Sleep wasn't coming easy to her. She'd been awake staring at the ceiling for hours. Her mind was running wild with anxiety. She could feel it. There was something different in the air. Things were changing and she didn't know how to deal with that.

"What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" Taiya asked.

"I can basically feel your stress, Tay," Finnick groaned. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, go to sleep," she smiled softly.

"I can't sleep with you tossing and turning everywhere," he complained as he flipped over to look at her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Seneca."

"Not what I was expecting you to be thinking about in our bed," Finnick breathed. "What's wrong with him?."

"He just… he's become too headstrong. Too independent," Taiya sighed. "He's too confident. He knows how to put on a show. Create a Game that the Capitol people will like. They adore him for it. He's the most 'entertaining' Gamemaker they've had in years. But he's getting too swept up in it. He sees the Games as a TV program. Not a method of control. That's fine if you're a regular Capitol citizen, but not if you're a Gamemaker. I mean I thought for a while that he understood the Games from our perspective. But now I'm not so sure. I told him the other day that he needs to kill the girl on fire and we haven't spoken much since."

"You want him to kill the girl from 12?" Finnick asked confusedly. "Why would you want that?"

"Snow doesn't like her. He wants her dead. I just don't know how seriously Seneca is taking the threat. I feel like he's blowing it off. The people in the districts love an underdog. If this gets away from the Capitol, they'll use her as a symbol. She's breeding hope. Hope is Snow's biggest fear right now."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Finnick asked as he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear.

Taiya stuttered. "It's bad for us, right? We're safe at the moment. We comply with his requests and he likes that."

"But is this the life you want for us? For our children? You said it yourself, we can't bring kids into the world like it is now. It's up to us to make a difference. We can't just wait for things to change. We need to be at the forefront."

"Finnick," Taiya's eyes widened. "You're talking about rebellion!" Finnick gave her a soft smile and she shook her head. "No. Finnick. No. We have a good thing going here," she denied before turning over.

"I know it's a scary idea," he leant in to kiss the back of her head. "It's terrifying. But we can't pretend this world is ok. Things need to change, one way or another."


Taiya walked into the Gamemaker's centre the next day. She and Seneca needed to talk. After what Finnick had said last night she was more scared than ever.

"Sir," a lower-level Gamemaker spoke as she entered. "She is almost at the edge. 2 kilometres away from the nearest tribute."

"Hey," Taiya greeted quietly as she came to stand next to Seneca.

"Hi," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

"Who's close to the edge?" Taiya asked.

"The girl from 12," Seneca answered before turning back to his employee. "Let's turn her around."

"Can we talk?" Taiya asked.

"Yeah, of course," Seneca nodded and lead her through to a private room. Taiya let out a shaky breath as she sat down beside him on the couch. "Are you okay?"

"When you turn that girl around, you need to kill her."

"Not this again," he grumbled as he stood up.

"Sen!"

"These are my Games, Taiya, mine. Not yours and not Snow's. The Game needs to play out naturally. You can't interfere."

"Seneca!" Taiya snapped as she stood up and grabbed his arms. "She needs to die." Taiya bit her lip as she looked around. "I've heard talk," she confessed.

"What talk?" he asked, immediately alarmed.

"Coming out of the districts," she lied. "People like her too much. It's that ideology that President Snow warned us about. She's an underdog. That breeds hope, and it's already starting. If it grows there's no controlling it. The embers are there, the flame just has to catch. It could trigger another rebellion and then they're all at risk. You are at risk! Snow's first step to quashing a rebellion would be to take you out. You have to get her out of the game before people get attached."

"Where'd you hear this?" Seneca asked sternly but Taiya kept her mouth shut. "Finnick?" Seneca scoffed. "He just wants me away from you."

"It's not about that Seneca. I didn't hear it from Finnick though," she lied. "It's no secret that a lot of victors aren't exactly fans of the Capitol. They keep their ears to the ground about things like this. At the moment it's just whispers, but if it's already reached them, it's just going to grow. There are only embers, it cannot grow further."

