with Buck left. He looks over at him as they walk. His brows are scrunched as he swats at some bugs that fly by with the hand that isn’t in Eddie’s. He has his axe strapped to his hip and his birthmark is a brighter pink than Eddie has ever seen, likely from the exertion and the heat. Even hair a mess, with dirt smeared on him, having not showered in days, Buck is still the most beautiful person Eddie has ever seen.

It takes a minute, but Buck looks back over at Eddie and gives him a wide grin when he catches Eddie staring. Maybe in another life, Eddie might blush and look away. He can’t find it in himself to even bother. He wants to soak it all up while he still has the chance.

Buck bumps his shoulder into Eddie’s affectionately and they eventually make it to the edge of the woods. The swathe of desert is in sight, a large mountain looming on what Eddie assumes is another end of the arena. Two things happen almost immediately one after the other as they arrive at the tree line.

The first thing that happens is Eddie sees what he has to assume are the three remaining tributes burst forth from further in the woods. All three of them are from the Career Pack. Jonah, Moira, and the girl with the black hair who shot at them with the bow.

Eddie immediately reaches for the dagger at his hip out of pure instinct.

They all look winded and out of breath. The girl with the dark hair is limping and lagging behind. Eddie sees a large bite mark on her arm and it is pouring blood. He hears Moira call her Amber and yell at her to keep up. He feels Buck tensing beside him and sees him draw his axe. Moira catches sight of them both and throws her hands up in exasperation.

“Of course you two are still alive!”

“You both really managed to stay out of this, didn’t you?” Jonah spits. His face is twisted and angry and Eddie bristles as he tries to angle himself in front of Buck.

“We didn’t want to fight you or anyone else,” Buck calls out.

Moira scoffs and tightens her grip on the short sword in her hand. “Oh I bet. No, you two just wanted us to do all the dirty work and then take the glory all for yourself. Meanwhile we’re getting chased down by a fucking demented bioengineered lizard creat–”

The second thing happens then. Something very distinctly lizard-like emerges from behind Moira and bites right across the length of her abdomen. She screams and the creature bites harder. Eddie can see some kind of green liquid oozing from the corners of the creature’s mouth.

As it comes out further from the woods, Eddie can see the creature is large and long with thick powerful legs. It looks like one of the tractors used to plow some of the bigger fields back in 10. It’s covered entirely in scales, most of them a shimmery brownish grey, but there is some red thrown in at the base of its thick and sturdy tail and some teal and black around its dark, beady eyes.

They don’t get much time because the creature drops Moira like a ragdoll and zeroes in on Eddie instead. Eddie’s stomach feels like it drops into his feet as he moves to take a few steps back.

He suddenly feels Buck grab him by the back of his shirt and spin him around to make Eddie run ahead of him.

“Go!!!”

“Buck!” He takes off running. He isn’t sure where he’s going or how he plans to get them away from the damn thing. His only thought is to put as much distance between them and that freak of nature.

Eddie looks over his shoulder and sees Buck hot on his heels. Jonah is nowhere in sight as the creature barrels after them.

“Buckl!”

Eddie desperately tries to come up with a plan, wondering if getting them up in a tree might help get them away from the damn thing. Its legs are short and stumpy and he can’t imagine it would be able to follow them vertically. He doesn’t know for sure, but it's the only chance they have.

“Buck! Follow me!”

Eddie zigzags and heads back for the woods. The lizard stops chasing them suddenly and before Eddie can figure out why it’s circling around to try and cut them off before they reach the woods.

“Eddie!”

Buck yanks him back from the collar of his shirt and throws himself in front of Eddie as the lizard spins around and swipes Buck in his leg. Eddie hears a sickening crack and watches Buck crumple in front of him.

“Buck!!”

He grabs onto Buck’s arm and desperately tries to drag him out of harm’s way. The lizard turns to face them and edges closer. Eddie lets Buck go and steps in front of him with his dagger drawn. He bares his canines and gets ready to go down with a fight when the creature cries out suddenly in pain.

