Dangerous Allies // Cato Hadley

Part 22: Aftermath

Smut warning 🚨

Eve cringed as she blinked up at the fluorescent hospital lights.

Finnick scrambled from his chair to squat down beside her bed. "Hey kid."

Her throat felt like sandpaper and a throbbing pain echoed through her skull. "Hey."

His hand squeezed hers as a small smile lined his mouth. "You did it."

Everyone was dead.

Well, almost everyone.

"Get the hell out of my way!" Cato barked at the guards on the other side of the door.

"Let me in or I'll snap your fucking neck!"

Finnick was on his feet, walking to the door just in time for Cato to burst through it.

The guards tumbled in after him. "I'm sorry. We couldn't keep him out."

Cato's blazing eyes met Eve's for only a moment before he was staring daggers at Finnick. "Move."

He didn't. "She just woke up. Give her some time."

She didn't need time.

Her voice came out in a scratchy whisper. "Cato."

His eyes were glued to hers as he brushed past Finnick.

He didn't hesitate to crawl into her hospital bed and take her shaking shoulders into his arms.

She could feel his calloused fingers running across her back through the scratchy hospital grown she was forced to wear. "You're safe now. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you."

He didn't understand.

"What am I gonna do?" She didn't care about herself. "They're all dead."

"You did what you had to." His words vibrated against her ear.

All she could see were Finch's lifeless eyes staring back at her. Her porcelain skin turned into that of a snarling monster.

They turned her into a monster.

As she laid in the volunteer's arms, she felt like a traitor. A traitor to everyone who died at the hands of the capital. A traitor to her parents.

His arms suddenly felt like a snake, slowly squeezing the life out of her.

"Let me go." She gasped the words out as she struggled in his grip.

"Hey, you're okay." There was a panic in his voice far more hidden than hers. "Calm down."

She thrashed in his hold. "Get the hell off me!"

Cato flinched back as if her words cut him to the bone. Finnick was there to drive the knife deeper, heaving him off the bed.

"I think you should leave." Finnick's rough voice didn't give room for argument.

Cato pointed a finger at the man. "Don't let her out of your sight."

Finnick's jaw was clenched tight. "Get. Out."

"You think I'm playing?" Cato's eyes were slits as he looked down at Eve's mentor. "If anything happens to her I'll kill you."

And then he was gone.

Eve wasn't sure where he was going and she didn't much care.

"Fira's waiting for you when you're ready." Finnick's voice was soft, as if he was nervous he'd spook her. "But if you need to rest first, she'll understand."

Eve stared down at her freshly cleaned hands. "I've been asleep long enough."

"She'll be happy to see you."