Seneca looked into her eyes as he studied her expression. He then exhaled as he sat back down. "You swear to me, ok. I need you to swear. Swear this is the only way."

"I swear," Taiya promised. "It needs to be done or it's your head on the chopping block."

"Ok," he nodded. "Tomorrow. Consider it done."


Taiya was standing in the sponsor's bar with Haymitch watching the Games. Today was the day Seneca promised the girl would be taken care of. It needed to be done, but that didn't mean Taiya wanted to be involved. So she'd stationed herself at the bar, ready to support her friend when his tribute was eventually murdered.

"What in the hell!" Haymitch growled. It was happening. Taiya looked up at the screen to see the girl being chased by fire, with fireballs being thrown in her direction. They were very obviously going out of the way to target her. "This is your boy's idea of entertainment?" Haymitch asked her.

"It has to be done," she replied, shocking him. He hadn't expected her to be on board with this blatant attack.

"It doesn't have to be done! This is about regaining control!"

Taiya grabbed him and whispered, "Snow spoke to us about it. There's no choice, it has to be done. If it's not taken care of, who do you think he'll come after? I'm not risking it."

Haymitch looked her in the eye. She didn't like this, he knew that. But she had to look out for herself and her family first. Taiya turned back to the screen to see Katniss scaling a tree to escape the Careers who were lurking underneath. It was only a matter of time now.

"Well," Haymitch glared at the screen. "He still gets his spectacle. The whole Capitol will now be counting down to her falling out of the tree."

"I'm sorry! This isn't what I want Haymitch! Do think I want this? Do you think I feel good about begging him to kill her? I don't. I feel awful but I'm terrified. This is bigger than me. Bigger than you."

"I never took you for a coward," he muttered as he drank his drink.

"I'm not," she breathed.

"I know you're not. But you're acting like one. You're acting like a Capitol puppet. You're better than that Tay. That is a 16-year-old girl you're sentencing to death. She's the same age you were," he pointed at the screen. "Look at that," he emphasised. The girl was sobbing in the tree as she tried to clean a burn on her leg. "Remember when that was you?"

"It's different."

"How?" he demanded.

"I wasn't an underdog! I was a career."

"You were a pretty rich girl!" he exclaimed. "No one here expected you to win. But they wanted you to. You survived because people here helped you. They gave you a chance. Now you're trying to take that privilege away from someone else. She hasn't done anything. You're condemning that girl because you're scared. How do you think she feels? These Games are a bloodsport. They're vile. And everyone should have an equal chance of going home to their families. You're not one of these people," he hissed as he pointed at the ridiculous-looking Capitol citizens around them. Don't forget where you come from."

"I'm not brave like that. Haymitch," she whispered. "I'm too scared. He'll come after me and the people I love. He has too much power over me."

"If you don't show some autonomy, they'll push you around for the rest of your life. You don't want to end up like me. You're a bright girl Taiya. You have the chance to have a good life. Don't throw it away."

Taiya watched the screen in turmoil. She was the same age. 16. Too young for this. Taiya was wanting to have this girl killed to serve her own agenda. That wasn't the person she wanted to be.

"Follow me."

"Hmm?" Haymitch asked.

"Follow me," she muttered as she turned and walked up to a Capitol man she knew. "Todd, darling! It's been too long," she laughed as she kissed both of his cheeks. "I'm sorry but I just had to come up to you! Are they the new Caesar Flickerman exclusive shoes?"

"The very ones," he smiled as he showed them off.

"The what?" Haymitch asked in confusion.

"There were only 5 pairs released Haymitch," Taiya explained with a wide smile. "I was desperate to get them for my fiancée but they are so hard to come by."

"I know someone? I could get them to contact you?" Todd offered.

"Oh, Todd you are such a darling! Isn't he just?" Taiya asked Haymitch.

"Swell," Haymitch smiled uncomfortably.

"Are you enjoying the Games this year?" Taiya asked.

