Hey I'm back with the second chapter!

I hope the wait wasn't too long.

Oh and PLEASE READ THE NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything!

Enjoy!


I wake up early and go back to my floor. I say goodbye to Thresh and Rue and leave

It's less suspicious that way. If I go to training with them it'll be suspicious.

At least, I thought it was.

When I open the door to the apartment I walked straight into Peeta.

Great just who I didn't want to see. Why is he even up?

"Where were you? Who were you with? You had me worried sick Katniss! You can't just disappear!" he shouts

"Calm down mother. It's none of your fucking business who I was with. Or if I was even with anybody!" I shout back. How dare he assume that I have to tell him.

Wait, which means Haymitch didn't tell him. I smirk. If this is Haymitch's way of apologizing to me, it's working.

"It is my business Katniss! You're my district partner! We have to stick together!" he's getting louder.

"Nobody said that we had to stay together. I'd rather do everything solo" I lie "You're on your own during the games" I say as I push past him and walk towards my room. That was, until, her grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"What the hell do you think you're do-"He cut me off by smashing his lips to mine.

I freeze. What the hell is he doing? Oh wait, he's kissing me.

OH SHIT HE'S KISSING ME!

I try to push him off but he's too strong. Fucking bakers. I try to get away from him again but, he's relentless. I do the last thing that comes to mind.

I bite his lip; hard and when he recoils I knee him in his groin.

"What the fuck is your dysfunction?" I scream

When he recovers he pins me back to the wall with his forearm over my neck; his mouth is inches from my ear.

"What, you can fuck half of the towns males and I'm not good enough? My brother is apparently but, I'm not?"

"Your pigheaded brother is the reason I stopped; he went too far; I had bruises for weeks. Your father saw what his son had done and helped me so I wouldn't have to go back to what I was doing. He gave me some food and a little money and gave me a chance to get my life back on track. Your father is the only decent Mellark" I hiss. I hear a door open and a heaven sent voice.

"Twelve? Are you in here?" Never have I loved District One as much. Both Peeta's and my head snap toward the front door.

What is that guy's name again?

Oh right, Marvel.

"Help!" I choke out as much as I can with an arm against my neck. The room is starting to spin.

Marvel's eyes widen at the scene and then he bursts into action. He's next to Peeta in a matter of seconds.

Damn, he's fast.

With one arm he grabs the back of Peeta's shirt and rips him off of me. I gasp and fall to the floor. I look up and see the Marvel has Peeta pinned to the floor. I fill my lungs and stand up.

"Marvel, thank you, your timing is amazing. Now, could you please keep him pinned while I knock him out." I say calmly. I've wanted to use this trick ever since I saw my mother use it on a patient.

Marvel nods and Peeta's eyes widen.

I make my way over towards them and crouch down next to Bread Boy's neck. I use two fingers and tap them around the side of his neck. At one spot, he jolts. I smirk.

Found it.

I repeat the process with his elbow and hand until I find the spots. I flick my gaze up to Marvel and see that he looks semi-worried about what I'm going to do.

I take my two fingers and in three quick jabs; Peeta is out cold. Hid body goes limp under Marvel and we both sit back.

"What the hell did you just do?" Marvel asks in shock

"Pressure points" I say simply. He just looks at me in amazement.

"Want some breakfast?" I ask "It's the least I could do for my 'savior'"

"Um, I can't actually. I came here for a reason"

"And that reason being?" I ask

"To ask you to join the careers again. Cato probably didn't come off as one of the nicest people when asking you so, I thought I should. Although it was Cato who looked pretty shaken up after coming down from the roof last night. I've never seen him so freaked out" he chuckles

"How did you even know I was here?" I question

He smirks "I didn't, I was on my way to the roof when I heard the yells. And, like the hero I am, followed them and saved a damsel in distress."

I scoff "I am hardly, a damsel in distress"

"I can see that now" he mutters as he looks towards the still unconscious Peeta.

"I like you. You're nicer than Cato. I can't see you being in the careers" I say truthfully

"If I wasn't from District One, I wouldn't be. I don't even want to be" he says quietly. "I'm not bloodthirsty and I don't revel in the kill. It's sick." He spats

I am shocked. A career that doesn't want to be a career? I don't think that's ever happened.

