Chair legs protested loudly against the wood floor, drawing Hazel's attention to her doorframe. Leo's silhouette shifted backward with a less-than-graceful movement. His head lolled forward and then backward like a helpless buoy trying to stay afloat. Or, in this case, trying to stay awake.

Hazel called out to him, "Leo?"

Her voice seemed to break him out of his dance with consciousness. Despite the darkness, she could tell he straightened, "You all right, Marlowe?"

"You should be more worried about yourself. How are you going to make it through the night?" He had spent most of the day with her with little rest, even after Sable had returned from his shower.

The chair squeaked against the floor once again as he pushed his spine hard against it. "I've gone longer without sleep before."

Hazel shook her head, "Come in here. At least sit in a better chair." Gesturing to the plus cerulean recliner next to her bed. It was overwide with more cushioning than it needed, but it was head and shoulders better than the hard, utilitarian chair he was currently perched on.

"I'm on duty. Supposed to be keeping watch."

"Keep watch in here."

Even in the dark, she could tell he was pursing his lips and even caught a shake of his head.

"You're going to fall out of that chair and get a head injury. Then where will we be? Who do you think Sable will blame for it?"

Leo huffed out a sigh through his nose and ran a hand over his face.

"Do me a favor. Do us both a favor." She pressed, leaning out of the bed, patting the arm of the recliner.

He remained still, seemingly arguing silently with himself. Hazel decided to push a little more, "Or, by all means, stay where you are." She scanned the patio doors, "You think I could jimmy open that padlock with a pair of gold earrings?"

Leo muttered under his breath and rose from the chair. "Ok, Marlowe." She bit down on the smile forming at her success, not that he could see it.

He strode across the room and eased into the recliner. Once he was closer, the dark circles under his eyes became more prominent. Several stray, dark amber hairs stuck out of their designated place. Even his hair wanted the day to be over. Detaching the gun from the holster, he set it on the recliner's arm. Finally, he propped his boots up on the footrest. His shoulders sagged, and his exhalation felt like pressure being released from a boiling kettle. "This is much more comfortable."

"Told you." She smirked, sliding further under her covers as he sunk deeper into the overstuffed chair.

Just then, a desperate growling noise reverberated through the room. Hazel turned on her side to watch as he stiffened and placed a fist over his stomach as if it could keep the sound at bay.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"No." He replied, still not looking at her. However, his stomach had no issue with letting loose another round of arguments to the contrary.

"Liar." Hazel eyed him. "You and Sable didn't eat anything for dinner."

"I'm fine."

Hazel pulled the covers from her legs and slid her feet to the floor.

Leo straightened, the furrow returning, "What are you doing?"

"I can't let my protection starve."

Leo held up a hand, "I really am all right, Marlowe."

"Well, then I won't be able to sleep with your stomach growling all night." Hazel slipped out of the door before he could protest any further. She waited for a moment, but he didn't follow her.

She inched her way into the dark kitchen and then to the fridge. Scooping leftovers onto a plate, she did her best to do so quietly. Just as she was wrapping the last dish and placing it back in the fridge, a voice behind her sent white-hot jolts of adrenaline through her.

"Late-night snack?"

Hazel slammed the door shut as her heart rate doubled in a matter of milliseconds. Caleb's eyes flashed at her in the reflection of the fridge's door. His dark irises bore into hers. Cold fury shone from his face while a deep purple and black necklace of discoloration encircled his throat.

His voice was cracked and hoarse. "Hey, Red."

She whirled around with a sharp inhale. But instead of Caleb, Fern was standing in her night robe, palms up; her light blue eyes were wide with guilt and concern, "It's ok, darling, it is just me."

Hazel gripped the material over her heart, trying to steady her breathing. Turning back to the fridge, Caleb, his furious eyes and bruised neck were gone.

"Sorry, Mom," she exhaled.

Fern frowned, shaking her head. Her mother approached her slower, "I shouldn't have snuck up on you."

Hazel sucked in a deep breath, balling her fists so her mother couldn't see her shaking hands.

"Still hungry?" Fern inquired, nodding toward the plate on the counter, heaped with various leftovers.

"Yeah."

Fern smiled, but her eyes showed an understanding that Hazel realized it meant she wasn't completely buying it.

"Darling, I do want to ask you something. About the Senator."

