Katniss falls straight into a chair when her prep team finally relents in covering her body with lotions and glitters. Only when Peeta enters the room does she cover herself better, pulling the silk robe closer to her body. He's got dress pants on and a white T-shirt, his face covered in a light pile of makeup. He gives her a gentle smile and glances out the window to the sky. The sun is getting closer and closer to setting which means they'll soon be sent to interviews. They both spent the entire day prepping with Haymitch and Effie but neither one felt confident for tonight.

Katniss wasn't sure how she could be confident tonight. Not when she was about to betray everything that her District stood for when it came to boys trained to kill.

Did Peeta even know? She looked in his eyes and tried to find the answer but was left mystified. Just when she was about to bring the subject up, the room suddenly filled with the prep team, Haymitch, and Effie.

They were both dragged away and made 'TV ready.'

"Oh Cinna," Katniss mumbles breathlessly when he finishes dressing her, picking up one hem of her skirt and playing with it between her fingers.

She doesn't look like Katniss Everdeen who runs through the woods and protects the people she loves. She looks like the Girl on Fire who volunteered to die in her sister's place and then made one of the most memorable entrances in Hunger Games history.

A dress made entirely of jewels, with hair and makeup that brings focus to her eyes and lips and not the cuts on her shoulders or the scars on her arms. The scars are still present though, and if you look closely you can see them in the light. Although Cinna doesn't say it aloud, Katniss knows he did this on purpose, so she wouldn't be seen as some pretty face out there but as somebody who knew exactly what she was doing.

Maybe she was misinterpreting it herself, but seeing the mixture of her scars and her new face gave her a small confidence in the pit of her stomach.

She takes a shaky step off the small pedestal he has kept her on. He takes her wrist above her, "twirl."

She raises an eyebrow but does as he says, immediately stopping when the hem of her dress suddenly lights on fire.

"Try to get that in the interview."

"I'm nervous," she admits, staring at the solid hem of her dress that was only moments ago aflame.

He taps her in the nose and gives a gentle smile. "Don't worry; it's not you doing the heavy lifting tonight."

District 2 arrives in separate cars. Antony keeps his head down in shame whenever their pictures are taken. "I can't believe you're putting me through this. I can't believe you let that little District 6 slime steal away the pack."

Cato grumbles but otherwise ignores him. He's got his interview almost entirely mapped out in his mind; there are just a few details that still need to be worked on.

They head inside, Brutus and Cato walking together towards the backstage, Clove and Enobaria going to meet up with the others. Cato can fell eyes on him almost constantly, something that he doesn't care for at the moment. Under any other circumstances he would smile and wave to potential sponsors in the crowd. Right now his only concern is finding his ally and trying to get in a few words with her before they go out. When he gets backstage he asks some guy in a rainbow wig if District 12 has arrived yet.

"12? Why on earth would you want to know about a place like District 12?"

"Answer the question," Cato snaps, standing straighter and towering above the boy.

"Looks like they just arrived," the boy says, not intimidated as he points towards the back of the room behind the chaos where the outer District is getting a final lecture from their escort.

Cato waves him off before making his way towards the back. He stands a modest distance away from them until the blonde kid in the group runs off to some place.

The escort notices him and looks completely baffled by his presence. "Oh my- I... Can we help you?"

Katniss quickly turns to him and raises an eyebrow.

Now it's Cato's turn to be baffled. The usually stern girl is still present but you could hardly tell under the soft makeup and the dress that clings to her body and shows curves that you would have never guessed she actually possessed. She looks normal yet she maintains a beauty that comes off as natural, something that's hard to find here in the Capitol. He quickly shakes away the feeling he gets when looking at her and ignores her escort's protests when he gives a quick, "we need to talk," and grabs her wrist to take her someplace more private.

They end up in a dressing room that still reeks of perfume. He closes the door behind them before turning to her. "You got an 11."

"Thanks, I hadn't exactly watched the scores being released."

Any beauty he might've found in her quickly washes away at her sarcasm. She'll be the death of him, he decides. A few days in the arena with her and he might just turn himself over the Careers.

"So how did you get it?"

"None of your business."

"I'm your ally!"

She huffs, pressing her lips together and crossing her arms over her jeweled dress. She finally relents and in an almost whiny voice, "I attacked the Gamemakers food."

"You what?" Cato is torn between being shocked and impressed. When he had gone into that room it had never occurred to him, not even for second, to do anything but decapitate dummies and throw spears across the room.

"Well they weren't paying attention to me and I doubted they would remember a few arrows and a target…"

He can't help but smile. He quickly drops it when he moves on to more pressing issues. "So I'll announce that we're allies to Caesar in my interview. I'll come find you afterwards and depending on what the others say afterwards, especially Jason, we'll figure out what you're supposed to say from there. Got it?"

Reluctantly, she says yes. Her tone is due more to nerves than a rejection of what he's saying.

They leave the dressing room, her going back to Effie and Haymitch and a now confused Peeta, him heading to Brutus where they are beginning to line up for the stage.

The loud music begins and wild cheers from the crowd makes the ground shake.

