[A/N] Finally, my betasent this back! I sent her an email that was ENTIRELY IN CAPS, ASKING AS POLITELY AS I COULD FOR HER TO HURRY UP. And it worked - she sent it back to me in a couple of hours. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much to everyone for the reviews and subscriptions. Anyone is welcome to drop a PM in my inbox if you want me to review/read your fanfics, or ask a question, etc. I may not reply straight away, but I will reply!

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

(P.S. How did everyone like the movie? It changed my life. I bawled my eyes out at *spolier alert* Rue's death. Congrats to the cast of the movie! Good job guys 3 Looking forward to Ctaching Fire!)

(P.P.S. Sorry I keep changing how I present the title of the chapter and stuff - I just do whatever I feel like at the moment I edit this.)

Chapter 22

Partnership

There she is, on the ground, dead to the world.

I shuffle forward and use a stick to prod her. She stirs. Okay. Good. She's not actually dead.
It's been two days, and no deaths since the tracker jacker attack. It's been eerily quiet, and I don't like it. Right now it's night time, and I've found Katniss lying in a shallow hole.
I sit back, my fingers wrapped around my slingshot in case someone attacks us. Maybe when she realizes that I protected her, she'll be more likely to accept me as an ally. I have it all planned out in my head. When she wakes up, I won't be sitting right here, in case she flips out. I'll be behind a tree or something, and when she wakes up properly and gets her bearings, then I'll approach her.
I'm so tired, but I have to be awake when she becomes conscious. If I was here, asleep next to her, when she woke, imagine what she could do to me. I'd be dead in a split second.
I take a steadying breath. Maybe if I just hide in that over there for a while, I might be able to catch a few minutes' sleep.
I haul myself to my feet and creep over to the aforementioned tree, and climb up it, out of sight of Katniss. I get comfortable, crossing my arms, and close my eyes.
When they open again, it's afternoon. My heart skips a beat in shock and worry, and I do a quick survey of my surroundings to make sure I'm alone before I drop down from the tree, dodging around its trunk to see if Katniss is there.
She's not.
I bite back a curse word and climb up the tree again, and jump from branch to branch, scanning the ground for signs of her.
It must be over an hour before I hear splashes from not too far away. I creep over to the sound and oh good, it's Katniss. She's wading in a stream, cleaning herself and her new weapons that she must have gotten from the One girl. I stand back, jealous. Why didn't I think of that? Round of applause to you, Rue. Round of applause.
The sun is so hot and seeing Katniss washing all the dirt and grime off her, out of her hair, makes it seem even hotter.

After a while, she dresses in her damp clothes, brushing her hair through a couple of time with her fingers, and braiding it back again. She spreads a cream on her burns. My heart pangs with hurt when this brings to attention the fact that Adriana has sent me nothing yet. Maybe I have no sponsors. Katniss heads upriver, and so I as well, idly picking up various fruits and plants that I recognize on the way, and putting them in my new pack. I promise to myself that when she stops again, I'll ask her to be my ally. Now's a better time than ever. The Careers should all be up and about by now, so it wouldn't hurt to have someone watch my back.

On the way, Katniss spies a groosling — a water bird that they have back home. She takes it down with a single arrow. First the rabbit, and now the groosling.

I really want her as my ally.

It's bordering on dusk when Katniss finally stops. I duck behind a tree and listen to the sounds of her setting up a fire and preparing her kills for roasting. I'm salivating.

Now, Rue, I think. Do it now, or you never will.

And so I edge my feet forward. Snap. I freeze. Oops. I stepped on a twig. I hear the sound of a bow being pulled taut. I close my eyes, my heart beating at a million miles an hour.

There's sound of something being dropped on the ground. Then the sound of her voice.

"You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances."

Her words shock me so much I can't reply for a moment. Then I warily poke half of my head around the tree trunk. "You want me for an ally?"

"Why not?" Katniss says casually."You saved me with those tracker jackers. You're smart enough to still be alive. And I can't seem to shake you anyway."

No words come out of my mouth. The only movement I make is my eyes blinking as my brain processes the information.

"You hungry?" Katniss asks. As soon as she mentions this, the smell of the cooking meat is irresistible. My eyes are drawn to the food, and I swallow. "Come on then, I've had two kills today," Katniss urges me.

I take a ginger step out from behind the tree. I feel I have to prove that I'm worth keeping as an ally, so I say, "I can fix your stings."

"Can you?" Katniss asks hopefully."How?"

I take off my pack and fish my hand around in it, grab a bunch of the anti-venom leaves and hold then out to Katniss."Where'd you find those?" she says. She must know what they are.

"Just around. We all carry them when we work in the orchards. They left a lot of nests there," I add. "There are a lot here, too."

"That's right," Katniss says."You're District Eleven. Agriculture. Orchards, huh? That must be how you can fly around the trees like you've got wings." I smile. "Well, come on, then. Fix me up."

Katniss sits down and rolls up her pant leg to reveal a tracker jacker sting on her knee. I'm not surprised to find she's had the sense to pull the stingers out.

I put some of the leaves in my mouth and chew them. They don't have the best taste, but they're not too bad. I make sure they're entirely chewed, then put the green glob on Katniss' knee. A long, relieved sound escapes her mouth. I giggle. "Lucky you had the sense to pull the stingers out or you'd be a lot worse."

"Do my neck! Do my cheek!" Katniss gasps eagerly.

I stuff another handful of leaves in my mouth, and apply the pulp to Katniss' leg. She's laughing with relief.

"I've got something for that," she says suddenly, looking at the burn on my arm. She sets aside her weapons and digs her hand into her pack, pulling out a little tub of ointment that I saw her apply to her own burns earlier today. She rubs it on my burn and the heat from it is sucked out. It's so soothing. "You have good sponsors," I say longingly.

"Have you gotten anything yet?"Katniss asks. I shake my head. "You will, though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you are." Her compliments fill me with hope.

"You weren't joking, about wanting me for an ally?" I say tentatively.

"No, I meant it," Katniss says.

A wide smile spreads on my face."Okay," I say, and hold out my hand. We shake. "It's a deal."