"Then why don't you just quit the alliance and go solo?" I ask

"You can't survive the Hunger Games if you go solo; you need people to protect you" he says as he focuses on his hands.

I talk before I think.

"You could join my alliance" I blurt. Smart, Katniss, real smart. First rule of the alliance; don't talk about the alliance.

"You, have an alliance? With who? I mean you turned down the careers, the best alliance there is; and not just because I'm in it." He says cockily.

"It depends, are you going to join or not? If not then I can't tell you who is in the alliance" I ask warily. I already told him I'm in an alliance. I can't tell him who's in it. Not yet at least.

"I'll let you ponder while I change" I say as I walk into my room.

It takes me about twenty minutes to shower and get dressed in my training uniform. I put my hair up into a high ponytail instead of my normal braid. And walk out into the living room. It takes all I have not to burst out laughing at the scene. I'm surprised he actually stayed.

Peeta is awake and struggling to get out from underneath Marvel. Struggling and failing.

Marvel isn't as successful as me and is laughing as he sits on Peeta's stomach.

"Well?" You can hear the amusement in my voice

"Yes" he grins as he gets up. Peeta grabs his calf but, the ex-career just shakes him off.

"Good" I say simply. I nod my head up a little hoping he gets the message.

It takes a minute for him to figure out what I meant. When he does he nods.

The roof.

"See you in training Twelve" he says in fake disgust

"Whatever One" I say in equal disgust

When he leaves Peeta rounds on me once again.

"What the hell was that?" He screams.

"What the hell! You force yourself on me and I'm the one being questioned? How does that even work?" I scream back

His eyes darken.

"You will have to work with me whether you like it or not" he says slowly. He has a plan, but I don't know what it is.

"Good luck with that" I spat. I look at the clock and see that it's seven thirty. I grab and apple and make my way down to the training room; leaving a fuming Peeta to figure his shit out.


I'm, surprisingly, one of the first tributes training today. The only others are the careers and the girl tribute from five. I realized that, like Rue, she's sly and quiet. She reminds me of the fox that Gale and I can never catch. I'm going to call her Foxface for the time being. I walk into the room and go straight to the most unlikely area for me. Actually, this station hasn't even been used yet.

Maces and Morning Stars.

I've always like Morning Stars and Maces. I don't understand why though. Maces just seem more deadly and blunt. And Morning Stars seem deadly and sharp. Kind of like myself. I pick up a medium size Morning Star, expecting it to be unbearably heavy; it's not. Sure it has weight to it but, it's nothing I can't handle.

I shift the weapon from hand to hand to get used to the feel of it; once I feel I am ready, I walk over to training dummy and swing.

I'm using one arm and barely put any force into the swing, yet I still manage to decapitate the dummy. I bring the weapon up to my line of view.

It still has the head impaled on one of the spikes. I admire my handiwork and take another swing; using one hand but with much more force. It has the desired effect. The torso is shot clear across the room narrowly missing Glimmer. She glares at me and I smirk back at her. She looks about to pounce when Clove and Cato hold her back. They both shoot glares at me along with the bubble-headed blonde. Marvel just looks amused.

I look back towards the next dummy and think of a new way to hit a target.

I use the club the normal way a few more times until the careers become uninterested with me; then I put my test to action.

I turn sideways, widen my feet and bend my knees a little. I hold the Morning Star in the hand that's furthest from the dummy; the right hand. I grasp the bottom of the handle and wind my arm up. I thrust my arm forward and turn my body along with it and release. It goes flying and hits the dummy in the center of its chest. The force of the impact causes the top half of the dummy to be ripped off and go flying towards the back of the room.

The crash gets the attention of all the tributes in the room. Great. I grab the spiked weapon from the opposite wall and put it back on the rack.

So much for laying low.

I'm not done being mad at you Haymitch. So until I am, I'm going to be breaking every rule you set for me. I still don't want to go to the archery station though.

I go back to the rope tying station and spend the rest of my day there. Peeta tries multiple times to get over to me but, never gets close to where I am. Thanks to Marvel discreetly steering him away. I am, thankfully, the only one who actually notices what he's doing. Soon enough training is over and it's time to eat. I burst out of the training room and get to the elevator before the other tributes hear the bell dismissing us.