It thrashes and Eddie can see where Jonah has shoved Moira’s short sword through the side of the creature’s neck. Its blood is teal as it gushes around the blade. Jonah side steps and lets the lizard’s body crash into the dirt. Eddie watches him wipe some of the blood across his face and grin at Eddie maniacally.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, Diaz.”

Eddie hears Buck grunt from somewhere behind him and Eddie thinks this is it. These are his final moments. His hand twitches and he realizes mournfully that he lost his dagger in the chaos of trying to escape the lizard.

Jonah doesn’t have his sword because it’s still buried in the creature’s neck. Both of them are weaponless. Jonah just grins at him and puts his fists up.

“Put ‘em up, Diaz.”

Eddie grits his teeth and waits. It's seconds before Jonah is lunging at him wildly, teeth bared as he laughs. They hit the ground hard and Eddie damn near has the wind knocked out of him. Jonah tries to get the upper hand, but Eddie is faster. He gets Jonah on his back and keeps him there. His fist connects with Jonah’s face and doesn’t stop. There’s blood and he hears something crack.

He thinks he might do it, kill a man with his bare hands when he feels Jonah kick him off. Eddie falls onto his back and starts to panic. He scrambles to get up but Jonah shoves him back down into the dirt by his head. Eddie barely has time to process before he recognizes his own dagger being shoved into the meat of his shoulder.

Jonah must have picked it up before he’d made his way over to kill the creature. Eddie gasps and all he can think is don’t pull it out. Of course, that’s exactly what Jonah does.

Eddie immediately feels the wound beginning to flood with blood. All he can think about is Christopher and Buck.

Jonah stands and wipes Eddie’s blood on his pant leg. He’s laughing again as he holds his arms up in triumph and looks up at the sky. “Say hello to the winner of the 75th annual Hunger Games!!”

Eddie is trying to think. He’s bleeding out and he’s trying to think. If he can just focus. He doesn’t have to because Jonah is laughing and then suddenly he’s not. Eddie sees Buck appear and swing his axe hard until it embeds itself in Jonah’s neck. The effect is instant. He thinks Buck may have broken his neck because Jonah goes down and doesn’t even make a sound as he bleeds out.

“Eddie!” Buck yells his name. There’s blood on his face. He looks down and meets Eddie’s eyes, tossing the axe aside when the cannon sounds. Eddie sits up and tries to stay alert, the wound from where the dagger was embedded in his shoulder is bleeding profusely. Buck immediately starts making his way over to Eddie, limping as he does.

Eddie’s eyes trail over Buck focusing specifically on his leg. He remembers the crack he heard when the creature made contact with Buck. “Are you hurt?”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m good.” Buck leans over him and Eddie’s heart flutters in his chest. He can tell Buck is lying. Something is wrong with his leg, but whatever it is, the Capitol can treat it whenever he gets brought out of the arena. He’s going to be fine.

Buck’s eyes rake over him in a panic and Eddie can feel his blood pressure starting to drop, probably on account of the big hole in his shoulder. He says as much to Buck.

“Eds– what do I– what do I do? I don’t–” Buck takes a breath. “I need to pack it. I need to put pressure.”

Buck tears his shirt off and uses it to put pressure on the wound. Eddie nods. Buck is doing exactly what he should but Eddie knows that it isn’t going to matter.

“H-hey.” Eddie reaches for Buck’s hand.

“I’m– I’m gonna go find something to tie this off with. M-maybe the gauze or clothes or something in their pack we can use.”

Eddie shakes his head and tries to tighten his grip on Buck’s wrist.

“Buck. Listen to me.”

“No, don’t. Don’t do this. You’re going to be fine.”

“Remember what we talked about.”

“Eddie, please.”

“Christopher. Please– take care of him for me? Buck, please. Promise me.”

“I– I promise. I promise. But it's okay– I’m gonna go find something. You’re gonna be fine.”