Hazel's heartbeat pounded in her throat, "Yeah?"

"You've hardly said two words about him since you returned home. But we saw all that happened on television and then tonight at dinner..." Fern scooted closer, resting her hands on Hazel's shoulders, "I'm not trying to pry. But I would hope you know you can talk to me."

"I know, Mom," Hazel exhaled, "It probably seems odd, but it just... happened."

Fern watched her daughter's face carefully while she waited for her to continue.

"I don't fully know ... After Silus, the time to talk about it never felt right. And I wasn't sure what to say anyway." Fresh guilt flooded through her at the partial lie. "I think it is too soon to tell where it's going or if anything will come of it, Mom."

Fern's hand moved to brush a stray hair from Hazel's cheek, her expression softening. "You might not know," she said quietly, "but I think he does." Her voice lowered as Hazel finally met her mother's steady gaze. "As your mother, I just want to see you happy, Hazel. Safe and happy. And I hope that's what you want for yourself, too."

"It is," Hazel murmured. She wanted nothing more, though it seemed more and more like a choice between one or the other.

Fern dropped her hands, "I hope so, sweetheart." She placed a soft kiss on Hazel's temple and then turned to leave the kitchen. "Remember, my ears are always open."

Hazel sighed. To be able to tell her mother what fully was going on sounded like a dream. But that is what it was, and it wasn't her reality. "Of course, mom."

Hazel picked up the plate just as her mother called over her shoulder as she ascended the stairs, "Make sure to take pepper; Leo puts it on everything."

Hazel said nothing as Fern disappeared into the darkness of the second floor. A laugh as quiet as Fern's footsteps fell from Hazel's lips. Her mother may have been all sweetness and light, but she was also as sharp as a fresh axe blade. Hazel swiped the pepper shaker and willed her hands to still as she re-entered her room.

Leo's grey eyes appeared darker as he watched her approach with the heaping plate. Hunger clearly was written over his features. "You really didn't have to do that."

"It's leftovers, Drayton. It'll hardly put a dent in my tab," Hazel replied as he took the plate, fork, and pepper from her with a muted smile.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"What tab?" he asked.

The moonlight bathed the shiny, abnormal skin along Leo's head as he began to devour the food. A thick stripe scaled from just behind his jaw, diagonally across the side of his head, disappearing beneath his hair. It was like a rough mountain trail winding harshly against his skin. Hazel slid back into bed, pulling the blankets up to her collarbones.

She scanned his scar before meeting his eyes once again, "You know."

Leo's voice was soft but firm, between bites, "I've told you before. You didn't do this to me."

"Maybe not directly," she said, her voice fading. She propped her head up on her arm as she watched him.

"Don't do that." He insisted.

He chewed quietly, though a sound of appreciation fell from his lips here or there. Hazel asked suddenly, "Why did you take this assignment?"

"There isn't much need for a one-eared peacekeeper..." He slowed his chewing but kept his eyes on his plate, "You heard the Senator in the train station. I was offered the job after ... everything with Percy."

"Because you placed our safety ahead of your own."

"It's a bad habit, I'm afraid. Not the best trait for a peacekeeper."

Hazel tilted her head, "But a valuable one in a bodyguard."

He generously peppered his potatoes, "Yes. That is what the Senator said as well."

"It's not a bad habit, you know." Hazel replied, "It's a rare quality."

"Hmm," Leo hummed through the partially chewed potatoes, "Haven't you heard that kindness is weakness?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. She had heard nearly the exact phrase from a particularly smug Senator. "I disagree."

"What do you think then?"

"Kindness...mercy..." Hazel stared down at her pillow, "especially for those who should be your enemy... Nothing weak about it."

"Are you calling me strong?" Leo's lips twitched as he chewed.

Hazel let out a nearly soundless laugh as the moon's light reflected off his skin. "I guess I am."

Leo's chewing slowed even further, and the smile on his lips died, his gaze returning to his plate.

Hazel tightened her grip on her blankets, "Sorry, I didn't..."

He smiled softly as he waved her off, "Don't get many compliments as a peacekeeper."

"I can imagine..." Hazel shook off the awkwardness she had singlehandedly injected into their conversation. "So...how did Bellona end up here with you?"

