"I'm not wearing that," Taiya shook her head.

"You have to," her obnoxious stylist smiled. "It's the District 4 outfit."

"No."

"Your partner will be wearing the same," the woman sighed.

"Finnick is wearing a bra made of netting?" Taiya glared.

"No," the stylist huffed. "He's just wearing the skirt."

"So you've arranged for us both to essentially be naked."

"You're not naked. You have the bra and skirt."

"The mini skirt! I won't be able to move in that thing without showing the entire of Panem my…"

"Ok," the stylist interrupted. "So just refrain from moving too much."

"I miss Tigress," Taiya sighed in frustration.

"Tigress was moved on from the Games."

"Yes. I know, but she still styled me when I was in the Capitol."

"Well, I'm your stylist this year. So if you would," she held up the net bra and mini skirt set.

Taiya sighed loudly before snatching the outfit out of her stylist's hands.

Taiya walked into the gathering area tugging at the bottom of her skirt. As she entered she heard a wolf whistle.

"Shut up," she grumbled as she walked over to District 1's chariot. "Why do you both get to look good?" she asked the siblings.

"We didn't piss off our stylist," Gloss teased. "You like my whistle?"

"Loved it," she answered sarcastically. "Made me feel really special."

"Excited to be back?" Gloss asked. Both Taiya and Cashmere just turned their heads to glare at him. "Sorry," he threw his hands up. "It's an awkward situation."

"You don't say," Taiya snorted.

"So… allies?" Gloss asked.

"I want to be," Taiya nodded. "Careers all together is the strongest team by far. It'll guarantee one of us the win. I'm not too keen on the pair from 2 though," Taiya said as she looked over at the chariot behind them.

"Neither are we," Cashmere admitted. "But it'd be dangerous to go against them. Brutus is well... a brute."

"You're hilarious," Taiya scoffed.

"So you're in?" Gloss asked.

"I can't say. I want to but… depends on what Finn wants."

"Little lover boy," Gloss teased.

"Shut up," Taiya smiled. "We have to both agree on allies."

"You sure about that?" Cashmere asked and Taiya nodded.

"Because he's over there talking to one of our newest victors," Gloss leaned towards her.

"What?" Taiya asked in shock as she turned to see Finnick talking to Katniss. "What the hell?" she hissed angrily.

"Still not a fan of the girl on fire I see," Cashmere smiled. "Good. She's the reason we're here."

Taiya turned back to Cashmere and looked at her sceptically.

"It's true," Cashmere doubled down. "Do you honestly think we'd be here if she hadn't pissed off Snow? No. We'd be getting drunk right now."

"It's Seneca's fault too," Taiya tried to reason.

"Oh please. The boy that followed you around with puppy dog eyes for 7 years? He didn't know what he was doing. Now her," Gloss said as he grabbed Taiya's shoulders to spin her to look at Katniss again. "She would've been warned. But she didn't care. She continued to stoke the flames in the outer districts. She's the reason we're here. Because of her, you and Finnick are both here. You won't get to grow old and die together, because it's certain that at least one of you will be dead by the end."

Taiya looked down. The offer was there. It didn't have to be certain. All she had to do was dispose of the girl on fire in the Games, then Snow promised her safety for both Finnick and her. That was the only way they could grow old together.

She hadn't even noticed her hands had started to shake until one of them was snatched up and she found herself being dragged away from Cashmere and Gloss.

"I honestly don't know why you hang out with them," Johanna complained. "They're nothing but vicious backstabbers. You'd be stupid to ally with them. They'll turn on you the first chance they get. They'll know you and Finnick will be a threat to them because you're such a solid unit. I'm just being honest here. You don't have to ally with me if you guys want to go it alone, but just please, don't go with them, ugh,"

"I wasn't…"

"Please. I know you. You were thinking about it," Johanna cut her off as they stopped at District 4's chariot. "You want my advice? Which I'm not going to take, but I'm going to give it. If you're going to ally, ally with someone who has no one else to fight for."

"What do you mean?"