Buck’s hands are shaking and Eddie feels a little better as he keeps pressure on the wound.

“Okay, Buck. Go ahead. I’m not going anywhere.”

Buck scrambles to his feet, nearly tripping over them as he heads for the pack Jonah had on his back. He’s bent over a few feet away and rifling through it when a flash of dry lightning rips through the sky and connects with Buck right in front of Eddie. Eddie launches from the ground as he watches Buck blast backwards about ten feet. “Buck!!

He makes an unhinged noise and immediately stumbles over to Buck’s side fueled entirely by adrenaline. Eddie drops to his knees and reaches out to grab Buck’s wrist to look for a pulse. There isn’t one. Eddie’s heart seizes in his chest.

“No, no, no, no.” He sits up on his knees and starts chest compressions exactly the way Abuela showed him. He counts each movement before he ducks down and blows air into Buck’s mouth. Minutes go by, but Eddie ignores the agony in his shoulder and keeps going.

He hears the cannon sound.

The game maker's voice suddenly booms around him in the arena. Eddie’s heart races. “And the winner of the 75th annual Hunger Games: Edmundo Diaz!”

Eddie doesn’t stop. He can’t.

“Come on, Buck. Come on.” There’s still no pulse and Eddie can feel his tears slipping down his nose and falling across Buck’s slack face. He keeps up compressions. He presses his lips to Buck’s again and again and shares his breath. Doesn’t think about how cruel it is that this is the first time he’s getting to feel Buck’s lips on his. This can’t be it. Buck was supposed to live. Buck was supposed to go home and meet someone and start a family and he promised he would take care of Chris and be happy.

Eddie hears the sounds of the hovercraft in the distance coming to collect Buck’s body. His hands shake on Buck’s chest. He’s about to dip back down to press his mouth to Buck’s one last time when his wide blue eyes fly open and he sucks in a sharp, wheezing breath.

“Oh God. Buck!”

Eddie throws himself over Buck, hands slipping into Buck’s curls. He feels Buck reach up to get a hand on him as Eddie presses their foreheads together. “Fuck. I thought I lost you.”

Buck makes a soft noise and turns Eddie’s hand over sluggishly to hold it. “I’m here.” Eddie makes a relieved noise before he heaves a sudden sigh and falls onto his back right beside Buck on the grass.

“What's this? It looks like Buck Buckley is still alive! But Edmundo has already been crowned the winner?”

The audio cuts out suddenly and the hovercraft idles over them both where they are laying down in the grass. Eddie’s fingers laced with Buck’s. His shoulder bleeds and his eyelids flutter slightly.

“Hey. Eddie. Hey. Stay awake, okay? You’ve gotta stay awake. Christopher needs you. He needs his dad to come home. And I need you. I don’t want to be here without you.”

Eddie starts feeling himself slipping, but he fights so hard to stay awake. He focuses on Buck’s hand squeezing his. He thinks about Christopher’s hand on his cheek. It feels like an eternity before the voice booms across the tops of the trees.

“Ladies and gentlemen, In a very unprecedented moment in Hunger Games history, may I present to you… the winners of the 75th annual Hunger Games… Edmundo Diaz and Evan Buckley!”

Eddie hears Buck laugh beside him and then everything goes black.

___________

The days after are sort of a blur for Eddie. He doesn’t remember being airlifted out of the arena, though he’s told it happened.

He wakes up from surgery two days later with his right arm bound tightly in a sling. His first words are Buck’s name.

Bobby comes into his hospital room shortly after he wakes up.

“Buck?”

“He’s okay, Eddie. He’s alive.”

Eddie doesn’t break down, but it’s damn near close. Bobby looks tired like he hasn’t left the hospital or slept since Buck and Eddie made it out. Knowing what he knows of their mentor, Eddie thinks it’s entirely possible both assumptions are true.

Eddie shakes his head as he tries to fight off the last of the sedatives. He tries so hard to remember the last moments of the games, but everything is hazy.

