A/N: So 10 followers huh? I guess I'm doing something right... And to the reviewer who said I should switch it to crossover it was originally that, but no one found it so I switched it to normal category... I hope that's alright. As always, please read, review and fangirl and please I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter I've missed you all!

See you in the review section I hope.

Alec POV

We left the chariot together, Magnus holding me close with one hand around my shoulders, guiding me quietly forwards with soft word of encouragement, as I was still a little dazed from my panic attack. Fire was definitely never going to be my thing. As we came in to Cinna and Effie's view, Effie gasped and they both rushed towards us.

"Alec, I am so, so sorry, I should have told you that was what I had planned to do, I'm so sorry!" Apologised Cinna hurriedly, leading me towards some paramedics in the far corner; they always seemed to be on standby.

"I'm fine Cinna, and I really don't need medical attention, can we just... Go and have dinner, please?" I asked him, slumping against Magnus' shoulder in exhaustion.

Cinna looked like he was about to protest, but obviously deciding against it and silently leading us to the lift and then towards our apartment.

I was left alone to shower and change far too soon. My room was plain, a bed, some cabinets and wardrobes, an ensuite bathroom, and that was all, but to me, it was like paradise. The bed was so soft that once I was in it I never wanted to get up again, but I forced myself to with a groan, stepping quickly into the steaming water of the shower, letting my muscles relax.

The shower can't have lasted very long, maybe 10 minutes, but when I returned to my room, donned in not much more than a towel, there was a girl standing in the corner, looking at me with dead, darkest brown eyes. Her hair was a dark, deep black colour, it's straight locks flowing gently over her shoulders, down along her arms. She stood deadly still, her hands clasped before her.

"Can I help you?" I asked. She then-finally- seemed to register I was actually in the room with her, then shook her head quickly and left, slamming the door behind her. I stared after her a minute, a girl who so much resembled my sister, that I worried that it actually was her, before shaking my head.

Isabelle was dead. No amount of wishing would bring her back, and I knew that.

It still hurt like hell though.

I threw on some of the clothes in the wardrobe, all black, a jumper and black jeans, before stepping out into the main livingroom area, where everyone was waiting for me.

I pulled out one of the dining room table chairs and sat down, biting my lip awkwardly as the conversation died down to make way for my entrance.

"Hi." Magnus said, smiling.

"Hey. Sorry if I kept you all waiting." I apologised, keeping my eyes fixed on the table in front of me.

"No problem at all, dear," Effie said, "So let's have some food shall we?" She said, as the dishes were uncovered, and we started to eat.

The dinner progressed with little conversation from me and Magnus, mostly it was just us trying to understand everything the others were saying, talk of 'designers' and 'what's in' and other such things that I certainly didn't know about. After a while, I tuned the conversation down in my head, instead focusing on Haymitch, as it occurred to me, throughout the entire meal, I hadn't seen him drink once! Nothing alcoholic anyway.

What a transformation...I thought, a little confused, but deciding it was best not to point it out, in case Haymitch had somehow forgotten about it and Alec mentioning it would make him start again.

It was only after a minute or two that he noticed everyone was staring at him.

"What?" He asked, and could hear Magnus suppressing a giggle and failing miserably.

"I said, I heard you can shoot..?" Haymitch said, looking at me expectantly as he shovelled more roast duck into his mouth.

I looked down at my plate, finishing my own mouthful of amazing food.

"I'm alright." I allowed, starting to refill my glass, hoping the subject would change, but Magnus wasn't having it.

"He's more than alright, my parents used to buy his squirrels, my dad still says Alec's the best shooter you can get; says he hits them right in the eye, every time."

Silence fell over the table, shocked looks all around, except from Magnus who was looking increasingly smug.

"Magnus is strong, he can hold his own in a fight, and he's quick, he can lift a whole ton of four over his head, I've seen it." I said, returning Magnus' smug look. But Magnus wasn't grinning anymore, he looked downright annoyed.

"Oh really, and what's strength and speed going to do for me in the arena, Alec? Why don't you enlighten me?"

"It's a hell of a lot more than I've got, and you might stand a better chance of winning if someone came after you with a knife if-"

"I have no chance of winning!" Magnus shouted, looking at me with an appalled expression. "None, alright?"

The silence that had stretched over several long minutes felt so horrible that Alec could feel his skin crawl at the tension.

"Everyone knows it..." Magnus muttered, rolling his eyes.

It physically pained Alec to see him like this, the idea that Magnus could die from something so horrible was unbearable, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Magnus I didn't-" I started, but Magnus just sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Don't worry about it, it's just been a long day, I didn't mean to shout at you." He apologised, picking at his food with his fork. Why did he always have to scrutinize his food?!

"It's fine, really."

I didn't say much else that dinner, after a while, Magnus and I excused ourselves and went to bed, but even as my body slept, my mind would not let me rest, not when thoughts of Magnus' death occupied it.