"Cashmere and Gloss, siblings. You and Finnick, soulmates. Katniss and Peeta, fake relationship thing. 1, 4 and 12. None of you is going to want to watch your loved one die in front of you. You'll fight more fiercely to defend them. More fiercely than the rest of us will because you have more to lose. It's just my opinion."

"Cecelia has three kids," Taiya pointed out. "That's something to fight for."

"They're not in there with her though. I think it's different if you can see them. But what do I know?" Johanna laughed. "I've got no one left to miss so I guess I've really got no idea."

"You've got me, Jo."

"We're about to go into the Games against each other," she pointed out.

"Hey," Taiya grabbed her hands. "You're like my sister Jo. I would fight for you."

Johanna looked up into Taiya's eyes slightly shocked. They'd been best friends for years. But given how alone Johanna was back home, she very rarely heard declarations of love anymore. And each one touched her heart.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly, her eyes slightly teary before she headed off.

"What was that about?" Finnick asked as he walked up to her. "You look super hot. Sugar cube?" he offered, holding his hand out that was piled with sugar cubes.

"Two things. One, you might want to get your team to take a look at the state of your teeth because I'm sure they don't cover dental in the arena. Two, why were you talking to her?" Taiya demanded as she placed her hands on her hips. "Actually three things. You look hot too," she muttered begrudgingly.

"Ok one, thank you, sweetie. Two, I'm not that worried about my teeth when I might be dead by the end of the week," he winked at her as her face fell. "Three, just trying to get a read on our newest victor. Turns out she may be the only victor that actively dislikes you."

"Yeah well I'm not a fan of her either," Taiya scowled as she looked over at the girl who was laughing with Peeta. "They're still playing the stupid fake romance card. It pisses me off. They're not even together and yet they can act like they are. You and I can't and we've been together for 8 years Finn. We're engaged and as soon as we get on that chariot we won't even be able to look at each other because somebody might notice."

Finnick grabbed her shoulders in an attempt to calm her down and ran his hands down to hers and held them. "If it helps us get sponsors it's what we need to do," he smiled softly. "If pretending we're not madly in love means we get food while the others starve then it's a sacrifice we need to make ok?" he said quietly, raising one hand to lightly pinch her chin. "Just know I do love you. Just because I can't hold your hand or kiss you out there, it doesn't diminish what we have here. What we have together is more important than them. Remember that ok?"

"Ok," Taiya agreed as she nodded her head.

"Alright," he smiled as he leapt up onto the chariot. "Geez how short is your skirt," he laughed. "Come closer, I'll lift you up, that way you won't flash everyone behind us," he smirked as he leaned down to her and lifted her up.

"Finn!" she squealed as her feet lifted off the ground. He'd wrapped his arms underneath her butt to lift her, ensuring her skirt rode up a bit underneath his arms. "Put me down," she laughed as he swung her around to stand in the chariot. It was only when he lowered her that her eyes fully noticed the necklace he was wearing and she gasped. "Oh my god," she smiled. "Your necklace."

It was the necklace she'd given him for his 16th birthday. The shark tooth necklace Theo had helped her choose.

"It's my token," he smiled, kissing the side of her head. "I'll bring the necklace, you bring the hair rope and I'll have my 3 favourite things in the arena with me."

"Are you calling me a thing?" she teased.

"No," he rolled his eyes with a smile. "You know what I meant."

"I did. And I loved it," she smiled before their chariot started moving and they sprung apart.

"Little Miss Sunshine," a loud voice yelled as she stepped off her chariot. She sighed deeply as she looked over to Haymitch who was standing near the District 12 chariot.

"What?" she yelled out.

He didn't reply, he merely waved his arm, ushering her to walk over to him and his tributes.

She let out a small groan as she walked over to her old friend. "What do you want?" she asked. He was already standing with Seeder and Chaff. He obviously wanted to sure up some friends for his golden duo.

"Just want to say hello to my favourite, not District 12 victor."

"Nice save Haymitch," Taiya smiled. "But we all know I'm your favourite victor hands down. No one else young and cool drinks with you."

