Part 4: Eva

Phil's PoV

(AN: I own Eva, btw. don't own Dan, Phil, or the Hunger Games. Hope you're enjoying! Please tell me if you like it!)

When Dan finally wakes up, it's late afternoon. I don't remember drifting off, but I must've, because I wake up slowly when I feel his head move on my lap. My head is pounding as I wake, and I feel a little sick to my stomach, like I did before. But I put that out of my mind. Dan almost died earlier: he's my priority now.

His eyes flutter open slowly. He barely moves, staring at nothing (or maybe simply the sky). Suddenly, he shudders; I stroke his hair gently, and finally, his gaze focuses on me.

"Hey, you," I whisper, giving a small smile.

Without answering, he bites his lip and tries to sit up, but all of a sudden his face twitches--his shoulder gives a bad twinge, I guess--and he cries out, "Dammit." I move my hands, rubbing his back soothingly, and slowly, I ease him back into me. He slumps against my chest, groaning softly.

"You gotta take it easy," I whisper in his ear. "You lost a ton of blood, Dan. You-you scared me..." I stroke his nose lovingly, and he smiles slightly.

"Sorry." he mumbles.

"Don't be. You're fine now, and that's all that matters." I press a tender kiss to his forehead, and, as gentle as I can, I lay down next to him. "It's all good. Just...try and get some more sleep. We'll need all our strength soon."

He's quiet, and I'm thankful. I'm just thinking he's fallen back asleep when he asks drowsily, "Y'okay?"

I know I'm trembling--I was hoping he wouldn't notice, but I guess he did too--but I answer with my voice perfectly steady. "Of course...don't worry about me. Just close your eyes..."

I lay there, my arms, around him, until he finally falls asleep. I stroke his hair, and finally, I bend and kiss his nose before getting up. He shifts a little, but he stays asleep.

I sigh and crawl over to our bag to assess what's left of our supplies. There's not much, I know, but I sit down and start to unpack it all the same. It's tedious work, but there's a sort of mindless pattern that I'm thankful for. I try and keep my hands from shaking too much.

What's wrong with me? Why do I feel so badly?

I turn and check on Dan every few minutes, my nerves getting the best of me. He's peacefully sleeping, and I give a tired smile: to be honest, he does look adorable... I go back to my job at hand.

I don't know how much time has gone by, but it must've been at least an hour. I'm doing things patiently, counting them off in my head--one and a half packs of crackers (I'll give the half pack to Dan when he wakes up), three pieces of beef jerky, an apple, and one can of soup... Huh. I didn't know they gave out soup.

A heat wave wracks through me, makes my stomach clench painfully, and I press a hand to my forehead to try and stop it. My skin's warm. ...do I have a fever?

Suddenly two arms wrap around my waist, and I jump.

"Wha--Dan?"

"Hey." he whispers in a husky voice. I turn my head over my shoulder to look at him, and grin. What the hell--I'll feel better later, I'm positive. So I tell myself to enjoy Dan and forget about feeling sick. Besides, I'm sure it's nothing.

"Hey," I say back. "How are you feeling?"

He shrugs, and then grimaces, rubbing his bad shoulder. "Okay. You?"

I just keep smiling. "As good as ever. I was just thinking that it'd be smart to make a plan for the rest of the day. That sound good?"

He nods, and suddenly I'm pulled to his chest, his arms around me protectively. I want to protest, but instead I just curl up. "I should be taking care of you," I do say, and I mean it. He chuckles warmly.

"You saved my life. I think that's enough." he slips his hand under my shirt and starts to rub the tight muscles in my shoulders. I gasp--we've never touched skin on skin like that before--and he starts to pull away. "That too much?" he says, and I smile because he sounds nervous. It's precious.

I shake my head quickly. "No, no--it's good."

But instead he takes my hand and gently, he kisses my knuckles. It's good and chaste, but I miss our...contact. Finally he asks, "Hey. You tired?"

I tense up. "I'm fine, Dan."

"Uh...okay. Whatever you say, chipmunk." he says, but I hear the doubt in his voice. He lets it drop, though.

"What were the things following us?" I blurt.

He sighs. "I'm not sure if you'd believe me, Phil--and I don't want to talk about it."

