~Cato~

As I sat in the lounge and watched the interviews, I couldn't hide my happiness at what Katniss had said, there is a chance for me. Now all I need to do is wait for her to walk through the doors of the lounge, but she hasn't yet. Peeta has already taken the stage. Did she get intercepted by Haymitch and her Escort? Most likely. Why make her come and wait here when they just had to wait for her partner? But I wanted to see her, so badly. Hopefully if she got my note, which I bet she did, I'll see her on the roof tonight.

"Cato." Clove said, getting my attention.

"What?"

"You might want to pay attention to this." she said pointing to the television.

"So Peeta, is there a special girl back home?" Caeser asked him and he chuckled.

"No. No not really." he replied.

"I don't believe it." Caeser said then looked at the crowd. "Look at that face folks." he said and laughed. "Now Peeta, tell me." he practically ordered.

"Well there is this one girl that I've had a crush on forever. And we've been friends for at least that long." he explained.

"Well I'll tell you what, you go out there, and you win this for her. And when you get home she'll have to go out with you." Caeser advised.

"Thanks but I don't think winning will help me in my case." he said solemnly.

"Why not?" Caeser asked confused.

"Because...because she came here with me." Peeta said and there was a large gasp from the crowd. What the hell? What is he trying to do? Ruin everything? I glared at the television and Clove was doing the same thing.

"Well that's bad luck."

"Yeah, yeah it is." Peeta said sadly, he seemed genuine. The buzzer went off and Peeta walked off quickly.

"Well it seems like we have a bit of a love triangle this year don't we folks. Have a good night and tune in tomorrow for the beginning of this years Hunger Games." he said closing the show. After it shut off I sat there, still glaring at the black screen, until I felt a hand on my shoulder, at first I thought it was Katniss but these fingers were too pale and the nails were manicured.

"Oh let her have that scum like herself. They don't need a love triangle Cato, when you can have me instead." Glimmer said huskily in my ear. I shoved her off of me and stood up, glaring at her.

"But I don't want you." I said with more venom than I intended. I stalked out the door to the elevator and waited for it to come. I didn't even wait for anybody else, I just wanted to get up to the roof.

~Katniss~

"What the hell was that?" I shouted as soon as I got back to the penthouse, shoving Peeta into the wall. "You be my best friend and now you say you have a crush on me? As if this wasn't complicated enough!"

"I'm sorry, I just thought that-" he started but I stopped him.

"No you didn't think, you could've told me a hell of a long time ago. But no, you wait until we're about to die."

"Katniss!" Haymitch shouted.

"What?" I snapped back.

"Go to your room and calm down. He just made this all more interesting. The sponsors will go crazy to support you and Cato, or you and Peeta. Both of them may have just saved your damn life. Now go to your room and cool off." I did what he said with one last glare at all of them and stormed to my room. I shoved my dress off, took all of the pins out of my hair, and stepped into the shower to get all of this glitter and make-up off of me. After an hour of scrubbing and making my skin raw, I stepped out and let the Capitol bathroom and its machines dry me off before I walked back into my room with a towel around me and getting dressed in some comfortable. At around one in the morning, everybody had gone to bed and was sound asleep which allowed me to go up to the roof to meet Cato. He and I needed to talk after all that had happened during the interview. When I got up there I saw him standing by the edge. He didn't even hear me come up. Quietly I walked up to where I was a foot from behind him before I spoke.

"Don't get too close. The force field will blow you away." I said and he spun around to face me. Once he saw it was me he swept me up into a hug.

"I'm so sorry for everything." he whispered in my ear. I hugged him back around the neck and pulled away shortly after.

"It's okay."

"No it's not. I was going to win this, and come find you. To tell you everything about how I felt and I was going to keep you safe the best that I could. I don't care that you are from Twelve. I honestly don't. One of us is going to die, maybe even both of us. If you go, I don't know what I will do." he confessed to me.

"I've lost people I really care about in my life. If I win I lose three close friends. I don't know what I would do. But I can't lose anybody else." I said and he pulled me close again. "I am sorry for what Peeta said. I honestly had no idea." I told him and he chuckled, the vibrations radiating through him to me.

