The residents of the train stayed seated as capital employees cleared away the late lunch. The train was getting closer Cammie could feel the Goosebumps rising the slower they got. But it wasn't just her feeling the effects of the capital, Peeta's leg was jittering up and down, Haymitch was staring intently at his glass, taping it with his fingers, whilst Bex the most discreet had clenched her jaw so tightly Cammie marvelled at how she didn't seem pained by it. Macey's smile however, seemed to be growing by the minute. Bex looked up suddenly, looking out the window, she quickly stood and left the room, muttering something about changing. Haymitch took that as his que to start talking, slightly happy knowing that Bex wouldn't interrupt him.

"In a few minutes, we'll be pulling into the station. You'll be put in the hands of your stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you. But no matter what it is, don't resist,"

"What do you…?" Peeta started, but Haymitch cut him off

"They'll be time for questions later"

"But" Cammie tried

"No buts, don't resist" Haymitch interrupted again. He stood up and left the room taking a bottle with him. At that precise moment, the carriage went dark. The few internal lights kept the room from becoming pitch black. Cammie assumed that they were in the tunnel that connected the capital to the outside world. They weren't taught much geography in school but Cammie knew that the capital was built behind mountains. These mountains had protected the city from the districts in the east during the uprising. The capital, having far superior flight technology, was able to pick of the people as they climbed the mountains. It was one of the main reasons the rebellion fell and the hunger games started. Macey looked up as the light left the carriage before beckoning to Cammie and Peeta to follow her into the sitting room Bex and Cammie had spoken in earlier.

"You won't want to miss this" Macey said leading them to the window which was considerably larger in this room. Peeta walked cautiously up to the window followed by Cammie.

"Smile" Macey said to them as light burst through the room. The slow moving train gave them a perfect view of the capital in all its grandeur. Tall gleaming buildings rolled into the horizon as small cars trundled down paved streets. Passing brightly coloured oddly dressed people, there was no poverty here and Cammie quickly understood how Macey blended in perfectly. Of course, Cammie had seen the Capital on the Screen in district twelve, but the poor quality didn't do it justice. It made Cammie feel sick. People regularly starved to death in twelve but here they had money and food to throw around. The residents of the capital quickly caught on that the train was carrying victors and started pointing and waving at them. Peeta smiled and waved back but Cammie was too busy trying not to be sick. As quickly they were there, the people were once more hidden from sight as the train pulled into the station.

Macey lead Peeta and Cammie to the train doors where Bex and Haymitch were talking quietly, stopping as soon as the others appeared. Haymitch was again wearing a loose-fitting shirt and trousers whist Bex had changed into a form fitting low cut navy dress, and heels. As Bex turned to peer out of the door looking for the peacekeepers who would escort them to the training centre. Cammie caught site of the tattoo on Bex's back half revealed by the low back of the dress. A large blood red rose curled in the centre of her back, black vines travelled away, one wrapping around her waist, another spiralling further up her back disappearing into her collar bone. The other three vines were commonly visible, one ran up her neck and across her ear, the second stemmed from the first wrapped around her left arm stopping at her ring finger. The third ran down her right side reaching her ankle. The vines were thorned and made Bex look dark and dangerous. Cammie had always assumed that was why she got the tattoo. But before she could look any closer the door opened and Bex stepped out of the train quickly followed by Haymitch as a swarm of people and peacekeepers swept the tributes down some concrete steps and into the training centre.

…

Cammie stood alone in the large white room she had been left in waiting for her stylist to arrive, she hoped with some clothes as she started to feel vulnerable standing there alone. But the longer she stood there the more she told herself that she was going to end up naked in the parade, it wouldn't be the first time a district sent their tributes to the parade without appropriate clothing. District four using carefully placed nets, district seven a few precarious leaves, but worst of all district twelve naked and covered head to toe in a sparkling black dust. Coal was lumpy and the uniforms were baggy so the capital was constantly giving district twelve miniscule clothing sometimes with a headlamp. What ever happened she needed to accept that the people of Panem were going to see more of her than she wanted. She had already been marched into that room, stripped of her clothes, washed and scrubbed until she was raw, plucked and waxed until she was left with just her eyebrows, eyelashes and hair. And then scrubbed again with more lotions and potions until she was deemed satisfactory for the stylist. She had followed Haymitch's rule and hadn't complained once, even when it felt like her skin was being ripped off, or when she was pulled to her feet, and the three-people getting her ready had walked around her starring like she was a slab of meat.

Cammie was pulled out of her thoughts by a door opening. A man entered. A man seemingly untouched by the capital except for a thin line of gold eyeliner above his eyes. A man Cammie found quite attractive.