"Well my dear," he ran a hand down her arm. "You can tell your fiancée he's done an outstanding job. There's a good bunch of tributes this year. I liked your girl from 12," he nodded briefly at Haymitch before turning back to Taiya. "There's a countdown on for her now. Shouldn't be long now."

"I don't think it's over for 12," Taiya hummed.

"No?"

"Oh not at all. All that girl needs is some sponsored burn ointment and she'll be right on her way to a win," Taiya smiled. "Do you have money on her?"

"Well… no."

"You should," she said before gasping and covering her mouth. "I wonder if I'm allowed to give out advice. Oh well," she laughed. "I will."

"Her odds aren't looking good," he muttered as he looked live gambling screen.

"Well that's because she's currently out of commission. Only temporarily though. It could be a good time to put some money on her. Because once she gets that burn ointment, she'll be right off. You've got a chance for an excellent return."

"Burn ointment you say?" he asked.

"Oh yes. Should be relatively inexpensive given it's for a tribute from 12," Taiya shrugged. "I mean it's an interesting year, isn't it? She got an 11! Remarkable score for anyone, let alone someone from 12. And yet investors still seem to underestimate her." Taiya smiled at him. "Anyway, I just wanted to come over and ask about your shoes. I'll talk to you later Todd," Taiya threaded her arm through Haymitch's. "Haymitch is about to head off to look for sponsors for his girl. Have a good day," she turned around and walked a few steps.

"Wait!" Todd called out.


"What did you do?" Seneca demanded as he found her walking around the Tribute Centre the next day.

"Seneca… I…"

"What do you want from me?" he asked desperately. "I don't do what you want, and you get upset. And then I target her and you work with 12's mentor to get her the medication she needs to survive? You're the one who wanted her dead. I was happy to let it play out. What do you want from me!"

"Sen, I'm sorry," she apologised. "I didn't want to be responsible for her death."

"You wouldn't be! I would be. I'm the one ordering fireballs to be thrown at her all because you wanted me to!"

"So I would've made you kill her! That still would've been on me! I can't do that. That's not me! I don't want to kill anymore."

"Well, why don't you come back to me when you work out what you want huh? Until then just let me do my job," he snapped before storming away.


She'd been staying out of it. She really had. Seneca could deal with this mess himself. It was hard to ignore the increasing rumours though. After the child from 11 was killed, the girl on fire saluted the screen. There had been violent riots in District 11 for the past day. Things were getting out of control. It was up to Seneca to reel them in. But he'd made it clear he didn't want her help.

And all on his own he'd made a critical mistake.

"What in the goddamn hell is this?" Taiya snarled.

Attention tributes. Attention. The regulations requiring a single victor have been suspended. From now on, two victors may be crowned if both originate from the same district.

"Calm down right now," Tyler warned.

"What the hell has he done!" Taiya stood up from the couch.

"He didn't think of this on his own," Finnick muttered and Taiya looked over at him.

"What do you mean?"

Finnick sighed. "Who's tribute needs a moral boost?"

"Haymitch."


"What did you do? What did you do!" Taiya yelled as she spotted him in the bar.

"Calm down, calm down," he raised his hands in the air.

"No. I will not!"

"Well, then let's take this somewhere else where there are fewer ears," Haymitch took her elbow and pulled her into the empty parlour room.

"How did you convince him this was a good idea? Seneca wouldn't have come up with this on his own. You influenced him!"

"I asked him to think about what he'd do if it were him and you in there," Haymitch tried to explain. "Sell the love story, the people will love it."

"Why would you do this? You're going to get him killed!" she started to cry.

"What are you so upset about?" Haymitch groaned. "You weren't involved, I made sure you weren't. He knows this idea didn't come from you. Whatever happens, you won't get blamed."

"I'm not worried about me here!" she snarled.

"The boy," Haymitch realised.

"I care about him," she exclaimed.

"He works for the Capitol. You can't seriously want to protect him. He's one of them Taiya!"