"Don't worry, I still won't kill him. I can't kill you're best friend." he said. We pulled away from each other and sat down on a bench, looking out over the people in the Capitol. "You know, you can still join the Careers." he said.

"And have Glimmer waiting for me to fall asleep to kill me? Sorry but no." I said and he looked at me seriously.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to you." he said taking my hand and holding it firmly.

"I know. But you can keep me safe if you let me go on my own." I told him.

"How?"

"You can kill anybody else you find, and trust me that I can defend myself."

"Fine, I don't like it but fine. And you can come to us whenever you need. But is there anything you need?" he asked me and I thought for a minute.

"Just get me a bow." I told him.

"Okay." he said without any questions. "And if you want I can break away and ally with you and not the Careers." he offered and I gave him a look. "Right never mind. But I still don't like it." he said and I just chuckled.

"I wonder what our families are thinking." I thought out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"Well its uncommon for there to be a love story in the Hunger Games to begin with. But I would think it's frowned upon for somebody from District 2 to have any sort of relationship with somebody from my District." I said in all seriousness.

"I don't care what all of my District thinks. I only care about what my family thinks." he said looking out over the Capitol before turning to me. "And I believe, from what I remember, my family loves you." he said flashing me a smile. I laughed and nudged him in his ribs with my elbow. He laughed along with me. "What about your family?"

"Well I don't know about my mom, she kinda went catatonic on my sister and I but she is doing a lot better. My sister might be a little surprised but she sees the good in everything. As for my friends, I don't know. They are a little over protective when it comes to me." I said vaguely.

"How do you mean?"

"Peeta has been my friend since I was a kid, he saved my life. But then there's Gale whose like my brother I've known him since I was maybe nine years old, and Madge is my like my older sister. They are all protective of me ever since they found out Peeta saved my life."

"How did he save your life?" he asked curiously.

"Aw is Cato jealous?" I teased.

"What? No, I'm just curious." he supplied and I just gave him a smirk.

"When I was little, after my dad died, I was trying to sell some of our old baby clothes for food or money. But I couldn't, nobody wanted them. Peeta saw me out in the rain, starving and burned some bread to give to me, he got in trouble with his mom but he didn't care. He helped me anyway. Two loaves of bread was food for a weak. Enough for me to try to get more." I said trying not to tell him about the hunting.

"How could you get more food if it was so hard the first time?" he asked. I was quiet for a while, still nervous, I would have to tell him about the hunting, and how I got the scars. "Katniss?"

"The reason why I wanted you to get me a bow is because back home I hunt for food." I said looking at my hands in my lap.

"Isn't that illegal?"

"Yeah, going beyond the fence, into the woods and hunting for food to stay alive is illegal. That's why I got whipped." I said, I looked over and saw his hand clenched into fists, his knuckles turning white. "Cato calm down."

"I want to hurt the one who whipped you."

"It was a new Peacekeeper, he hadn't experienced the starvation yet."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"I sell to Peacekeepers and that's why I haven't been punished before." I told him. He relaxed a little bit but still his hand was clenched. I took it in mine and tried to open it. When I got it open it closed again, but around my own.

"I won't let anybody touch you in the Games. I won't let anybody hurt you." he said. I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. His finger came up and played with the ends of my hair that has fallen into its natural waves on my shoulders."I like you hair this way." he said absentmindedly.

"We should probably get to bed. We need our strength for tomorrow." I told him. He nodded and stood up, pulling me with him. As we walked to the door he had his arm around me, holding me to him. But I wasn't complaining, it felt good, comfortable. When we got to the door, he gave me one last hug and kissed my head. In silence I walked into my bedroom thinking about tomorrow. What am I going to do, what is my plan of action? I won't join the Careers, not with Glimmer coming after me. I laid in my bed and closed my eyes. It only seemed like a few minutes before Effie came knocking on my door.