"Senator Snow offered the position to Bello as well. Though I have a feeling she would have asked for it if he hadn't. She's pretty overprotective for being the youngest." He cleared his throat, "And then Sable volunteered to come along, for whatever reason."

"He's just looking out for you two," Hazel murmured.

"It was probably more because the pay is good." Leo smirked at his cabbage, peeking at her through the corner of his eye, "Is it just me, or are you warming up to the old man?"

Hazel let out an exasperated sound, "I'm not sure that is possible."

"Difficult, yes. Impossible, no. Forcing him to jog with you hasn't helped."

Hazel's tone grew conspiratorial, "He's funnier when he is angry."

"Bello thinks the same thing." Leo chuckled as he put a mouthful of cabbage on his fork.

"You two have known him a long time?"

"Since we were kids, especially after my father..." Leo's voice softened and then faded.

Hazel's smile faltered, "Sable told me."

He stared into the darkness of the room like it was a mesmerizing abyss for a moment, his jaw twitching.

"I'm so sorry."

Leo shrugged, though his eyes spoke of deep sadness, "I have a few memories of him, but not many. They've gotten foggy as I've gotten older. I know what I've been told about him. He was a dedicated man and a good soldier."

"Sounds familiar," Hazel replied.

Leo turned to look at her in the darkness, searching her face for a second before continuing the inspection of dinner's remnants.

"And your mother?"

Leo looked up at the ceiling, resting his head back against the chair, "She didn't handle my dad's death well. A few years later, she couldn't take care of herself anymore, let alone three kids." He set his fork down, wiping at his lips with the sleeve of his uniform, "She's in a private institution for the mentally ill in the Capitol."

Hazel's heart clenched, and a fresh wave of understanding soaked through her.

"Bellona and I pay for her room and board out of our salaries."

"Do you get to visit her?"

"We try at least once a year, but sometimes our visits..." He seemed lost for a moment in his mind, "Sometimes it just makes her worse. And it isn't exactly easy to see her like that."

"Leo, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked." The memories were clearly painful, and she suddenly felt like she was pressing into someone else's unhealed wound.

Leo set the plate down on the bedside table, "It is what it is. Percy ended up raising Bellona and me after that. And, of course, Sable helped, too."

Hazel frowned. She couldn't imagine Percy as a nurturing figure at all. Something about it made his betrayal even worse somehow.

"How could he do that to you?" Hazel's eyes raked along the side of his face.

"Families aren't always who you want them to be. Or need them to be." Leo's voice grew soft as he returned his eyes to the empty plate.

"The senator said something similar."

"He isn't wrong." Leo turned back to her, "I know your father sold you and Silus out."

Hazel spun toward him. "Yeah, drinking money is hard to come by around here."

Leo shook his head, and pity filled his grey irises.

Hazel sighed, sitting up and leaning back against her headboard. Her hands were wrapped tightly in her blankets as they rested on her stomach. "All of Panem has probably figured that out by now. He wasn't exactly subtle in his hatred toward Oren. I should've realized sooner what he was doing."

"Parents should protect their children." Leo's voice hardened as his eyes met hers. "You shouldn't have even had to consider the possibility.

"And siblings should protect each other." Hazel felt her eyes mist up, "But it's not the world we live in."

Leo sucked in a deep breath, his chest expanding outward before he released it. The edges of his growing hair twirled with the movement as he murmured. "No...but it should be,"

Tinkling sounds spread through the room in waves as the howling wind sent more snow and ice pellets hammering against the windows. Even the weather appeared to be trying to intrude on the conversation.

"We should really hate each other, you know," Leo commented, settling further into the chair. The way his hair fell over his forehead made him look younger, less like a soldier and more like a boy sharing secrets at a sleepover.

"District rebels killed my father, and the Hunger Games took your brother. We are on opposite sides." His gray eyes locked onto hers for a moment as she considered his words. Hazel couldn't deny it. There was little love lost between most peacekeepers and those in the districts. Even more so those who had lost loved ones in the war. Leo turned his attention to the raging storm outside, "And I doubt there have been many friendships between Victors and Peacekeepers."

"At least none that have ended well." Hazel's voice trailed off.

"You think they were just friends?" Leo asked in a nonchalant tone, though his gaze settled on the vases on her desk.

She tried to picture Lucy Gray in her rainbow dress or Snow in a peacekeeper uniform. "I'm not sure. I think their relationship was... complicated."