"He's my friend. You're putting him in danger Haymitch. Snow is going to kill him!"

"The people here will love it. He'll be fine."

"What about the districts!" she yelled. "Do you think this will placate the districts?"

"Settle down," he warned. The last thing they wanted was to be overheard.

"No!" she screamed before she shoved him. "It's not fair!"

He frowned at her as he studied her over-the-top reaction. There was something going on. She was upset about Seneca, sure. But there was something else. Something she was holding back. "Is there something else going on here? There's another reason you're upset," he pressed.

Taiya's lip started quivering. "I lost Theo. We weren't given the chance for two winners. We never had that available. You begged me to give that girl the same chance I had. I helped you. I got her medicine so she could live. But now she has a bigger opportunity than I was ever given. Theo didn't have that chance. He couldn't win with me. He died because there can only be one winner. That's the rule. Shark didn't have that chance either. I lost two people that I loved more than I can say. Because you can't have two winners. It's not the way it works. If it was, maybe they would still be here! Maybe they would have fought differently. They were condemned from that start. It's not fair!" she yelled as tears started flowing down her cheeks.

"Sweetheart," he sighed as he tried to touch her arm.

"No, don't touch me," she shrugged him off.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Don't. Just don't," she cried before storming away.

As she walked down the hallway wiping her eyes she saw Seneca walking towards her. She ducked her head so he wouldn't see her tears.

"Hey, I was coming to find you. I just wanted to I'm sorry if you're upset with me," he apologised. "Hey are you ok?" he asked as he spotted her tear streaked face.

She looked up at him and allowed him to wipe away the tears from under her eyes.

"You don't approve of two winners I'm guessing," he mumbled. He'd disappointed her again.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she pulled him in for a hug.

"Hey, hey," he comforted her as he ran his hand down her hair. "It's ok. I've got you."


"They're the only pair left, they're the only pair left," Taiya stressed.

"It's fine, it's fine, it's fine," Seneca repeated, mainly to reassure himself. He had expected the pair from 12 to make a mistake. But they hadn't. They were down to four tributes now. This two winners incentive was quickly looking like it would backfire. Seneca placed a hand on her back and led her away from the other Gamemakers and out of earshot. "We're ending this now. They won't be able to beat the boy from 2. He's too strong. Just relax ok?"

"And if they do beat him?" she asked.

"We'll retract the ruling. There won't be two winners. It can't happen," he said as he looked down at the other Gamemakers. "Look," he pointed. "Lucia is preparing mutts to attack. If the boy from 2 doesn't get them, the mutts will."

"Ok," Taiya nodded.

"I'm going to go and finish these Games ok. Just stay here."

Taiya nodded and he ran off to speak to Lucia as she finalised the mutts. The woman projected them into the middle of the room and Taiya's eyes widened.

They were horrifying. They seemed like a hybrid of dead tributes and wolves. Fear and psychological torture all in one. It would be an effective method of luring the remaining tributes together. The final bloodbath.

"That's it. That's excellent," Seneca approved gleefully. "What do you think?" he asked as he turned to Taiya.

"They're terrifying," she replied quietly. This seemed to appease Seneca as he clapped his hands. This was the kind of ending he wanted. A spectacle.

It wasn't long until these mutts were chasing the pair from 12. But the kids were fast. They reached the Cornucopia quickly. Katniss had escaped relatively unscathed, but Peeta had been injured.

They'd been corralled to the exact location as Cato was currently. He was injured, but he was still challenging the pair for victory as they wrestled. It wasn't until he got Peeta in a headlock that Taiya let out a sigh of relief. She didn't see a way out of this for the pair from 12. At least one of them was about to die. There'd be no risk of two winners.

But then the tide changed. Katniss shot an arrow into Cato's hand, causing him to release Peeta and fall into the sea of mutts eagerly waiting below.

They'd done it. The pair from 12 had won. The pair had won. Two winners.