"Wake up! Its a big big big day!" she said before I heard her heels click away. I looked out the window and saw that it was bright outside. So I had to have gotten some sleep last night. I took a shower and changed into my arena outfit that was sitting on my bed. I put it on and braided my hair into its usual side braid. I walked into the dining room and sat down at the table, eating whatever food I allowed myself to stomach with my nerves. When it was time to go we were escorted to the hovercraft that would take up to the arena. Haymitch told me not to go to the Cornucopia, because it would be the Bloodbath, just turn and run away.

"Give me your arm." a Peacekeeper asked every Tribute, sticking a needle in and injecting us with some.

"What is that?" I asked when she got to me.

"Your tracker." she said as she injected my arm. When she walked away I looked around me at the scared faces. Clove was sitting to my left while Cato was across from me and down to the right. He kept glancing at me. I would catch his glances and he'd give a me look of encouragement. Clove and I kept looking at each other too, I wanted to reach out and grasp her hand. We were nervous because one of us was going to die, and we'd become close these past two years. The hovercraft landed and we all went to our own prep room to meet with our stylists one last time. I saw Cinna and I immediately hugged him. He grabbed a jacket off its hanger and helped me put it on.

"I'm not allowed to bet. But if I could I'd bet on you." he said before opening up a hidden collar in my jacket and revealing my Mockingjay Pin. I had forgotten about it, but I was happy to have it now.

"Thank you." I said with a shaky voice.

"Fifteen seconds." a robotic voice came over the intercom. I hesitantly took a few steps over and stepped into the clear glass tube. It immediately shut and I turned to Cinna in surprise. He gave me one last nod before I raised up onto a pedestal. Everybody was in a circle around the Cornucopia. It was was forest, the Arena was a forest. I could win this, it was my element. I spotted Cato a few people away from me and he looked at me with a knowing look. He knows I can win this because its a forest. I nodded to him with a tiny smile before he turned at glared at the middle of the clearing with determination in his eyes.

The sixty seconds were up, and the gong rang. Everybody sprinted towards the Cornucopia except for me, Peeta who as ten Tributes away, and a few others who ran towards the woods. I hesitated and looked around the outskirts for a bag that I could grab. Then I saw it, a bright neon orange bag near the edge of the woods. So I took off towards it. Right as I got there another boy grabbed it. A knife was soon embedded in his skull and I looked to see where it came from and I saw Clove in the follow through position as she just threw it. She nodded and at and I gestured her to throw another, she did and I raised my bag to catch it. Then I ran for it, for the cover of the woods. Once I was concealed I kept running, to make sure that I was far enough away from the Cornucopia before I stopped to inspect what I had in my bag. I sat down, breathing heavily, and opened the pack to find an empty water bottle, a book of matches, a thin sleeping bag, and some chain links. Great, just what I need to get a good start in the Hunger Games. Suddenly there was a large boom, a cannon to be exact. They started going off once they had an official count of who had died in the Bloodbath. Twelve of us gone already. That's half of us dead. Twelve more Tributes to go.

With that on my mind I stood up and started walking. To find a source of water, and to set up some snares to possibly get some food. I found a small stream and hastily filled my water bottle and purified it before taking small sips of it. I don't know when I'll find some more water again so I have to spare it. Then as I checked the snares I found a rabbit caught in one. I skinned it and cooked it over a small fire while keeping an eye on my surroundings, there was still a lot of Tributes out there, and if I'm right, the Careers will be on the hunt soon, if they aren't already.

~Cato~

I looked through the dead Tributes at the Cornucopia three times. Just to make sure that none of them were Katniss, Lover Boy, or Rue. I was okay with calling Peeta by the name of Lover Boy, ever since he has tried getting in the way of taking Katniss from me. Luckily none of them were the three I was looking for, thankfully. The Careers thus far are Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, the boy from Three, Gadge, and then me.

"Marvel sort through weapons."

"Okay." he called back before doing what I asked.

"What do you want me to do Cato?" Glimmer asked, trying to seduce me.

"Sort the medical supplies." I grunted.

"But I don't know anything about medical stuff." she pouted, stomping her foot like a spoiled child.