“How…?”

“Buck’s heart stopped when he was hit by that lightning bolt.”

Eddie swallows thickly. He remembers that. He remembers springing into action.

“His biofeedback chip signaled he was gone to the gamemakers so they announced you as the winner and shot the cannon while you were doing compressions.”

“But he woke up.”

Bobby smiles and the relief in him is palpable as he reaches for Eddie’s hand.

“Yeah, kid. He woke up. Thanks to you. I guess they really weren’t sure what to do when he did. Nothing like this has ever happened before. They discussed letting the game continue until one of you succumbed but there was an outcry from the citizens in the Capitol.”

Eddie is too shocked and grateful for their response but he wonders why they suddenly now had the heart to voice objections.

“Anyway, the game maker made the executive decision to crown you both.”

Eddie’s eyebrows raise at that. He wonders how the President took that or if perhaps the decision had been his to make.

“He hasn’t been seen or heard from in three days.”

Eddie doesn’t expect that particular game maker will ever be heard from again. He doesn’t feel any kind of sympathy for the man, but does feel relief knowing that man’s decision meant both him and Buck were alive.

“Can I see him?”

“Yeah.” Bobby keeps smiling as he nods to the door just in time to see Buck being wheeled into Eddie’s room. “I figured you’d ask that.”

Buck looks better than Eddie recalls him looking in the arena. He’s got some wires peeking out from his hospital clothes but he’s alert and flush and so alive Eddie could cry.

“Fancy meeting you here, Diaz.” Buck grins as he wheels himself over to Eddie’s side. Bobby leaves them then to go check in with the medical staff and see about getting them some dinner.

Buck doesn’t leave Eddie’s room after that. Eventually, they bring his bed and stuff it beside Eddie’s in the small hospital room. There’s barely space to breathe but Eddie doesn’t care.

Buck undergoes tests to check his heart function and Eddie gets his bandages changed.

Buck is with him when Bobby brings Eddie back news from 10. Eddie figures it’s from his family, letting him know they saw he’s coming back. It’s been days since his surgery and the medical staff is still trying to figure out what the appropriate amount of recovery time they’ll both need before both of them are discharged and sent back home.

Eddie feels hollowed out when he reads the letter Bobby brought him telling him Shannon is gone. Eddie has to read it three times before the words start to make any kind of sense.

Shannon is gone. The mother of his child. The first person who knew who he was and didn’t hold it against him.

His mother is the one who wrote to him. He starts again from the beginning. She said it had been only a day after he’d been gone. Shannon had been outside past the fence line in 10. The Peacekeepers found her a day letter with a scorpion sting.

None of it makes sense. He tries to scrape up some reason why she’d be out there, anything to explain why, but he comes up flat. He feels scraped raw— as if the past couple weeks hadn’t been hard enough. He feels like the hits might never stop coming. Buck holds him as he tries so hard to catch his breath.

He mentally adds Shannon to the list of casualties of the 75th Hunger Games.

He grieves the girl who saw him one day after school and made a point to talk to him because she decided he was worth knowing.

He grieves the girl who became a mother too young and who lost her parents before she’d barely become an adult. The girl who wanted love that Eddie wasn’t able to give her.

The girl who was troubled and funny and rebellious and who loved her son, but not enough to stay.

He cries into Buck’s shoulder until he can’t anymore, until he’s worn out and can do nothing else that evening but sleep.

_________

Buck and Eddie spend the next two weeks holed up in their hospital room together. They each undergo physical therapy and are pumped with medications to ease their injuries. Before Eddie knows it, they’re being discharged and it’s time to head back home.

Things will be completely different from here on out.

Eddie doesn’t know how to be ready for that part but Buck just takes his hand as they board the train and holds it all the way back to District 10.

Hours later when they arrive home, their families are waiting for them at the station. The first thing Eddie notices is Shannon is very distinctly absent. A sharp pain shoots through him. There’s grief, but also so much guilt. She deserved better, more. He never expected he’d make it back from the games and she wouldn’t. It doesn’t feel fair, but if there’s one thing Eddie has learned from all of this, it’s that life rarely ever is.

