Dear Readers,

Thank you so much for the great few reviews I've gotten, I really do appreciate it! I have been trying to capture them as accurately as possible with their personalities and what they would do, and so I hope you like the chapter, even though it would probably piss me off if I was reading it. It does show you a different side of Clove though, a side that shows she's more human than she thinks she is. But don't worry, it's not too mushy or anything.

Also, go check out inluv4eva's Cato/Clove fic, i just read the first chapter and it seems interesting. Shout outs to readers once and future, Jesus the Gardener, and Theatergirl6! Thanks for the reviews!

enjoy the chapter!

-esl1852

It was the third day of training, and Clove felt like time was beginning to fly by; she didn't like it. She felt like the little time she had left with Cato were slipping through her fingers, like sand. She knew she would make it far in the games, and she knew that much for sure. However, there could only be one winner. If she did win, then Cato would be dead. She didn't know how she would keep her sanity after that, even if she didn't kill Cato. He was the only one who really understood who she was, the only person who pushed her, and the only person who didn't bore or irritate her (aside from Marvel, but he would be dead soon too, and so Clove tried not to think about him).

And if Cato won, then Clove knew she herself would be dead, which is something she already had come to terms with in a way. Besides, if anyone deserved to win, it was Cato... if anyone had to kill her, she hoped it was him. She knew that was so twisted and sick, but that was something she was used to. She knew she wasn't quite right in the head; she had known that her entire life. But Cato wasn't quite right. And while Clove knew she was psycho, she thought her reasoning was sound enough to at least make some sort of sense. Cato did have her virginity already, why not her life as well? Besides, she wouldn't be able to die with dignity if it was anyone else; no one else deserved to kill was the third day of training, and Clove felt like time was beginning to fly by; she didn't like it. She felt like the little time she had left with Cato were slipping through her fingers, like sand. She knew she would make it far in the games, and she knew that much for sure. However, there could only be one winner. If she did win, then Cato would be dead. She didn't know how she would keep her sanity after that, even if she didn't kill Cato. He was the only one who really understood who she was, the only person who pushed her, and the only person who didn't bore or irritate her (aside from Marvel, but he would be dead soon too, and so Clove tried not to think about him).

Marvel nudged her, bringing her back to reality. "You alright?" Clove sat at lunch with the other tributes waiting for her private session. Glimmer had just gone into hers, blowing Cato a kiss before she left. Clove swore she did it, among her other obnoxious actions towards Cato, just to piss her off. If that was true, Glimmer was doing a pretty good job at it.

"Yea, I'm fine." She said, looking down at her hands which had been balled into little fists. She unclenched her hands and looked back up at them.

"You sure?" Cato asked from her other side. Other people didn't notice, but Clove saw the concern in his eyes.

"I'm good. Just bored." Clove said, and both guys smirked a little; Clove knew they were both thinking she was bored fifty percent of the time and it was so difficult. Clove couldn't help it; she hated waiting.

Before anyone could say anything else, they called Marvel. Clove wished him luck and he patted Clove on the knee, "Same to you." He looked to Cato, "And to you." Cato nodded back, but didn't say anything back to him as he got up and walked out. Marvel and Cato had bonded a bit, being all macho and thinking they were better than any other male tribute present (they were, in a way; except Thresh, he was really one of their biggest threats). However, Clove and Marvel had bonded a bit as well, whenever Glimmer was busy being all over Cato, and Cato didn't really like it.

"You really shouldn't hold me against him; we're just friends." Clove said under her breath to Cato. Cato looked at her with a blank stare. "Besides, we are only keeping ourselves entertained since Glimmer insists on being your shadow."

Cato didn't say anything for a few moments. Then, "Fine. He is actually a pretty chill dude anyways." Clove rolled her eyes a him, but felt a little better. Cato was so typical.

Then they called her name, and Cato squeezed her hand tightly before she stood up. No one saw their exchange, and that was something Clove treasured; Cato and Clove shared a secret, a bond that no one could destroy or exploit.

Clove stood, walking towards the training room, where the Gamemakers would be. She looked back over her shoulder at Cato when she stood in the doorway. He smiled at her, winking at her. She wanted to smile back, but all she could muster was a smirk. She turned and walked in.

"Clove Carson." She announced when she was in the center of the room. "District 2." The Gamemakers hadn't lost interest yet, and Clove once again thanked the lord she was from one of the first few districts.

She went toward the targets, pressing the button that she had seen the knives assistant press during training. The she grabbed a knife. She stared at the targets, studying the pattern, and launched the first knife. It landed in the bullseye of the hear of one of the targets. Clove knew that all of the Gamemakers were absolutely 100% paying attention now.

