Katniss was nervously waiting for her name to be called, as the number of people waiting alongside her dwindled slowly over time. She felt alone, even though her "fiance" Peeta was sitting right next to her talking strategy of how to approach the Gamemakers this time.

For a while, she was able to quell her nerves by staring at the strangely calm Johanna Mason from District 7. The last time she saw Johanna, she was stripping in front of her and chatting calmly while ignoring the fact that she was butt naked. So, seeing a Johanna Mason that was actually focused on the task at hand gave Katniss a new-found respect to this intriguing victor.

But her distraction was taken away from her when Johanna Mason's name was called into the room to show off her skills. Katniss was not surprised when she felt a slight disappointment. After all, this mysterious girl was able to prevent her from focusing on her own impending nightmare.

What really surprised Katniss was that she felt like a piece of her heart was taken away from her.

"What the hell…" Katniss murmured when she discovered this feeling.

"You okay Kat?" Peeta asked with genuine concern.

Katniss jumped slightly in surprise. She had forgotten that her district mate was sitting closely next to her.

She quickly regained her composure and answered him with, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I'm just confused about the behavior about some of the victors here."

'At least it was partially the truth,' Katniss thought in relief as she was able to come up with a believable excuse.

Peeta nodded in understanding and said, "I agree. Some of them are treating this like a joke. Others, like Mason from 7, look like they are going to murder someone in there. Don't worry about it Katniss, they are an entirely set of different species from us. You are probably going to just give yourself a headache trying to figure out these guys. All the time in the world is not enough time to really have a chance to understand them."

Katniss could only nod in understanding since she had returned her focus on her nerves.

The two of them maintained a comfortable silence as the others were called in. Soon, Peeta's name was called.

"See you soon Kat. Wish me luck."

"Good luck Peeta," Katniss whispered as she was still thinking about ways to save the baker's son from the impending doom.

Katniss soon found herself literally alone with her thoughts, which were beginning to make her shake in fear. She was worried about what she was going to do for the Gamemakers, how to save Peeta's life, how she was unable to say goodbye to Prim…

"You need to calm down brainless. You are going to give yourself a heart attack."

For the second time that day, Katniss jumped slightly in surprise from another interruption of her dark thoughts.

Katniss turned slightly to her left to see the Johanna Mason sitting Indian style on the bench directly behind her. Although the sitting style was similar to how she was before, her facial features were a complete 180 from the last time Katniss saw her. This time, instead of a grim face and staring straight ahead, she was wearing her trademark smirk and maintained a constant eye contact with Katniss.

Katniss shook the surprise at the sight of her unexpected guest and asked her with a shaky voice, "Wh… What are you d… doing here?"

Johanna's smirk grew larger with the girl's weak question. She chuckled a little before answering, "It looked like you needed a person to save you from your thoughts."

Katniss' eyes widened in surprise to the victor from 7's response.

'Was I that obvious?' Katniss wondered as she looked at Johanna in surprise.

"I know what you are thinking. Yes, it was obvious. I know the look, since I was giving the same look while I was waiting for my turn. I could also feel you staring at me. Got something on your mind kid?"

Katniss turned red in realization that she was caught again.

"God, I need to work better at hiding things…" Katniss mumbled as she heard a genuine laugh from Johanna.

For some reason, her laugh gave Katniss a new-found confidence. Another thing that she knew that she had to look into, because the reasons for her actions and emotions were currently a mystery for her.

"You aren't that obvious to the casual observer brainless. I only know since I have watched you long enough to know your tells. It is a hobby of mine."

Katniss asked, "Watching people to discover their tells?"

Johanna shrugged nonchalantly.

"Kinda. You intrigue me a little more than the others though. You and I aren't so different kid. So I have kind of put most of my focus on your emotions and expressions."

Katniss felt beyond exposed at this point. It was hard to imagine that she felt worthy enough to be the prime focus of someone. Unlike her reaction when Peeta revealed his feelings to her, she actually felt some sort of clarity. But Johanna didn't exactly say that she felt anything towards her. But what other reason would she find dissecting Katniss' very being so enticing? Only way to find out.

"Why?" She asked.

Johanna looked deep in thought as she gave Katniss a look that was indescribable. It looked like she was about to answer when the voice of the head Gamemaker called Katniss' name. So, Johanna simply answered with her smirk,

"It's all you Katniss."