Eddie helps Buck down the steps and onto the train platform with his good arm. Buck’s leg had been operated on but he’s still limping slightly every now and then. The Capitol doctors and medicine were helpful and they could have stayed longer for more treatment but they were both eager to get back to District 10 the moment they were allowed. Eddie sticks close to Buck and doesn’t leave his side.

Maddie is the first person breaking from the crowd. She runs to Buck and immediately wraps her arms around him. Eddie smiles at the sight and the way Buck is melting into his sister.

Eddie looks past the two of them and his mother is holding Christopher when they make their approach.

He takes Christopher from Helena’s arms and buries his face into the crook of his son’s neck. He smells that familiar smell, the cotton of his baby clothes, the soft scent of soap. Eddie has never felt more at home than in this moment.

“Thank God for you, kid.”

His Abuela and Aunt Pepa don’t hesitate for a moment before carefully scooping Eddie up into their arms and kissing his cheek. His sisters squeal and take their turn to hug him, too. Eddie soaks it all up.

It’s a few moments later when he feels Buck tentatively reach out to touch his hip. Eddie turns to face him and Buck’s throat clicks as he swallows nervously. His eyes are on Chris.

“Can I…?” He takes a tentative step closer and Eddie smiles at him reassuringly as he eases Christopher right into Buck’s waiting arms. Maddie takes the opportunity once she sees Buck is comfortable to throw her arms around Eddie next.

“Oof.” Eddie gets his good arm around her, too, pleasantly surprised at the affection. Maddie murmurs right into the crook of his neck.

“Thank you. Thank you for bringing him home.”

Eddie pulls back and looks at her helplessly.

“You don’t have to thank me.”

She smiles at him and reaches for his hand to squeeze it.

“I really, really do.”

_________

It's a few nights later and Eddie is picking up some things they’d left lying around in their living room. A book here, a plush toy of Christopher’s there, a sweater that Eddie is certain belongs to Buck. He smiles at the armful of all their things mixed in together. It's a tangible thing he can hold that shows they’re already a family.

When Christopher is down for the night and the house is quiet, Eddie finds Buck in their kitchen. They had technically given Buck his own house here in Victor’s Village, especially since there were no other victors to claim them. The house was his in name alone, just for formality’s sake so that moving Maddie in wouldn’t cause any issues. He and Buck and a few others that Eddie knew from back at the slaughterhouse had helped them move all of Maddie’s things the day before. Something in Buck was settled instantly knowing his sister was safe and comfortable right across the street.

Buck then brought what little he owned right to Eddie’s place and he hasn’t left since. They share a room. Buck takes the right side of the bed and Eddie the left. Eddie is convinced he wouldn’t be able to sleep unless Buck is there with him. Thankfully, he doesn’t have to test that theory.

Buck is finishing up their dinner dishes when Eddie approaches. He is leaning against the sink, keeping weight off his bad leg and Eddie pouts slightly.

“You cooked. You were supposed to let me clean.”

Buck shrugs easily.

“I just heated up one of the casseroles someone left for us. No big deal.” Buck shuts the water off and dries his hands with a towel he left for himself nearby.

Eddie swallows and really looks at Buck in the dim light of the kitchen. The warm light brings out the slight blond in his hair despite how dark of a shade it is. His birthmark is a light pink this evening and his lips are a perfect match. He’s the most gorgeous person Eddie has ever laid eyes on.

He gently reaches for Buck’s wrist then, fingertips automatically searching for his pulse on instinct. Eddie lets the soothing thrum of Buck’s heart steady him.

Eddie hears Buck’s breath hitch quietly in the space between them. “Eddie…”

Buck gets a hand on Eddie’s hip and gently presses him to the edge of the counter. He gets a hand on Buck’s jaw in response and tenderly swipes a thumb across the curve of Buck’s cheek.