"Hi Cameron, I'm Cinna your stylist" His voice was soft, lacking the harsh qualities of the capital accent. Something about it made Cammie trust him immediately.

"So you're here to make me look pretty" Cammie quipped

"I'm here to make you make an impression" Cinna countered handing Cammie a thin white robe. Cammie hastily put it on.

"You're new" Cammie said more politely than before "That's why you've got twelve?"

"Actually I asked for twelve" Cinna replied calmly leading Cammie to a set of sofa's behind a screen on the other side of the room. The chairs where a plush soft fabric, in a deep red. Adjacent to the sofa there was a large window, practically taking up the whole wall. Cammie could see for miles, the noon sun, the buildings, the people. Food was laid on a table before them. Cammie wondered if it was normal for the capital citizens to eat more than three meals a day. Cammie didn't see why they needed to eat so often, in district twelve, as long as you had the money you ate three meals a day. A breakfast of grains or bread to give energy for the day. The biggest meal of lunch, providing energy to go on, and a dinner to ensure that they didn't go to bed hungry. That was what Cammie assumed anyway. Cammie knew that the miners ate differently instead of eating a big meal mid-day, they ate little and often. The capital ate often but it certainly wasn't little, and the miners ate often to provide them with energy without being burdened with a full stomach, the citizens of the capital didn't do physical labour so why would they need to eat so often. But that was the point, they didn't need to, they could. Whilst people in outlying districts starved to death the capital gorged on more food than they would ever need. Cammie was tempted to not eat out of principle. But then the food would have gone to waste, and sixteen years of close to starvation had lead Cammie to developing a large apatite. Her mother once said that she 'ate like she would never eat again' Cammie had responded that 'she wouldn't unless she caught it'.

Cammie looked at the food before her, the pork with the creamy sauce and fruit. She could with some difficulty re-create at home. The pork would have to be substituted for a wild boar, but even they were hard to find. The creamy sauce would work if she could save up money for the cheese and milk, or perhaps she could use Prims goat milk for the same effect. The cheese had been nice. Cammie's mind snapped back to the previous morning sitting on the hill, eating bread and cheese with Zack. Suddenly she felt close to tears. Zack who she would never see again, her mother, her sister. And now she was going to be paraded half naked around the capital for what?

"How awful we must seem" Cinna smiled watching Cammie's expression change with interest.

"My partner Portia, Peeta's stylist, and I are thinking to dress you in complimentary costumes at the moment. To reflect the flavour of your district" Cinna watched Cammie's face once more before continuing.

"We both feel that the coal miner's thing, is entirely overdone"

Cammie's thoughts flew back to the tributes that had been naked and covered in dust once more

"So we'll be coal?" Cammie asked

"No, no. Our jobs are not just to make you reflect your district, but also to make you memorable." Cinna smiled relaxing Cammie slightly. "We are focusing on the coal. But, what do you do with coal?" Cinna asked. Cammie stared at him unsure of what he was getting at.

"We burn it. You're not afraid of fire, are you Cameron" Cammie's mouth dropped for a moment. Half of her believing that this stylist was going to set her on fire. But the rational side knew that he couldn't do that, but fire, that would be memorable. She smiled

"It's Cammie"

…

Bex entered the district twelve floor of the training room, followed quickly by Haymitch, who was panting slightly although not as badly as he had been in the elevator.

"Could have slowed down" Haymitch rasped

"Could of" Bex replied slowly. She had reached the lounge area, where, as she expected, lay an envelope with her name on. She picked it up, scanned the page, before using the lighter she had stolen from the train to burn it and drop it back to the table. Haymitch watched her before realising she was about to set the table on fire and patted out the smouldering paper, following Bex who had walked to the liquor table and was selecting a bottle. Haymitch went to say something when there was a knock on the door. Bex stopped scanning the bottle and looked at Haymitch.

"Find something strong" She muttered before turning to answer the door. Haymitch scanned the table, finding a whiskey he decided would do for the occasion. Walking back to the front door he saw a tall handsome blonde-haired man standing in front of it, wrestling Bex into an embrace which she quickly relaxed into. Pulling away the man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Scanning the page, Bex looked back up at the man.

"Snap, and we'll be home for dinner. I know I moan about the capital but they're doing me favours this year." The man laughed with Bex, who turned back to Haymitch who had a critical look in his eyes.

"You two go up, I won't be a minute" Bex said before disappearing down the hallway to her room. The two men began to walk towards a stairway leading to the roof.