The next morning was the first day of training, and well, I couldn't be much more nervous. I had made an absolute embarrassment of myself in front of the other tributes in the parade, so I just hoped that I could actually get some training in without them making fun of me. I don't do well with confrontation; that was always Jace's forte.

I met Magnus after breakfast, judging by how late he had been coming out of his room, he was a heavy sleeper. That wasn't a good thing, I just hoped he could jolt himself out of the habit before the games started. Else it could get him killed.

"Ready?" Magnus asked me, a reassuring smile on his face. I laughed nervously.

"Not at all, but we have to, so let's get this over with..."I said, as we descended in the lift.

I followed Magnus mutely as he lead me into an almost empty training room. Over in the corner I could see the small girl from district 11 vomiting against the wall. I couldn't stop myself from walking towards him, despite Magnus' protests.

"Hey, it's going to be alright." I reassured her, touching her shoulder, she looked up at me, mischief in her eyes.

She drew me close then, and whispered in my ear, "I'm fine, just trying to get them to underestimate me. Thank you though." She said shyly, shaking my hand- which I wasn't prepared for and consequently made a rather rubbish contribution to the gesture- before letting me go.

When I returned to Magnus, he was grinning at me whilst also shaking his head, a look that said 'you're adorable, yet also an idiot', not that I knew that at the time.

"What?" I demanded, but he just shook his head again, muttering 'nevermind' before guiding me further through the joining rooms, beckoning me into one, and then locking it behind us.

"Just like Haymitch said." I said. "He said that we'd be able to have private training rooms, if we were lucky."

Magnus laughed, smirking slightly, his eye roaming down my body suggestively and making me blush.

"Does that meant that now we're alone I can have my wicked way with you?" He asked, approaching me slowly.

"I-I um... I- Um... Magnus!"

He just laughed as I struggled for words that wouldn't come to me, and grabbed a bow that was hanging on the far wall, and handing it to me.

"I was joking Alec." He explained, grabbing two swords of the wall, and handing one to me.

"Come on, let's get warmed up. Why don't we spar?" He asked, and I nodded, taking a defensive stance.

"You're on."

In the end, it was fairly clear that Magnus was the obvious winner of sparring. At one point he wrestled me to the ground and held me there, smirking that goddamn smirk of his.

The rest of the day was spent in the joint training room, learning survival skills, which I was a whole lot better at, and put me a little at ease.

We both understood the whole 'traps' thing almost immediately, we had made plenty of traps back in the woods anyway, and this wasn't any different, instead that the traps were bigger so that they could fit a person in rather than a rabbit.

We did get a few weird looks though, mostly due to Magnus' still sparkly hair. Today it was a bright green, which matched his eyes. I had tried shooting a little bit at the start of the day, but Magnus eventually convinced me against it, telling me that it was a much better idea to let people underestimate us. Besides, that way it meant we could focus on other skills we weren't so good at.

The days of training went far too fast, and Magnus and I become much closer and closer, eventually we were inseparable, so i was fairly unhappy when Haymitch explained we needed to be prepped for interviews separately, as was Magnus.

"But everyone sees us as a duo! You can't split us up, everyone likes the friendship we have." I protested. Cinna rolled his eyes.

"No, they don't, they like the chemistry you two have. Now I'll take Magnus first, you stick with Haymitch."

Magnus rolled his eyes in annoyance, mirroring my own irritation.

"I'll see you soon." He said, in ways of goodbye, and then left, following Cinna through the front door of the apartment.

"So Alexander, we just have to figure out what you're going to be like in the interviews, funny, sexy, cute, any ideas?" I shivered, and shook my head.

"What's wrong with just being me?" I asked quietly, looking up shyly through my eyelashes.

Haymitch clicked his fingers at me, grinning.

"Absolutely nothing. In fact it's perfect, be that innocent in the interview, and you'll do perfectly fine. Just don't lose your temper Alec, they're bound to mention your brother, and it could really hurt your chances if you lost it in there. Just be honest, be shy, you're bound to be nervous, and we'll use that for your image for now." He proposed.

I thought about that for a bit. That sounded a whole lot easier than trying to be sexy, or funny, though I was sure Magnus would be great at those... Wait what?

"I think I could do that..." I said, and just like that, we begin. He explains what I should say, how I should sit, and then he explains to Cinna how he wishes to me to dress, before letting me go, and I feel pretty good, if a whole lot nervous.

As I pass Magnus in the hallway however, he looks downright terrified. I grab his arm as he passes, stopping him.

"You ok?" I ask quickly.

He just nods, shrugging me off, causing me to frown, but I can't exactly follow both him and Cinna, and I don't really have much of a choice on who I have to follow.

Cinna didn't take too long, measured me, as usual, inked up my tattoos again, and starting on my costume as he talked with me.

"Do you think Magnus is alright?" I asked in a moment of silence.

He frowned.

"I don't see why not, why do you ask?"