Buck’s pupils are dilated and his lips are parted and Eddie smiles as he presses his lips to Buck’s. Buck whimpers softly right into Eddie’s mouth and Eddie can’t help but whine in response. He pulls back to murmur against Buck’s lips.

“I love you. I’m so in love with you I’m not even sure what to do about it.”

Buck looks down at Eddie then and grins. It’s soft and playful and it’s the most at peace Eddie has seen Buck look since the day his name was called.

“Mm. I can think of a few things we can do about it.” Buck waggles his brows then and squeezes Eddie’s hips teasingly.

Eddie laughs softly.

“Easy, tiger.” He presses a hand to Buck’s chest to get him to settle, resting it right over the place he knows a lichtenberg mark lies under the fabric of Buck’s clothes. A physical reminder that Buck died and then came back to him.

“I’ve got one functional arm and you have one bum leg. Think maybe we should take things slow, huh?”

Eddie is still smiling and it's Buck’s turn to pout.

“I’m fine and I can be careful. Also I love you, too. ”

“Uh-huh. I’m sure.” Eddie shakes his head, completely fond, but watches Buck’s gaze soften on him. Eddie’s breath catches as Buck reaches up to gently cup Eddie’s chin, pressing his thumb to the flat of it.

“Do you trust me?”

Eddie looks up into those big blue eyes. He hears the sound of the ocean, canonfire, sizzling from a pan, the crack of lightning, Buck’s laugh. He’s never trusted anyone more.

“Always,” Buck smiles and rumbles quietly in response.

“That’s good. Would be kind of awkward if you didn’t, wouldn’t it?”

Eddie laughs and gently shoves Buck for good measure.

“Start walking, Buckley.” Buck grins and mock salutes as he heads down the hall ahead of Eddie to their room. Eddie watches him go for just a second and nearly pinches himself before he finally chases after him. Buck is already giggling before Eddie even makes it through the door.

__________

Life doesn’t go back to normal in the weeks that follow Buck and Eddie’s return to District 10, but it does go on. They’ve settled into their given home and been instructed to be ready in a few months to go on a victory tour across the districts before the next Hunger Games is set to happen again next year.

Eddie has tried incredibly hard not to think about what it will be like visiting the homes of all the kids who didn’t make it. It’s already hard enough running into the families of Camila and Rose on the rare occasion that it happens. The few times that it has, Eddie has gotten so sick he’d had to have Buck come pick him up from wherever he was and bring him home.

They’ve fallen into a routine together in the weeks they’ve spent back home and it’s the happiest Eddie has ever been. Eddie still goes over to help back on the Diaz ranch and Buck comes along with him when he can. They spend pretty much all their days and nights together. They read, they work, they dance (badly in Buck’s case), they cook, they raise Christopher, they bicker, they love each other, they do a lot more. It’s everything Eddie could have ever wanted and more.

Some nights the guilt nearly suffocates him and Buck has to soothe him through it so they can make it to morning. Buck is incredibly patient and gentle with Eddie in a way that makes him think he’s capable of being put back together again. On Buck’s bad nights, Eddie takes care of him right back. It works for them and Eddie sometimes forgets the horrors that led them here.

One day, Eddie is coming back from the market. They normally go together, but every once in a while one of them flies solo. Today Buck had opted to stay home with Christopher and Eddie went to the market to get some groceries. He picked up an apple pastry just for Buck and a strawberry one for himself as a treat. Eddie still is getting used to the concept of having enough money to do things like that now. It still feels wrong to spend the money but he finds it easier when it’s for one of his boys.

He gets his key in the door and then uses his hip to get it open the rest of the way.

“Buck! I’m home.”

Eddie hitches the bags further up in his arms to keep them from slipping and heads to their kitchen island. The house is quiet which is abnormal for them. Buck is always talking to Chris or singing or clanking around the kitchen as he cooks. The unusual silence unsettles Eddie. In a way that he hasn’t been in months. He sets the bags down and calls out again.