Leo's grey eyes finally shifted up to meet hers. "Like yours?"

She felt like she had just swallowed a brick. There was only one answer she could give. "Yes."

Leo's gaze washed over the features of her face until he turned his attention back to his own hands, "Let's just hope it doesn't end the same way."

"Don't plan on disappearing anytime soon. Unless Sable baits me, of course." Hazel squirmed, hoping to push the conversation away from Snow. "I could never hate you, Leo."

Leo's eyes met hers in the dark again, and an unreadable look flashed over his face. He opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it and turned away.

"You saved my life," She clarified.

"I think you are giving me too much credit, Marlowe."

Hazel studied his jagged scar again, "No, I am not."

There was a long pause, and the silence between them was only broken by the insistent ice and wind. Leo seemed to give up on half-heartedly arguing with her and folded his arms over his chest, letting the conversation fade. Hazel shifted herself under her blankets, laying flat on her back and staring up at her ceiling. Seconds turned to minutes, but sleep still alluded her. At the same time, she almost wished to allude it as well. The nightmares would inevitably follow. She feared that tonight, Caleb would be waiting behind her eyelids.

"Can't sleep?" Leo murmured.

"How could you tell?" Hazel turned to him. He was watching her closely, his face unreadable.

Leo nodded toward the bottle on the table, "Why don't you take one of those?"

Hazel scrunched her nose and promised herself to throw away everything on her desk in the morning. "Last time I did that..." She eyed him a moment, and he seemed to realize the night she was referring to.

Leo's finger slid along the side of his head for a moment before he cleared his throat, "Maybe... if I held your hand, it would help you sleep."

Hazel's furrowed brow matched his, "What?"

He let out a long breath, "It seems to help you during the day."

"Yeah, when I'm conscious."

He studied her as he continued, "Well, maybe it works on your subconscious, too?"

"Think so?"

He shrugged, "Only one way to find out."

Hazel hesitated, considering him. She had to remind herself he wasn't Snow, and this wasn't a game.

"And I can wake you up if I notice you are having a nightmare." Leo's face broke into a small smile, "Besides, it'll give me a heads-up if you decide to pick that padlock."

Hazel slid herself to the edge of her bed. His surprise at her willingness was evident, but he didn't comment. Sliding the chair closer to the bed, he adjusted his position. "All right," she said, letting out a sigh. "What the hell."

Hazel reached out her injured hand, but he frowned, his voice dropping, "New bandage?"

Hazel spun the limb, inspecting the slightly impressive bandaging. "Yeah, the other one got ... ruined."

"I noticed," he murmured. Hazel wanted to pull the blankets over her head at the thought of Leo watching her and Snow hold hands in the sink water. "Did you dress it yourself?"

Hazel shook her head, "Courtesy of the Senator."

Leo nodded carefully, "I didn't realize he had the training."

Hazel half-heartedly shrugged, "Neither did I, but he is like you." Leo's eyes snapped to hers, and she stammered another clarification, "I mean, he was a peacekeeper."

Leo nodded as he tapped her knuckles, dismissing the hand, "Probably should be the other one, you know. I don't want to make it worse."

Hazel retracted the limb, "Right, you're right." She extended her unblemished hand, which Leo took easily. His hand cupped hers in an overly careful way as if she was made of glass. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes as he leaned back in the chair. It was such a different sensation to Snow.

If Snow's touch was like an invigorating, ethereal, glittering winter storm, then Leo's was like that of a comforting sun-soaked summer breeze.

Hazel attempted to distract herself from considering it any further. "One day, maybe I'll be able to pay off my tab."

Leo murmured, "Go to sleep, Marlowe."

"I at least owe you an ear."

Leo let out a soft laugh, "Sleep."

Hazel's lids grew heavy as she listened to Leo's muffled breathing harmonize with the beat of the wind and the subtle tap of his thumb against hers. After several minutes, she finally found herself drifting off into an ignorant, dreamless oblivion.

Hours passed until the morning light peeked through her windows. It wasn't the light that stirred her; instead, it was the sound of footsteps and a soft intake of breath. As Hazel opened her eyes, alertness washed over her like a bucket of ice being emptied over her head. Bellona was standing in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the two of them and, more specifically, their connected hands.