"That's true," he said, looking pointedly at his two tributes. Peeta smiled at the interaction but Katniss remained stony-faced. Haymitch's smile faltered as he noticed her expression and he rolled his eyes before turning to face Taiya. "Must've been cold out there. You've not got much on."

"Trust me. Not my decision. I have a useless new stylist. She coordinated with Finnick's. Tigress would never. Plus we can't all wear flames to keep us warm. Although some tried," she said, mocking the outfits of the District 10 tributes, whose stylist had made them wear flaming belts. It didn't look anywhere near as good as District 12's flames.

"I'll admit, it's not your best look," Haymitch smiled. "Although I did watch half the crowd's eyes nearly pop out of their head," he laughed and she laughed along with him.

Peeta interrupted his smile still wide. "You have a different stylist this time?" he asked.

"Yes," Taiya nodded. "Tigress is my usual stylist, but the last time she was a stylist for the Games was my year. She stopped after that, but I took her on as a personal stylist. I mean you can be doing this Capitol stuff for years but it's nearly impossible to acquire the kind of fashion sense you need to live here. It's umm… bizarre is probably the best word," she said as she and Peeta laughed.

"Anyway," Haymitch interrupted as he slapped Taiya's back. "I'll see you guys soon," he said to her, Seeder and Chaff. He grabbed ahold of Taiya's hands and leaned in to kiss her cheek. As he pulled away he looked at her sternly. As he released her she clasped her hands closed in a fist, trying to disguise from the Peacekeepers that he'd just passed her a note.

She quickly crossed her arms across her chest and marched over to where Cashmere, Gloss and Finnick were standing.

"Hey," she greeted.

"You talking to 12 now?" Gloss taunted. "How torturous was that?"

"Well, I was mainly talking to Haymitch. She didn't say a word. Baker boy was nice though," she smiled as she looked around. As she glanced around the room she froze. Keeping her hand in a fist, she tapped it against Finnick's chest, pulling his attention.

"What?" he asked.

"Elevators! Elevators! Elevators!" she squeaked excitedly, which caused Finnick, Cashmere and Gloss to look at the glass-encased elevator that was ascending, containing Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta and Johanna. Only Johanna was currently stripping in front of them.

"Oh my god," Cashmere laughed. "This is amazing!"

"She's a psycho!" Taiya laughed as she jumped up and down.

"That'll make an impression," Gloss smirked.

Taiya tightened her fist around the note. She didn't dare open it while they were down here. She needed to head upstairs to their apartment where there weren't any cameras.

"Hey we should probably go as well," Taiya ushered Finnick.

"Yeah of course," he nodded. He picked up on something in her tone and knew it was time to go. "We'll see you guys later," he farewelled the pair from 1 and they hurried over to the elevators. "What's going on?" he asked quietly when they stepped into the elevator.

"Shhh," she hushed him quietly.

He nodded and they stood in silence until it reached the fourth floor. They quickly stepped out of the elevator and hurried to the door of the apartment. As soon as they closed the door he turned to face her.

She uncurled her hand and revealed the note she had. "Haymitch slipped it to me, I want to see what it says," she said as she uncrumpled it.

"What is it?" he asked.

Tay,
You, P, T and B. Meet on the roof at midnight tonight.
Don't tell anyone. Top secret.
The cameras will be covered from 11.55 pm, so you'll be safe to head up from then.
Destroy the note.
H

"Who's P?" Finnick asked.

"Peacock. That's you."

"Lovely," Finnick scowled. "What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know. If it was just about an alliance he could just talk to Tyler and Buck. I don't know why he wants all of us to meet. I'm not keen on aligning with 12 anyway but… I mean we may as well go and see what he wants?"

"All right. Just to see what he wants," Finnick agreed.

"If I'm honest," Taiya said as she grabbed some matches from the kitchen and lit the note on fire in the sink. "In terms of allies, I'm happy with just you and Jo."

"Me too. But we'll see what his offer is first."