A/N: I keep thinking I'm done but then another idea just pops into my head. Now, you may begin reading this and think- hey this isn't Cato & Clove, wtf is Marvel doing in there? But I promise you. It is very much Clato so stick with it. And please review my pretties. -Lu

It was late at night, the night before the Games and Marvel and Clove were the only two tributes left in the training rooms. They had been the last to start at the sparring station and their fight had gone on so long everyone else had either become bored or hungry and wandered away.

But they were both getting tired and the fight was beginning to turn. It was just like fighting with Cato, Clove thought. Marvel was stronger than she was so, without her knives, he eventually got the upper hand in the fight. Still, she landed several harsh hits to his ribcage and one to his jaw which had him momentarily reeling. He took them in his stride though and when he finally pinned her against the wall he was grinning.

"Nice spark," he whispered in her ear. She tried her best to kick him but she couldn't get leverage enough under his weight.

"Get off you oaf!" she hissed at him writhing under grip to no avail.

"Now now, be nice," he said with a creepy smile, twisting her wrists slightly. "You're lucky this isn't the real thing. Or you'd be dead."

She gave him the most vicious look she could muster. A look that had made Cato and the other 18 year old tributes in the training centre drop their gaze and scuff their feet. "No, you're lucky it's not the real thing. You're lucky I don't have a knife or I'd cut out those pretty little eyes of yours and make you eat them," she hissed venomously.

He didn't smile but he cocked his head to the side and studied her seriously.

"What?" she spat at him after a few moments of being studied. She decided she preferred his teasing to this.

"So much anger little spitfire," he chided. "Now what could possibly make someone so young so angry at the world?"He pressed his lips together and stared at her like he was reading her.

"Stop trying to look clever Marvel. It doesn't suit you," she snarled, deflecting his question. She didn't like his perceptiveness.

"Hostility," he stated with a decisive nod. "Now what would you be hiding with that?"

She glared at him and gave another useless kick. "I'm not hiding anything."

"What could it be?" he murmured to himself, ignoring her struggles and protests. "Resentment of authority? No everyone has that. Rejection? Mmmm... no I don't think so." Clove rolled her eyes. "Daddy issues?" he said with a flashing grin. She hissed at him and he chuckled.

"Shut your mouth Marvel or I'll call for Cato and then together we'll rip your spoilt little head off your shoulders," she snapped.

"Oh!...or... forbidden love perhaps?" he said with a smirk. Clove cursed herself for mentioning Cato because it seemed to have given Marvel an idea. His eyes widened as he studied her expression and he gave a self-satisfied chuckle. "Ohhh..."

"Back off brainless!" she hissed again.

"Let me guess. Unrequited love for brutal, bloody Cato?" he asked with an innocent expression. Before she could speak though his eyes widened and he made a little noise of realisation. Clove's eyes narrowed suspiciously as her brain raced over what he could have concluded.

"No, no, no...I get it," Marvel muttered to himself, a smile spreading across his lips.

Flashback

"Look at all the pathetic little weaklings," Marvel scoffed as the scanned the line of tributes. Cato gave him a contemptuous look and made a show of arranging his golden armour.

"Looks like you lucked out in a district partner this year," Marvel remarked as he spotted Clove slipping through the figures, most of which towered over her. Cato lifted his eyes to what Marvel was looking at and grunted. Marvel didn't know it but he was resisting the urge to slam him against a wall.

"See if you think that when she's holding a blade to your throat," was all he said in a disinterested voice, glancing away.

Marvel turned too and looked at Cato, crossing his arms and grinning like he thought them friends or something. "Well, suppose we should be happy there's some pretty ones this year at least," he said jokingly.

Cato lifted a furious gaze to him and the smile was wiped from Marvel's face. "Look man I-" he began.

"Whatever," shrugged Cato, his expression changing instantly back to his nonchalance. He scolded himself for letting that little display of anger through. He shouldn't care what Marvel said. On the contrary, he should probably agree. The best he could manage though was indifference. "She'll be dead before the end of the week anyway," he said. His tone was uncaring but Marvel noticed the clench of his jaw as he spoke and it made him frown.

"Yeah..." he murmured in agreement though he was processing Cato's reaction and trying to figure out what it meant.

Cato shrugged again and sidled away, bumping into a tiny tribute as he passed and sending the poor boy sprawling. "Watch it!" Cato snapped and the boy quivered in fear.

Marvel considered Cato's retreating back and his eyes moved to Clove who was glaring angrily at her stylist.

"Interesting," he muttered.

"Very interesting," Marvel muttered again as it all fell into place. Clove growled and suddenly twisted underneath him, taking advantage of his distraction to lift her legs up and kick at his chest. Marvel was sent reeling backwards and Clove sprang away, dancing on the balls of her feet and poised for his attack. Marvel lay sprawled on his back and looked up at her with surprise, until he burst out laughing.

Clove hesitated, unsure what was going on and her fists dropped slightly. "What?" she spat at him, annoyed by his laughter.

"You love each other?" Marvel chuckled.

Clove froze at his words and it was all the answer he needed. He rolled over onto his side still chuckling. "You love each other and you can never be together. I see how it is," he said slowly as he clambered to his feet. Clove lifted her fists again and tensed, glaring at him with narrowed eyes but she didn't dignify his speculations with a reply, mostly because she was worried what would be revealed in her tone if she did.

Once on his feet Marvel looked at her and grinned, his body language casual. He wasn't at all threatened by her now. Damn. She would have to fix that. But before she could attack him he simply turned and sidled away from her. She stared after him confused. At the door he half turned back and spoke over his shoulder.

"Clove?" he called.

"Yeah?" she answered before she could stop herself.

"Don't worry. You'll be together in death." And with that he disappeared from the room and left Clove, fists still partly raised, to contemplate his words.