"Why?" I sit up and face him, frowning. "They were after me as much as you! I have a right to know!"

"Okay, okay. Calm down." he says, and with a deep breath, I lean back into him. "They...were mutts, I guess. But they weren't like any mutts from any past Games that I remember.."

"So?"

"Uh..."

"What were the things following us?!" I huff.

"Oh. I told you: mutts." he says shortly. "Can we talk about something else...?"

"Yes." I say, my face softening. "Of course. I-I just want to understand, Dan." I take his hand. "I was so scared I was about to piss myself, remember?" he nods seriously. "I just wanna know what I was afraid of... what sort of mutts, I mean."

"Like robots."

I pause and think about that. Robots. Interesting.

"...not just any robots." he adds. "They were like.... I dunno, humanoid kind of. It was...it was scary, Phil. I'm glad we're okay."

"So am I." I turn and press a quick kiss to his cheek, before leaning back. I'm tired, and he's rubbing my back again... I give a happy, sleepy sigh.

"Okay so on that lovely subject, I think we should keep moving away from The House and all the godless monsters inside of it. I'll be damned if I ever even have to see that place again." he says, interrupting my thoughts.

I nod. "Agreed. But you're still recuperating." I think back to what looked like teeth marks on his shoulder, and all that blood... "You have to take it easy, love. Maybe we should stay here for a bit longer until you get your strength back..."

He makes a face and shakes his head quickly. "Nah. I'm fine. I'd much rather keep moving than staying here, even if we have to go slowly. If only to put myself at ease."

"All right." I relent. "But we will go a bit slower." Suddenly a thought creeps into my mind, and my blood runs cold... I sit up and face him, and my face must look terrified now. "Dan...?"

"Mm?" he frowns. "What is it?"

"...how do we know that those...those things won't come out after us, even though we escaped The House?"

"They won't."

I jump, and Dan reaches for me protectively. Dammit, I'm shaking again. The voice that spoke is unfamiliar and female.

Dan reaches for his knife now, his face cold; I catch a slight twitch under his eye as he stretches his shoulder painfully. His knee bumps against mine. Hesitantly, I unhook my knife from my belt as well.

"Show yourself, bitch!" Dan snarls suddenly, and his voice trembles ever so slightly (I doubt the other tribute will notice). I pinch him to be polite. Hey, it's just how I am. I doubt he cares, though.

The foliage parts, and I tense. A girl walks out, tall and skinny and a bit younger than us. She has scraggly brown hair...and I wince when I see the bloody cloth (not even a proper bandage) where her left eye should be.

"Please," she says, and maybe I expect her voice to be plaintive and innocent--but instead it's only flat and vaguely emotionless. "Can you help me? I have an ally but I don't know where she went. My-my eye..."

I bite my lip. Truth is, my instinct is to help her.

Naturally, Dan doesn't have the same thought.

"...Phil, I'm gonna kill her. Look away."

"No!" the girl gasps, her good eye widening--dark brown like Dan's, I notice with a pang. And then I think, what if Dan died in front of me...? No. She's not Dan. I can't afford to think like that... Anyway, she looks at me. "Please. Please, I just want your help. It hurts so badly..."

I chew my lip, and look at Dan. He's standing now--he's taller than me so he pretty much towers over her too--and he raises an eyebrow coolly, his knife risen threateningly. Finally with a sigh, I stand.

"What's your name?" I ask quietly, and I move Dan's wrist so he's not holding the knife up.

He looks at me in shock and protest. "Phil, what--!"

I hold up a finger to stop him, and then look at her patiently so she can continue. She swallows nervously.

"My name's Eva. District 7." Then she adds, "Please. You...you'll help, District 2... Phil, right?"

I raise my eyebrows. "Correct. What makes you think I'll help you, though? I might side with my ally--who I trust much more than you, by the way--and decide to kill you right now. After all, we could."

Eva frowns, and then gives a small ironic smile. "Your bodyguard here, might..."

"He's not my bodyguard."

"...but you have a heart. You won't." I raise my eyebrows higher, and she continues. "You allied with this underdog, District 5, instead of the usual career pack. You're too kind and friendly to be a killer. And that's a good thing."