“Buck?”

There’s no answer.

“Buck?”

Dread sets in and Eddie immediately feels his heart rate kick up as he starts searching through the house for any sign of Buck and Christopher. His breath is beginning to stutter when he suddenly hears Christopher’s muffled giggle coming from nearby. Eddie scrambles back down the hall and catches sight of Buck and Christopher out on the back porch. Bobby is with them and a few other people Eddie doesn’t immediately recognize.

Eddie heads straight for the back door and slides it open. Bobby immediately looks up and smiles at him. He finally takes a full breath.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call.” Bobby is still smiling and Eddie shakes his head as he waits for his heart to quit rabbiting in his chest.

“Yeah, stealth was kind of the point.” Eddie looks over to see the source of the comment and finds a short man with spiky black hair and a glint in his eye standing at Bobby’s side.

Eddie looks to Bobby for answers and makes his way over to Buck who automatically holds Chris out for him.

“Bobby?” Eddie takes Christopher in his arms and holds him against his chest. “What's going on?”

Eddie takes another look at the people standing on his porch. It takes him another moment but eventually he recognizes a few of their faces. They’re victors. Bobby Nash. Hen Wilson. This third man.

“I can see literal smoke coming out of your ears. The name is Chimney Han. District 12.”

Buck barks a laugh and Eddie raises a brow. Buck points at Chimney and chuckles some more. “District 12… Chimney. Smoke. Get it?”

Eddie fails at suppressing a laugh but Hen and Chimney both look unimpressed.

“Ha ha. Very original.” Chimney shakes his head at them both and Christopher chooses that moment to let out a giggle. His kid is the best. He watches in real time as Buck melts at the sound.

“I don’t know if now is a good time. Not sure anytime is a good time for this, but— we’re here to talk about the games.”

Eddie and Buck exchange a look. Eddie feels his throat tighten a bit so Buck steps up and does some of the talking.

“What about them?”

Hen takes a seat on one of their porch chairs and Bobby follows suit. He looks up at the both of them and sighs.

“I doubt you’ve been getting much news since you’ve been back. They’ve been trying to keep it from getting back to the other districts.”

“Keep what from getting back to the districts?”

Hen speaks up then. She looks at Eddie from under the rim of her bright purple glasses.

“Rebellion.”

“Rebellion??” Buck looks baffled and Eddie is right there with him. No one in 10 has heard anything about rebellion since the war ended and the Hunger Games began. That was the entire point of them, to discourage any lofty ideas of an uprising. Shannon used to talk about it in general terms. Ask hypotheticals about what would happen if people started to fight back. Eddie didn’t really entertain it for long because it seemed like nothing more than an impossible dream.

Hen goes on.

“What you did in that arena… it's caused unrest in the districts.

“Unrest?” Eddie frowns.

“Yes. You saving Buck the way you did… it went against everything the games represent. Some people… namely people in the districts are interpreting it as an act of defiance, rebellion.”

Eddie’s eyes widen.

“I just wanted to save him. I wasn’t trying to defy anyone.”

“I know that, kid,” Bobby tries to reassure him, but Eddie doesn’t feel the least bit calmed. His heart and his mind are racing at the implication.

Hen purses his lips sympathetically.

“The problem? The President and the districts? They don’t see it that way.”

Bobby meets Eddie’s eyes and they’re blazing in a way Eddie has never seen. For the first time since he met Bobby Nash, he sees hope.

Buck frowns and Eddie can hear his worry from feet apart. “So what do we do?”

Chimney pipes up then. “What would you say if I told you we could stop the Hunger Games once and for all?”

Before Eddie even gets the chance to speak, Buck is at his side, cupping a gentle hand around the back of Christopher’s head. It’s affectionate, protective. He’s got Eddie’s entire world right here in his hand.

Buck meets Eddie’s eyes and they know what the other is thinking without uttering a single word.

“We’d say we’re in.”