"Finnick" Haymitch said in greeting

"Haymitch" Finnick returned

"How's Annie"

"Oh you know, sometimes I think she's getting there but then…" Finnick shrugs. Annie was the victor of the 70th hunger games. And part of the 'golden trio' which was a name given to Annie, Joanna Mason, and Bex as they had won back to back games. It was the first time in Hunger Games history that three women had won in a row, although that was ruined by Copper, a district two citizen who won the previous year. Annie was driven to insanity after watching her district partner murdered in front of her. She only won the games as she was the strongest swimmer in the arena.

"Is she here?" Haymitch asked. He was fond of Annie and wouldn't mind seeing her.

"Yeah, Mags is looking after her." Finnick replied as they pushed open a door "It's strange, it helps me stay calm, looking after her. But it doesn't feel like I'm looking after her, I just have to pull her back sometimes." Haymitch nodded taking a long drink from the bottle of whiskey, taking a seat next to the wall.

"Hey, Haymitch, you haven't seen Jo have you?" The golden trio may be Annie, Johanna, and Bex. But Johanna, Bex and Finnick were the trio that were often seen, and firm friends.

"No, I haven't, we only just got here" Haymitch replied

"It's weird, I saw Blight in the elevator, but no Jo" Haymitch shrugged, taking another drink from the bottle. Finnick walked away from Haymitch and to the wall overlooking the streets bellow.

"How's Bex?" Finnick asked not looking at Haymitch. Finnick and Bex grew very close, very quickly. They were both young victors, both forced into a world they weren't ready for. A world they would never be ready for. Although Finnick was six years older than Bex, he got it better than anyone else, and she got him.

"She'll tell you she's fine"

"That's why I'm asking you"

"She's either high, drunk, or throwing things ninety percent of the time." Haymitch paused wondering what to tell Finnick himself, and what to leave Bex to tell him.

"The girl tribute" Haymitch started

"The volunteer" Finnick asked and Haymitch nodded

"She's a friend of Bex's" This time Finnick nodded

"Cameron Morgan, I know. Bex called her a sister."

"Yeah, well part of her is angry again blaming herself, the other part is smiling and laughing like I've never seen her"

The door opened, shocking the men into silence. Bex entered, another woman following behind. The second woman walked past Bex and straight to Finnick throwing her arms around him happily. For a moment Haymitch felt a pang of jealousy at the three friends in front of him. Bex leaned on the wall next to him.

"You're high" He said expecting her usual your drunk reply

"At least I'm not throwing stuff right?"

"How much did your hear?"

"Not enough" Bex smiled sadly

"Jo said Chaff and Blight are on their way. She has no idea what Nuts and Volts are doing and doesn't care. And she hasn't seen anyone else" Haymitch nodded looking forward to seeing Chaff and Blight. They were good company at least.

"Was that all you told Finnick" Bex continued

"Yeah"

"Okay I'll catch him up on the way" Haymitch looked up at her

"Be careful"

"I'm always careful"

Bex smiled. Walking to the edge of the roof she caught the end of Johanna laughing about something to do with her tributes. Finnick smiling back.

"Hey, Finnick, we've got to go." Finnick looked up and nodded quickly walking towards Bex. They both waved at Jo before walking down the stairs and out towards the elevator.

"So, you think your friend can win" Finnick asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive

"Maybe, but's its more than that, hence…" Bex trailed of be careful of what she said in case someone was listening in. Finnick's eyes widened slightly.

"seriously?" But before Bex could respond the elevator arrived and three older victors got out. The five exchanged brief greetings.

"Haymitch is on the roof, save me some alcohol please." Bex threw at Chaff the last to walk away. As the elevator doors closed between them.

"Why don't you like Chaff?" Finnick asked Bex, amused.

"I have to see way to much of him and Haymitch passing a bottle around, reminiscing about the old days." Finnick laughed

"I think you're jealous Haymitch has a drinking partner aside from you" Bex made a noise of disgust

"I put up with Haymitch because he lives opposite me"

"Just admit it, you're in love with an older man" Bex flew at him hitting him, but half-heartedly.

"Fuck you" Bex yelled at him as Finnick cowered away from her hits laughing.

"okay, okay I'm sorry, I'm sorry" Finnick managed to get out. Bex stopped panting slightly

"Your disgusting" she muttered hitting him hard on the back of his head as he straightened.

"Ow" he moaned flattening his hair as the elevator came to a stop. He reached for Bex slipping an arm around her waist.

"You ready"

"does it matter" she shrugged, as they stepped out of the elevator and into the foyer teaming with the richest capital citizens.