She felt the rush she always felt as she launched another knife, and another, and then another. One after the other she hit every bullseye on every single moving target. Clove felt the primal urges she could never fight against; the need to kill, to be the best, to win. These desires drove her. As she "killed" each moving target, she just felt more alive than ever.

When she was finished, she looked eagerly over at the judges. Yes, they were definitely impressed. They thanked and dismissed her, and she turned, walking out of the room with the deepest smirk on her face. One of the Avoxes at the door to the elevator pressed the button for her. She got in, feeling pretty satisfied in the way her private session went.

Enobaria was sitting in the living room when Clove walked in. "How'd it go?" She said expectantly.

"Perfectly." Clove said.

"You didn't miss?"

Clove flashed a forced smile. "I never miss." She said.

Enobaria nodded, seeming pretty satisfied with Clove's answers. "Good."

Clove started to walk out, and then paused for a second. "Will you let me know when Cato gets here?" Clove asked, not sure if she was pushing her luck. Enobaria eyed her in the most unpleasant way, like she knew everything (she figured she had guessed by now, or that Brutus had told her) and she did not approve.

Finally, she just said, "I'll send an Avox to fetch you, although I doubt it will be necessary. He will most likely just come knocking down doors to find you."

Clove ignored Enobaria's jab at Cato, and just said, "Thank you." Before going off to her room to change out of her training clothes.

She stripped, and got into the shower. she figured it was dumb because Cato would be up soon, but she showered fast. She rushed her shower, trying to be ready for Cato. She got out and braided back her hair. Then she went to the closet (which she hadn't really had a chance to check out since she'd been there. She was just gonna go for the shirt of Cato's she had worn to bed the night before, but she changed her mind. She wanted to look nice... for him... which made her feel weird, but she decided to just not question it and go with it before she changed her mind.

She pulled out a red dress that was slinky; she liked how it made her feel. It had black lace over it, and a tailored waistline, with a skirt that had a tule under i and went out. The sleeves were just see-through black lace. It was a v-neck with an open back. The dress was stunning, and it made her feel stunning. She pulled out a black leather jacket and put it on over. Then, as an after-thought, she pulled her hair out of its braid and left it down; Cato loved it when she wore her hair down.

She felt like a lot of time was passing, but she just chalked it up to the fact that she was impatient and hated waiting. She checked the time... and realized that over an hour had passed since she had gotten back up to the suite. No way, she thought to herself, this clock must be broken.

Just when Clove was starting to get nervous, there was a knock on her door. It was an Avox, who wordlessly beckoned her to follow. So, she did. When she got to the living room she noticed there was a commotion by the elevator.

"What's going on? Clove asked, interrupting the commotion that was going on between Wanda and whoever was on the elevator. Where's Cato, Enobaria?" She hoped Cato had done alright, or there would be hell to pay. Wanda and Enobaria turned to look at her. Brutus was sitting on the couch. "Well is someone gonna tell me what's going on or not?"

"Well there is no fraternizing between tributes from different districts outside of training, but this young man insists on talking to you." Wanda said, sounding distressed. Out of the elevator, stepped Marvel.

"Marvel, hi." Clove said, really confused. "He's alright, Wanda. He's a... friend." Clove continued. They all looked at her weird, but she just brushed it off.

"Hey, wow. Clove, you look... wow." Marvel said. Clove had forgotten she had gotten all dressed up for Cato.

"Yea, thanks. So do you wanna tell me what you are breaking laws to come tell me while you think up some real adjectives?" Clove asked with a smirk.

"Ahh, yes, of course." He said, shaking his head, small smirk on his own face.

Clove glared at the rest of them, and Enobaria rolled her eyes, but they all took the hint and cleared out of the living room pretty fast. Then she sat down on the couch. She looked up expectantly at him, patting the couch. He came and sat next to her. "So, what's up Marvel?"

"Well I just... how was your training session?" Marvel asked.

"Um, it went great actually. And how was yours?" Clove asked, kind of unsure.

"It went great. Threw the spear at some targets. They seemed impressed enough." He said, and Clove could tell he was holding something back.

"I think we both know you didn't just come up here to ask me about the training session Marvel." Clove said, giving him a knowing look.

He looked a little off. "Right, well... I know how things are with you and Cato and I-"

"Oh that reminds me," Clove said mostly to herself, thinking out loud, "it's taking forever isn't it? I wonder where Cato is..." At her words, Marvel looked a little uncomfortable. That bothered Clove, but she made her face blank so he couldn't read her. "What is it, Marvel? What is going on?" He hesitated, and she was started to get more than just a little bothered. "Seriously, spit it out."

"Well, you meant what you said earlier, about us being friends, right?" Marvel said suddenly, catching her off-guard.