I slam the button that says 12 and soon, im shooting up towards the penthouse. I open the door and run over to that table that's stacked with food. I grab a sandwich and stuff it into my mouth. I can hear Effie shriek about my table manner but, I don't have time for that right now. I have to go to the Eleventh floor and convince Rue and Thresh to let Marvel join, then I have to go to the roof and give Marvel the verdict. I chug a glass of water and dash to the shower.

I push a random button and a small screen came out of the wall. It had different categories of scents.

I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS! ALL I NEED IS FOR THE WATER TO START!

I tap the one that says Lemongrass and my wish is granted. Warm water with a fresh sent pours out of the showerhead and cloaks me in its scent. I run my fingers though my hair as a shampoo with the same crisp scent pours onto my head. I rinse and hop out of the shower; quickly drying myself off.

I throw on a deep purple tee shirt and black jeans, along with my favorite pair of worn leather boots. I tell Effie that I'll be back and I make my way down to floor eleven in fifteen minutes flat.

It takes about thirty minutes to eat dinner so that means I have another fifteen minutes to convince my allies. Rue will probably be OK with it. Thresh might not be. Scratch that, Thresh won't be. Why am I even thinking about this? I've known Marvel for a day and I already want him in the alliance?

Yes. He protected me three times today. If he wasn't there when I was in the shower, Peeta probably would have come after me again.

I owe him.

I reach floor eleven and knock. Luckily Rue answers.

"Hi Katniss!" she says excitedly "What are you doing here?"

"Oh um, I need to talk to you and Thresh" I say nervously

"Why?" her eyes widen and start to tear "You're going to break the alliance aren't you?"

"What, NO, I would never!" I say quickly as I bend down to pick her up. I hold her on my hip just like I used to do to Prim.

"Promise?" She says shakily as she holds out her pinky

"Yes, I pinky promise" I say as I wrap my pinky around hers

"Ok! THRESH, KATNISS IS HERE" she screams in a sing-song voice

"Rue, I'm right here, there is no need to shout." He says from the table

"Okay, I need to talk to you guys about the alliance" I say as I make my way towards the table

"What about it" Thresh says warily.

I take a deep breath "I want Marvel from District one in it" I say quickly

"What, why?" he asks, shocked

"He would be a good ally, I trust him, and I owe him" I say as I look directly into Thresh's eyes. If I break eye contact that means I'm having second thoughts and that will cause Thresh to say no.

"Why do you owe him?" Thresh asks, obviously not backing down

"He saved me from Peeta, three times now, he also hates these games just as much as we do; which is why I trust him as well" I say seriously

"If you trust him, then I trust your judgment of him. I'm fine with it, but if he tries anything, I will rip him limb from limb." He sighs

It's all up to Rue now.

"What do you think, Rue?" I ask hopefully

"Which one is he? I don't really pay attention to the names, only their characters"

"He is the brunette guy with green eyes. He's the one who's always goofing off." That earns a growl from Thresh.

"I like him; he saw me with Cato's knife and didn't tell anyone! He even mouthed me a 'good job' while I was still up in the rafters." She says excitedly.

"Okay, so I say that he stays with the careers for the rest of training so he can get information on their plans. Then, when we are in the arena, he'll stay with the careers a day longer than we are staying separated; so they don't get suspicious. Then he takes the supplies and leaves while they go out hunting. Simple and we get more things" I add cheerily. They said yes! I can now pay back my debt.

"Okay, that sounds good" says Thresh

"Great, I'll go tell him now" I say as I give both of them bear hugs.


I'm on the roof in three minutes. Good timing but, apparently not good enough.

He's already here sitting on the ledge.

"Well, girl on fire, what did they say? Also, who are they?" he says when he notices me

"They said yes, and 'they' are Rue and Thresh. Now, I need to tell you the plan" I say as I sit down next to him

He agrees with the overall plan and after we just watch the Capitol.

"It's really going to piss Cato off when he realizes what happened and who I joined up with" he chuckles

"I'm not going to lie, I've thought about that factor it played a major part in why I'm letting you join. It's fun pissing him off, not to mention how mad Peeta will get, and the other careers won't be too happy either" I laugh

"Wow you really like making people angry, don't you?" he says with amusement

"It's a hobby, which is why I'm not well liked"

"Speaking of Peeta, why did he decide to try and kill you this morning?" he asks

I go quiet. I don't like talking about what I did back in District Twelve. I'm not proud of it.