"Then take Clove with you." I said annoyed. "Gadge, sort out the food." I ordered.

"Cato!" Clove shouted from the edge of the clearing. I turned and saw her standing with Lover Boy? I walked over there with my sword in hand, I won't kill him, but we are so close to the woods, he might not be working alone.

"What?" I snapped.

"He wants in." Clove said giving him a suspicious look.

"In the Careers?" I asked surprised. "Seriously?"

"Look I may not like either of you as much as Katniss does." he said which made Clove and I glance at each other. "But I would rather work with people who have the same goal as me."

"And what goal would that be?" I asked sheathing my sword and crossing my arms.

"To get Katniss home." he said with a serious look on his face. I stared at him, searching for something. Then I saw it in his eyes, he's genuine.

"Fine, do one thing to cross us and I'll-" I started.

"Yeah I know, kill me." He said as he started to walk past us but I put a hand to his chest to stop him.

"No, I won't kill you. I promised Katniss. I was just going to say that I'll kick you out of the Careers myself." I threatened before walking away and back to the Cornucopia. "Clove go help Glimmer, she's worthless." I said as she caught up to me and walked by my side.

"Then why is she with us?"

"Couldn't have one without the other." I said as I looked at Marvel.

"Don't tell me that Marvel likes her." she almost complained.

"No, we wanted Marvel, but his Mentor said that if we take him, we have to have Glimmer too. And I hate it." I said as I stalked off to take any supplies I can from the dead Tributes that they tried to take. After we were all done sorting through everything in the field I was ready to hunt. I wanted to make sure that Katniss was okay. As we walked Clove came and walked in the front beside me.

"I got her some supplies." she said. "And a weapon."

"How?" I asked as I had the bow and a quiver of arrows over my shoulder.

"She went for a backpack and some other Tribute went for it too. I killed him and threw her another knife, so she would at least have something." she explained and I nodded. We hunted through the woods, until it got dark. Then in the distance, I could see a light. Some stupid Tribute decided to light a fire. I immediately knew it wasn't Katniss, if she could hunt for her family for years, then she wouldn't make the mistake of setting a fire. We walked up to the fire.

"Well look at what we have here." I said and took out my sword as this young girl, probably fourteen years old begged for her life. I saw with her supplies that she had a small sword. Sadly, and I know Kat would never approve, I stuck her in her heart. We took her supplies and walked away. I took whatever food was in this girls pack and held onto it, so I could give it to Katniss.

"Um the cannon didn't go off." Glimmer pointed out annoyed.

"It's a mistake, I know where I stuck her." I remarked.

"Will you just shut up, I'll go check." Lover Boy piped up and I heard a gasp and it wasn't from us, Katniss must be around. I doubt she knows that Lover Boy joined us. Soon enough he came back after the cannon went off.

"Okay then let's go." Clove said.

"You guys head back to camp. I gotta do something." I told them, they all gave me a confused look. "Unless you'd all like to see me pee, you better get moving." I warned and they booked it out of there. Once I knew they were gone I looked around me for my girl. "Katniss?" I whispered. A leaf fell from above me and I looked up to see her nestled on a branch. She gestured for me to come up and I granted her wish and climbed up to the best of my abilities. "Hey." I said once I was on the same branch as her.

"Hey." she whispered back.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked her as my hand cupped her cheek and my eyes searched her over for any possible injuries. It was hard because it was dark, but the moon as able to provide enough light for me to see.

"I'm fine and I'm not hurt." she said and I sighed in relief. I took the bow and arrows off my shoulder and the food I grabbed and handed them to her.

"I believe these are for you." I said giving them to her with a smile.

"You got them!" she said happily.

"Had to wrestle them from Glimmer but yeah." I told her. "Um if you don't mind me asking, is this how you got your eleven?" I asked and she smirked.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask about that. I did but only because it was a very surprising session." she said and I gave her a look asking her to go on. She leaned in close and I met her half way so her lips were at my ear. "I kinda got mad and shot at the Gamemakers food. Pinned an apple to the wall." she said then pulled away, I gaped at her.