"She's right," I muse to Dan, who narrows his eyes.

"Let me kill her, then." he snaps. "I don't trust her."

"All I want is to be allies," she whispers, and now she does sound like a child. "And if you can't spare that, I just need some help with my eye."

I make a quick decision and reach for my bag. She flinches and backs away as I open it...and take out the roll of gauze and our water bottle.

"I'll help." I say, and walk towards her. "You're going to need to sit down, though, okay, Eva? And I'll try my best, but I can't promise how well it'll work."

She nods humbly. "I understand. Thanks so much."

I kneel down in front of her, as Dan stands impatiently to the side.

"Phil? Phil! This is how you're gonna kill yourself. Are you listening? This here--stupidity. I do my best, but you--you--"

I turn my head and smile sweetly. "Dan, we're low on food. Can you please go and set up a few traps, and then come back? Thanks."

He glares at me and stomps off. I sigh and turn back to Eva.

She smiles brightly at me, and I give a small one back. "You really told him off!"

"Mm." I murmur, focusing on pouring some water onto a piece of gauze. "Dan..." I simply sigh and shake my head at the dramatics of my love, and Eva giggles. "All right. I'm going to take the cloth out now. It'll feel weird and it might hurt. Tell me if you want me to go slower, okay?" she nods. "All right. Now, you ready? Do you trust me?"

"Yes." she says immediately, and my heart warms. "But not the other one..."

I laugh, and lean forward. "Dan isn't that bad," I murmur, as I slowly start to unravel the cloth from her eye socket; she gasps but to my surprise, she doesn't try and pull away. "Hold this to your eye. It's antiseptic--it'll sting a bit."

She does, gritting her teeth. I smile and pat her free hand, before I continue ripping--with my knife, no less--a fresh piece of gauze. "You're being really brave." I muse.

She pauses. "I am?"

I grin, though only slightly. "Of course! You got your eye ripped out...from The House, right?" she frowns and nods. "And you're not even freaking out. I have to say, when Dan and I were trapped in that place..." I bite my lip, then shake my head. "Well, let's just say I wasn't as nearly as calm as you."

I lean forward again and press the gauze to her eye. She winces, but besides that, she doesn't have any other reaction.

"Before I was Reaped," she says in a small voice, and I look at her. "I...I wanted to be a doctor. In District 7, it's pretty sexist." I nod. "But I studied, and I thought I was pretty good. I patched myself up before too."

I smile at her very gently. "I'm sure you're brilliant at it too." I pause. "If you don't mind me asking, Eva...how old are you?"

Her cheeks tinge pink. "Fourteen."

"You've made it very far."

She nods. "Phil...I don't know where my other ally is. She might be dead. I...I'd like to become allies with you and District 5, if he doesn't mind. Or you, of course." and then she adds quickly, "I don't know why he doesn't like me--you can trust me, I promise. And I might not be very strong, but I'm smart. Not that you two aren't smart! Uh, I mean I can patch you up if you get hurt. Or-or sick." she blushes beet red. "Sorry. I've made a mess of things..."

I smile. "Well, I--"

"No."

She flinches, and I turn around to face a sour looking Dan. He has a dead rabbit slung over one shoulder, and his hands have tiny cuts on them. Notice the little things Phil, I jibe silently at myself with a sigh.

He comes and stands next to where I'm sitting, across from Eva. He looks at her in utmost disdain.

"I don't know why Phil just had to help you stop your freaking eye from falling out." he starts.

"Dan--" I try, and place a hand on his arm. I suddenly feel very tired, and I don't want them to fight. Dan would win in a physical fight--he's two years older than her--but I don't want him to hurt her. He shrugs me off.

"It's because Phil's kind." she's says bravely, looking him in the eye. "Phil can look at people and still see humans, not victims or killers! I don't think you can anymore, Five--if you could even in the first place!"

"Eva--" I try, but they don't hear me.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he spits, unsheathing his knife. She pales, but stands up and continues.

"You have that aura around you." she scoffs. "You were born a killer, Five--and you don't even care."

Something snaps in Dan and with an inhuman snarl, he lunges at her with his knife. She squeals and stumbles backwards.