Taiya stared at the screen dumbfounded. This was the end. Seneca was a dead man walking. Maybe she was as well. She had no idea how much blame Snow would place on her. This was her one job. Keep him in line. Make sure he followed Snow. This went against everything Snow wanted.

"Lift the lights," Seneca instructed his team urgently. "Lift the sunlight, repeal the rule change. There can only be one winner. NOW!" he yelled as his team quickly set into action.

Attention. Attention tributes. There has been a slight rule change. The previous revision allowing two victors from the same district has been revoked. Only one victor may be crowned. And may the odds be ever in your favour.

The Capitol citizens and districts wouldn't be happy. Virtually no one would be happy. But Snow would be. This was the only way for Seneca to survive.

But just like the rest of these Games, it wasn't going according to plan.

"Sen!" Taiya panicked. Both tributes were refusing to kill the other. They'd saved some nightlock berries. They were both going to die together. They'd have no winner. No winners would be a worse result than two winners.

"It's ok. They won't do it," Seneca assured as he ran up to her. "It's fine."

"No it's not!" she yelled as the rest of the Gamemakers tried to ignore their spat. Look! They're going to do it."

"Trust me," he said, trying to reassure himself more than anything. It had finally dawned on him the danger he was in.

"No. You have to stop them!" she screamed as she pointed at the screen. The pair were counting to three. Then they'd eat the poison berries.

Seneca pulled away and stepped forward in shock. "Call them off," he said quietly.

Most Gamemakers didn't hear his order. But one did. Plutarch. He immediately sent through the message, stopping them just before they could swallow the berries.

Both Seneca and Taiya were staring shell-shocked at the screen. They had two winners. Taiya felt eyes on her and glanced down at Plutarch. He gave her a small nod. But she couldn't focus on that. All she could think about were the repercussions that were going to come her way.

Before she could even speak, Seneca violently grabbed her elbow and hauled her out of the Gamemaker room.

"Ow!" she complained as he rushed down the hall and past the Peacekeepers.

"You need to go. Right now," he said as his eyes widely darted around. He pulled her into a supply closet and held her to him in a hug. "Snow will be coming now. He can't see you here. I'm going to tell him you had nothing to do with this. I swear I'll do everything I can for you, ok. Everything I can."

"But you…" Taiya sobbed as she pulled away.

"I don't have a chance," he said quietly.

"We can do it together. Speak publicly. If we get the word out he might…"

"I'll try my best. But I don't know. Did you hear about what happened to the last Gamemaker? Hamlet?"

Taiya had. It was one of the secrets Finnick had obtained. "He drowned in his bath," she breathed.

Seneca nodded. "The dam broke, he was disgraced, fired and then drowned. How do you think it's going to end up for me?" he asked quietly. "So you need to get out. Get out, get home. If Snow asks, you say you did everything you could to discourage me." He looked at her again as he tried to control his own emotions. Once he'd composed his face, he opened the door and pushed her towards the elevator. "Now!" he urged before hurrying back to the Gamemaker room.

Taiya took off towards the elevator and quickly made her way out of the building, running across the street to the tribute centre. As soon as she entered the lobby, she spotted Finnick and Tyler coming out of the elevator.

Tyler dived back in to hold the door open. "Hurry, hurry," he waved his arm. Finnick ran forward to grab her hand before they ran into the elevator. "No one says anything until we're in the room," Tyler warned quietly.

Finnick had a tight grip on her hand as he tried to stop her from shaking. As the elevator arrived at their floor, Tyler quickly hurried them into the apartment.

As soon as the apartment door was shut, Taiya collapsed into Finnick's arms as tears wracked her whole body. "He's going to punish me. He's going to kill someone, he's going to kill someone!" she screeched as Finnick helped her over to the couch.

There was nothing he or Tyler could say to comfort her. Because they didn't know. No one knew what was going to happen.


So this took a bit longer to get out than I would have liked. I'm still not super happy with it. There's one more chapter in The Hunger Games to get out. It will probably be short and honestly, I might have it out tonight or tomorrow morning!

Hope you like this.