"You only got the second half of the show" I tell him. "You missed the part where he tried to shove his tongue down my throat. He only got really mad because I rejected him by biting his lip and kneeing him where it counts" he laughs

"Why did he think he could get with you? I heard something about his brother and you said something about his father and then I came in. What happens in District Twelve? It sounds like one of the shows my mother used to watch"

I look down at my lap. This isn't a happy story and I'm not proud to tell it. "B-Back in Twelve, money was scarce and food was scarcer. I had to earn money b-by" I risk looking up. I'm met with the green eyes of my ally, he nods in understandment; I continue "A-Anyway, Peeta's brother was one of my c-clients" I stutter "He t-took things too far, he tried to break my arm when I refused to" I look back down at my lap "W-when I refused to do a thing. He didn't break my arm b-but he forced me to comply. After it was over I stumbled to the back door of the house. Mr. Mellark, the father, saw what his son did to me. I was covered in bruises and cuts." I see Marvels fists clench beside him "Mr. Mellark, helped me, he gave me food and money to feed my family. He told me if things ever got as bad as they were again, to come to him, instead of the alternative. So when Peeta attacked me he began mocking me, saying that if his brother was good enough then why not him." My voice cracks "Then you came in"

"And I'm glad I did" he said "Katniss I'm so-"

"I don't need your pity" I snap "I may not be proud of what I did but, I don't regret it. If I didn't do what I did, my family would be dead" I look up to his face. He doesn't have a look of disgust or pity painted upon it; it's a look of admiration and pride.

"I wasn't pitying you. I was going to say that I'm so proud of you" He pulls me into a hug. "The people I know would have let their family starve and let themselves live. They would ditch their own flesh and blood for their own selfish purposes." He whispers into my ear. "You volunteered for your sister; in my District, that child would have no one volunteer for them. It's considered a privilege to be in the Hunger Games and they would be led to their death without so much as a second glance from their family and friends."

"At least you think I have a justified reason for my actions" I say as I pull away from the hug "The people around here and in my District think that I'm and idiot and a common whore. At least the townspeople do. The people from the Seam, respect me for my actions"

"The Seam?"

"The poorer part of my District. We should get to bed; we have interviews tomorrow" I yawn

"Yea you go first and I leave five minutes after you. It'll look less suspicious. Oh and if Peeta messes with you again, just tell me" he adds softly

"Okay, he said that he'll make me his one way or another. I think he has a plan" I say as I walk towards the door. I may as well update him.

"Goodnight, Katniss, and remind me never to piss you off when you have a Morning Star with you" he joke, obviously referring to this morning's training.

"Yea, Goodnight, sleep tight" I laugh

"Don't let the bedbugs bite" he finishes as I close the door.

Why did I tell him all of that? I never told anyone that.

I don't have time to think, right now I'm tired.


I make my way back to my floor and stumble through the door.

Unfortunately Haymitch is there waiting.

"I'm still mad at you" I say groggily

"And you have every right to be. What I said was unacceptable and I apologize" he says surprisingly soberly. I still don't buy it.

"Are you actually sorry or did Effie tell you to apologize?" I ask

"I am actually sorry" he repeats

"Thank you for not telling Peeta where I was" I tell him

"It was the least I could do" he responds

"Well goodnight" I say as I walk towards my room

"Yeah, goodnight sweetheart"

If anybody else said that, it would sound like something a guy would say to his girlfriend. But, this is Haymitch, my drunken mentor, and that is the name he saddled me with; and I honestly wouldn't have it any other way.


I change into a nightshirt and pants as soon as I close my door. Once im dressed, I collapse onto the bed.

Tomorrow is the interviews and the next day I'm going to the arena.

With that, I fall into an uneasy sleep.


Okay ready for the important stuff?

I'm giving you guys the choice on this story's pairing!

It's either Karvel (KatnissxMarvel) or Catoniss (CatoxKatniss)

To vote just say which pairing you'd prefer in a review or PM me!

Anyway I hope you liked this chapter! I'll be back soon with a new one and maybe the story's pairing!

Please Review!

~*~Momo