"You did what? You're lucky they didn't kill you!" I exclaimed a little too loudly.

"But they wouldn't because they couldn't replace me. You better go before the rest of the Careers think you have a bladder problem." she said teasingly.

"But I don't want to leave you." I said, sounding really soft. She leaned in again and kissed me on the cheek.

"Will that tide you over until next time?" she asked and I smirked, shaking my head as well.

"Not quite, but this will." I said and I leaned in and pressed my lips lightly to hers. She was surprised at first but after a moment she started to kiss back, which is good because the first time I kissed her years ago she never replied. But this time she did and it made me happy. She pulled away with a smile on her face.

"You know if you had just waited a little longer the first time you wouldn't have gotten so mad." she said mentioning the first time. I liked this Katniss, she was playful but I still liked the tough Katniss from training.

"What do you mean?"

"I was going to kiss back but you pulled away too soon." she said and I smiled.

"Well my bad." I teased snatching one more kiss from her.

"Will you get out of here before they come looking?" she said shoving me down the tree a little bit. I climbed down I looked up at her one last time. "Tell Clove I say hi." she said and I winked at her before walking away reluctantly. Eventually I made it back to the camp site and I saw them all crowded around a fire one of them had built.

"Cato it's about time you got back man." Marvel said.

"Yeah what took you so long?" Glimmer asked curiously.

"I told you I had to pee." I said sitting down between Marvel and Clove.

"Hey Cato can I talk to you man?" Marvel asked and I looked at him suspiciously before nodding, taking my sword with me.

"What going on?" I asked him, he seemed nervous but serious about something.

"Back home, a few years ago I got a girl pregnant, she had the baby but left her at my door. She's going to be four in a coupled of days. Her name is Pamela. I know that after seeing you volunteer there isn't a good chance of me making it out of here, but I sure as hell will try to get back to her. If I don't make it will you make sure she get's this?" he asked taking a necklace from his neck, it was a circular locket, inside it was a picture of the two of them on one side and on the other was some sort of writing, I took a closer look at it and it read,

I love you LaLa

~Daddy

"Why me?" I asked him, looking from the necklace to him.

"You have the best chance at getting out of here alive, after Katniss. I'm going to try to get out of here. Once this alliance is broken I won't hold back. But I already know that it's you or Katniss that is going to get out of here. Just make sure that Pamela gets this. I don't want it to come from somebody from the Capitol, but somebody whose been through this with me. " he said and I nodded.

"Sure thing man." I said shaking his hand, promising him. I tucked the necklace into my pocket and zipped it up so it wouldn't fall out. This present shouldn't come from me, it should come from him. But because of the situation we're in, he won't be able to give it to her. He shouldn't be here, none of us should be here.

"Thank you." he said with some relief evident as we walked back to the fire where everybody else sat talking about the Games.

"Everybody get some sleep, I'll take first watch." I said and everybody went and got in their tents. Clove hung back for a minute.

"Did you see her?" she whispered to me and I nodded. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah she's fine, she has her weapons and some food. I think she'll be okay." I said thinking about the kiss, our first real kiss after me telling her how I felt.

"What's with the smile?" Clove asked me curiously. "What did you guys hook up or something?" she added sarcastically.

"Well not to that extent." I hinted.

"You mean you kissed!?" she whispered surprised. "Like a real one?"

"Why are you so surprised? And what do you mean a real one?"

"Please, do you honestly think she didn't tell me about the first one? I called you out on it remember? And I'm surprised because I wanna know why you are here and not with her."

"She doesn't want my help, at least not yet." I said looking into the fire.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. She hasn't exactly told me why. She just said that she'd be okay and that I needed to trust her."

"And do you trust her?"

"Of course, otherwise I would be with her right now. Now go to bed, you need your strength." I said lightly pushing her away.

"You do too Cato. You aren't a superhero. Two hours and I take next watch." she said sympathetically before walking away to her own tent. During my watch I kept an eye on the woods. Nobody came, and nobody went. The air was too quiet. The Gamemakers must have something planned for tomorrow.