"Umm, yea. I did. What does that have to do with why you are here?"

"I just figured, since I know Cato and you have a thing even though you pretend you don't and other people don't really seem to get it; and as your friend... I just figured I'd want to know if I were in your shoes-"

"Know what? What about Cato? What are you going on about?" Clove asked, not sure if she was understanding what was going on, and not sure if she wanted to.

Marvel let out a sigh. Finally, he said, "I know where Cato is... I just saw him."

Clove looked at him, not really processing what he was saying. "I don't understand-"

"I think you do, Clove." Marvel said. Clove was trying so hard not to understand, she didn't want to understand... but she did. Marvel knew where Cato was. Marvel was District 1. Marvel shared a floor with Glimmer... "I'm sorry." He said, sounding like he really meant it as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know what else to say."

Clove couldn't breathe. She felt like she did when Cato slammed her against the wall and knocked the wind out of her. Only this time, she didn't enjoy it one bit. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move. She had never felt this way before; normally her first reaction was to throw a knife at someone, but she had forgotten her knife in her room. Also, she just didn't feel it; she mostly felt sick. She was just trying to force herself to not believe it. She was so busy trying to catch her breath, that she didn't even notice the elevator door open. She only realized there was someone else there when Marvel looked over her head and said the one word Clove could not handle hearing at the moment. "Cato-"

"What are you doing here, friend?" She heard his voice before she saw him. She couldn't bare to hear his voice.

"Just came to ask Clove about her training session." He said nonchalantly.

Cato eyed his hand on her. "Uh-huh. Yea. Sure."

Marvel took his hand off of her shoulder, standing up. "I'm just gonna go."

"Yea, I think that's a good fucking idea." Cato said, and Marvel cast Clove one more apologetic look before leaving. Clove hated getting that look more than she hated anything else in the entire world.

She saw Cato's feet appear as Cato walked into her line of sight as the elevator door closed. "Clove." But she didn't look up. Her heart was pounding in her ears and all she wanted to do was find a knife. "What was he doing here?"

She stood up wordlessly, brushing past him, going over to the dining table. She grabbed a knife off the table. For the first time since she could remember, she didn't feel calmer. She felt more confused, angrier even. She wanted to stab him repeatedly, she wanted to dice him up into little pieces. She wanted to slice him open and watch as the life drained out of his eyes. She wanted to see him suffer.

"Clove. What's going on?" Cato asked, walking towards her. "Why are you all dressed up?"

Clove couldn't take it anymore. She whipped around to face him, saying, "Well I dressed up to surprise you, actually. I figured it would be nice, you would like it, since I never dress up or wear my hair down."

"You look beautiful, Clove. You really, truly do." He said. "Bu why was Marvel-"

She could no longer hold her sickly sweet smile and let an expression of contempt slide onto her face, and she shouted, "Why was he here? Well, I have a better question Cato, where were you? Where the fuck have you been for the past almost two hours, huh? Because I know damn well your training session didn't last that long." She cocked her head to the side. "I have never asked you for anything Cato. And the one time I asked you not to do something, what do you do? You do it... you do her."

"Clove, I can explain, it's really not what you think-"

"Not what I think?" Clove screamed. "MARVEL SAW YOU CATO! HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING!"

"What did Marvel tell you, Clove, huh? What?" He said, getting angry almost, grabbing her by her upper arms.

"DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME AFTER YOU TOUCHED HER!" She screamed, pushing him away from her as hard as she could. He only moved back a step or two because of how much bigger than her he was, but a look of hurt registered on his face. "No, don't you look at me like that after what you just did."

"Clove, I swear to you, she means absolutely nothing to me-" Clove let out a blood-curdling scream of anger, trying to stab him with the knife. He grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing her wrist so hard she had to let go of the knife. "Clove please, let me explain-" Clove ripped her wrist away from him just as Enobaria and Brutus ran into the room, having heard her scream.

"SHUT UP!" Clove shouted. He took a step towards her, and the next thing Clove did shocked everyone. Clove lunger forward, punching him in the face, and she punched him in the face hard.

Enobaria was in the middle in a heartbeat as Cato staggered a few steps. Enobaria was looking at Clove with a mixture of respect and consternation. "Clove, you can't fight with him, it's illegal-"

"I don't fucking care, I'm gonna fucking kill him, right here and right now! Let's go Cato, come on!" She screamed, trying to get around Enobaria. Brutus had his arms around Clove in a second, slinging her over his shoulder. Clove continued to scream, kicking and beating her fists against his back as he dragged her away from Cato and Enobaria.