I jump between them, grabbing Dan and holding him back. "Dan--stop!" I manage, holding him back. He slashes at air in a fury, and he's strong--I almost can't hold him. Desperately, I turn him around to face me, and he almost cuts me.

"Hey--hey." I take his face in my hands, rubbing his cheeks. "Calm down. It's all right."

His breathing slows at last, and his eyes lose their wild look. He slumps slightly. "Send her away." he manages, before walking slowly away, back to our bags.

I turn back to Eva, only to find her staring at me. "You-you saved me." she whispers, before hugging me tightly. I pat her back. Then she pulls away. "Are you two...y'know, together?"

I can feel my pale cheeks heat up, but I brush it away. "I'm sorry things didn't work out." I say instead, and she raises her eyebrows but doesn't press it any further. "Good luck, Eva. I hope we won't kill you next time."

She nods. "Thanks for everything, Phil." she looks behind me to where Dan is, and grimaces. "And tell your boyfriend to stop being such an ass, yeah?"

"We'll see. And he's...well, he's not my boyfriend..." I finish lamely.

"Yeah right." she mutters before giving me one last smile. "See you. Good luck."

Then she turns and disappears back into the foliage. I sigh and, silently wishing her (and us) luck, I head back to Dan.

x-X-x

Dan doesn't speak for the rest of the night. We split the last two crackers of the open package, and then silently, we listen to the anthem. No new people have died. There's nine of us left.

Finally I slip into the sleeping bag, and hold it open for him. He doesn't come right away--putting out the campfire, packing up our supplies--and I appreciate it (of course I do, one less thing to do in the morning), but I'm tired and I want him to come to sleep.

"How's your shoulder?" I murmur finally, my head propped up in my hand as I watch him.

"Fine."

"Dan, what's going on? Why are you so..." I wave my hand to get the point across, but he's facing the other way so I doubt he gets the full effect.

"What?" he says, and there's an edge to his voice. "What am I being?"

"Nothing," I say, gentler. "I'm sorry. I'm just waiting for you to come to bed, that's all."

He sighs and, the last of the fire finally blown out, he crawls over to where I'm laying. I smile--though I doubt he can see me--and open up the blanket once again. He edges his way inside, grunting when he lays on his shoulder wrong.

I settle and wrap an arm around his waist, my cheek pressed against his chest. Absentmindedly, he starts to run his fingers through my hair...

"Dan?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you freak out so much?" I say, and when he sighs angrily--through his nose, you know--I quickly amend, "Not judging you. Just asking."

"I don't know. Just did, I guess. She was being a bitch."

"Don't talk about girls that way," I say, frowning. "It's rude."

"Sure, chipmunk..." he sighs. "I just...I don't know. I'm sorry. I was being a creep."

I smile. "It's all right. She's alive, at least." I pause, pondering my words. "She's smart too, you know. She said she wanted to be a doctor, back in Seven."

"Phil, in all seriousness, you do know she's gonna have to die, right? For you to win."

My smile gets bigger, albeit sad. "Oh, I know. But I'm not gonna win--you are, love."

He frowns. "Nope. Sorry, chipmunk, you're not gonna win this time. Er, you are...but that's the point. And if it comes down to it, I'll kill myself before you get hurt."

"Then there'll be no victor this Games. I'm not leaving you." he squeezes my hand in response. We're quiet for a moment. I remember something: I want to ask him if anyone he knew really died, or why exactly he freaked out when Eva said he was a killer... But I'm not sure how to phrase it right, so I forget about it.

"Get some sleep."

"Okay." I twist and kiss his lips gently, chaste. He buries his fingers in my hair, pulling me closer, and when we break apart, I wish we hadn't. "Careful...with your shoulder."

"Oh, I'll be careful." he whispers in a husky voice, and I can't help it--I giggle.

"Shut up! Go to sleep."

"Mm... Either way."

I snuggle into his chest and, feeling a bit hot, I try and fall asleep.

**TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 5. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YA THINK!! OH, AND I FEEL LIKE I END IT ON THEM FALLING ASLEEP A LOT...SORRY. THAT'S NOT ON PURPOSE LOL. ANYWHO, KEEP READING!!**