"Well, when I passed him in the hallway, he seemed a bit... off..." I explained, trying my best to put it into words and failing miserably.

"I'm sure he's fine, he's probably just a little bit nervous. You're going to love your outfit for tonight by the way Alec." He said, grinning up at me.

"Why what is it?" I asked, turning my head to the side in anticipation.

"Wait and see."

I didn't see Magnus again until right before the interviews, both of us standing in stony silence as we waited for out turn. I was so nervous I didn't seem to notice. My whole life was hinging on this, and far too soon I would see the affects.

Finally, it was just me and him, and for some reason I was chosen to go first, which didn't make any sense to me, but still I went without a fight. Just as my name was called and a walked forward cautiously to go up on stage, Magnus grabbed my arm.

"Good luck." He said, his eyes showing a fear I had never seen before.

"You too." I whispered, before finally making my way up to the stage, where the people awaited.

The first thing that assaulted me was the noise, so many people cheering and screaming. But it didn't last long, once I was half way to Caesars side, the noise just become a constant buzz, and I couldn't hear anything over it, even as I sat down.

Only after a minute did I notice Caesar staring at me.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked shyly, worried I had already messed up.

Caesar laughed. "I think someone's a little nervous. Not to worry, I simply asked about your entrance at the parade the other day. Quite the spectacle. And I must say I very much admire your outfit today." He said.

"Thank you." I replied, "Cinna, my stylist is a genius. I'm very lucky to have met him." I said sincerely.

"Well, would you mind giving us a twirl then?" He asked, leading me-burning cheeks and all- to the front of the stage.

And just like Cinna told me, I captivated my audience as my black outfit sparked in white flames, and my coat jacket compacted and changed into two feathery white wings, matching my runes in their brightness.

Cinna was right, I did love it, but I was getting very dizzy, giggling like a school girl as Caesar led me to sit back down.

"Woah, easy Alexander!" He said. "Wow, that was really something... Thank you for that." He said.

I just smiled back at him.

"Now, I just want to ask one more thing... It's about your brother. We were all very moved, I think, when you volunteered for him at the reaping. Did he come and say goodbye to you?"

"Yes, he did." I muttered quietly, looking down as he clasped my hand.

"And what did you say to him?"

"I said I would try to win. That I would try to win for him." I whispered.

"Of course you did..." Caesar said over the deathly silence of the room. "And try you will." He said, setting my blood cold.

Why had he said that?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the lovely Alexander Lightwood!" He shouted, announcing my exit, and finally, finally, letting me go."

There isn't much time between interviews, so the minute I was off of the stage I was swept up by Cinna, Effie, and Haymitch who all congratulated me on a superb performance, and then the next minute Magnus was in for his interview.

"So Magnus, how are you enjoying your time in the Capitol?" Caesar asked, sitting back in his chair.

"It's different, it's very different..." Magnus said, grinning as he did so, looking very relaxed.

"And in what way are we different?" Asked Caesar, looking a little worried. As if Magnus might in some way make him look bad.

"Well the showers here are weird." Magnus said.

Everybody laughed.

"Showers... We have different showers..." Caesar repeated, grinning and looking confused.

"Let me ask you a question Caesar, do I smell like roses to you?"

They went through a whole routine of sniffing each other, which the audience of course found hilarious.

When the pulled back, Magnus looked mildly offended.

"You definitely smell better than I do." He said, taking mock offense.

"Well, I've lived here longer." Caesar reassured.

"That makes sense." Acknowledged Magnus, and they waited a bit for the audience to quiet down, leaning back in their chairs and crossing their legs at the same time.

"So Magnus, is there a special girl back home?"

Magnus grimaced, looking physically pained, and so did I. I felt Cinna and Porshe freeze a little bit too.

"Can they not see the eyeliner and makeup and glitter?" Demanded Haymitch.

"Well, he is technically bi, so he's only half wrong." I allowed.

"Ah no... I don't think so." Some of the audience 'awed'. Caesar looked sceptical.

"I don't believe it for a second! Look at that face! Handsome man like you, Magnus, come on!" He coaxed and finally Magnus sighed and gave in.

"Well... There is this one... guy, by the way," Which eliciting a gasp and an apology from Caesar, "Who I've had a crush on forever, but I don't think he really noticed me until the reaping."

The crowd awed again.

"Oh... Well, let me tell you this Magnus, you go out there, and you win this thing, and when you get home, he'll have to go out with you."

Magnus winced, pinching the bridge of his nose as if physically in pain, making me sigh and feel incredibly sorry for him. I had never known about Magnus having a crush and here he was telling the world about it before me. It was so messed up.

Magnus POV

"Thanks but I um... I don't think winning's going to help me at all." I said.

"And why not?" Caesar asked.

"Because he came here with me."

The audience erupted in a sea and collaboration of applause and excitement, but all I wanted to do was apologise to Alec and hold him close.

Because I could have just killed him with one sentence.

If he died it would be all my fault.