When they got to her room, Brutus put her down. He looked at her in a way that said he wasn't really surprised. "I'm going to tell you what I told him." Brutus said. "He will be the instrument of your demise if you don't cut it off. The games change people, Miss Carson. You would do best not to forget that." With that, he left the room.

Clove, for the first time ever, let herself feel every emotion. She let it all in, all of the anger, hurt, betrayal... She let herself throw a Cato-sized temper tantrum. She ripped off the leather jacket and dress. She screamed continually while she wreaked havoc on the room. She threw her knives at the walls and knocked over the side table, and when that was done, she punched the wall as hard as she could, only succeeding in hurting her hand. Finally she started crying, sitting down on the bed. It was the only time Clove could remember shedding a tear. She had never cared about anyone before Cato. Ever. So she had never been hurt by anyone ever. But Cato; he was her kryptonite. She cared about him, and caring about him had only served to make her feel weak and small. She grabbed his shirt from the floor and curled up with it on her bed, letting the sobs rack her body. She tried to fall asleep, but she just couldn't. So she just lay there with her thoughts and feelings mocking her for what felt like a lifetime.

After her tears dried up, Clove stared at Cato's shirt and realized something. She hated Glimmer more then ever, but she still cared about Cato. Sure, he was a dick... but she knew that. She had always known that. He had fucked other girls before, but always came back. They all bored him as much as the two guys from the Academy that Clove had fucked when Cato was with other girls. It was sick, but she still wanted him. She knew Glimmer couldn't compare to her not only on the intelligence level, but on her level of psycho. No one could match her but Cato. And as much as she hated Cato right now, she knew Glimmer really had meant nothing, and he had just taken her words as a challenge, even though she thought she had made herself abundantly clear it wasn't a challenge. And as much as she knew Brutus's words had been true, she didn't give a shit.

Just then there was a knock on the door, and she said, "Come in." It was of course, Cato. His face was a little red, but not much else. Clove was disappointed she hadn't done more damage.

"Clove, before you dice me up into little pieces, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight-"

Without saying anything, Clove went over to the wall, grabbing a knife and pulling it out, and in a second she was on him, knife at his neck. "How was she?" Clove growled.

"What?" Cato said, sounding a little surprised.

"How. Was. She?" Clove said, punctuating each word.

Cato smirked. "Really?" He said. "You have to ask?"

"Cato I should literally slit your throat right now, and if I was more normal I probably would. I have resolved not to yet, but if you don't answer my question I can change my mind." Clove said forcefully.

"One word: Boring." He said. "She just laid there and took it. I didn't even get off." He said, making Clove satisfied. "I don't even know why I bothered."

"Because... you wanted to get me angry." Clove said, remembering their fight after the Tributes Parade, about how he wanted to see her get mad. He had been trying to get her to throw a temper tantrum as well. "Is that what this was about?" She hissed at him. In a weird way, she was relieved. This had all been a part of their games. She knew she should be angrier, but she wasn't. It just made her realize it was all for her- even sleeping with Glimmer. He did it to get at her. He couldn't have cared any less if she was any good or not.

He shrugged. "Maybe." He said smirking. "Nice temper tantrum, Clove." He said, surveying the room. "Oh, and you punch harder than any man who has ever hit me." He said, daring to grab her by the waist.

"You ever do that again, and I'll do more than punch you." She said seriously, pressing the blade against his throat just hard enough to draw blood.

"You have nothing to worry about. It was the worst sex I've ever had."

"I figured it would be." She said, and pressed her lips against his, hard. He held her tightly, kissing back hard. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed. When they fell onto the bed, Cato broke away and saw his shirt there. It really seemed to get to him, to break the mood.

"I really am sorry. I don't know why I did it. I'm just an extremely fucked up person." he said, brushing her hair out of her faced.

"We both know you know exactly why you did it." Clove said, her voice accusing. Then she softened, when she saw the guilt on his face. "Well I'm pretty fucked up myself, so who am I to judge?" She said.

"We're fucked up together." He said, and she sighed. That was most definitely the truth. Clove was suddenly really really tired.

"Cato, can we just sleep?"

He nodded. "We can do whatever you want." He said, laying down beside her, wrapping his arms around her. "I am sorry you know. I was just trying to prove a point."

"You proved a lot of things." Clove said, and then turned over, not explaining it to him. He just snuggled up behind her and she fell asleep instantly. He didn't fall asleep so easily. He kept pushing her away to try and make the pain of the fact that one of them would be dying so soon a little less. That's why he went to Glimmer willingly. It had done nothing, it hadn't helped at all. It only served to piss him off at their situation and want her more. He kept fucking it up, and they only had such a short time. If he didn't stop pushing her away, he would regret it, and he knew that. He couldn't risk any more of their time trying to push her away.