Glimmer heads out first, dazzling the audience in a sheer golden dress that leaves little to the imagination. She never mentions Jason or Cato.

Marvel heads out as the funny guy who can crack jokes and keep an audience mildly entertained.

Clove heads out as mysterious but an overall top 8 contestant. Cato watches her with slight apprehension, especially when she mentions the new Career leader.

"Clove, darling, what do you bring this year that no other Tribute has brought before you?"

"Oh Caesar it's not what I'm bringing."

"Oh whatever do you mean dear?"

"Well… There were some falling outs and new allies brought in… The point is my own District partner, who you'll speak to in a minute, is no longer with the usual pack. That is, District 1, 2 and 4."

Caesar, as well as those in the audience, gasps.

"How shocking!"

"Very shocking. You see the majority of us agreed that Jason from District 6 was a better leader than Cato. He refused to listen to anything Jason said and so we decided to make a few changes."

"Changes to get rid of Cato?"

"Yes."

The buzzer goes off and Caesar wishes Clove the best of luck.

He watches her go before turning to the audience. "Well now I guess we get to hear from Cato himself, ladies and gentlemen, a warm welcome please."

Katniss holds her breath as Cato steps onto the stage, confident as ever as he shakes Caesar's hand and takes a seat. The audience leans forward, determined to catch everything he says.

"Cato, I'm dying to know if what Clove just told us was true."

He gives a half smile and half the audience swoons. "Yeah it's true."

"You don't seem very upset." Caesar comments, looking mystified by such a declaration.

Cato leans forward so that all eyes are on him when he says, "Why would I be upset by losing such useless allies?"

The audience breaks out in quiet mummers and eggs Cato on to say more.

Caesar laughs and claps his hands. "So what you're saying is that you're still going to go far in the games?"

Cato laughs. "What I'm saying is that if I'm going down then I'm taking everybody else down with me."

The audience breaks out screaming.

It takes Caesar a while to calm them down. Katniss takes deep breath and holds it when she realizes that any second now he'll tell them about her.

"Aren't you at all nervous about going in alone?"

"I'm not going in alone."

"So you have a new ally?"

"Yes."

The audience erupts, begging him to tell who this mysterious person is.

"So who is it?" Caesar yells, trying to get his voice in over all the others.

"Isn't it obvious? She did get an 11 in her training score." The buzzard goes off sometime during the impending commotion.

Several of the Tributes waiting in line turn to look at Katniss. The Careers are glaring at her. A few Tributes are indifferent, having already accepted their death. Outlying Districts glare at her. Katniss shrinks under Thresh's eyes and refuses to meet them after a second.

"Is it true?" She turns slowly to Peeta. She gives a soft nod and then turns away from him, unable to see his reaction.

District 3 is called out but nobody pays attention to the quiet Tributes. The District 4 Careers attempt to steer the conversation away from Cato's announcement, but that seems to be all the Capitol wants to hear about. Eventually they get to Jason who walks on to the stage briskly.

Once Caesar and Jason have gotten past the formalities and the confirmation that Jason is leading the Careers, Caesar asks Jason for his opinion on the new alliance.

"I think it's a desperate move on his part. He knows we're going to kill him and now he's just trying to hide behind some girl."

"Some girl who scored 11."

"Training scores are subjective. They may give you an idea of what people are capable of but they also rely heavily on what you can do to dummies. There's a big difference between a mannequin and an actual person."

"So you're not nervous?"

"Absolutely not."

His interview continues but Katniss no longer hears it when Cato suddenly steps beside her. Several Tributes turn to look at them. Katniss can feel Peeta practically breathing on her neck.

"Stay elusive."

"What?"

"When you get out there, just answer Caesar's questions and try to stay as secretive as possible."

"Why?"

He suddenly moves closer to her, to the point that his breath is tickling her ear when he whispers, "Because Jason will be scrutinizing every second of your interview. If he knows anything about you then you're done for."

She turns to him and whispers in a low voice, "And what does that mean?"

"It means the difference between your life and death is as simple as snapping the bow. I'll come find you after your interview." He walks off before she can say anything else.

"What was that about?" Peeta asks.

Katniss sighs and gives him a light shake of the head before turning her focus back to the interviews. Jason's just now finishing up and the District 7 girl is being ushered out.

The line slowly gets shorter as one Tribute after the other heads out onto the stage. Katniss pays close attention to the District 11 girl's interview, surprised by the girl's confidence. She's also impressed, if not envious, of Thresh's ability to answer with 'yes' or 'no' and wishes that she had the image to do the same.

However, the end of Thresh's interview brings her only dread as a man with a clipboard suddenly grabs her by the shoulder and begins to push her out on stage. She quickly gains balance on her heels but nearly stumbles as she enters. Caesar comes to greet her, kissing her on both cheeks and holding her arm up. "What a lovely dress." He comments.

He must already know about the twirling aspect of her dress, for he urges her to spin before they take their seats. She does so, keeping her eyes half closed but aware of the flames by the audience gasping.

"A round of applause for Cinna!"

Cinna stands up for a moment and Katniss glues her eyes to where he sits, memorizing the spot and looking towards it whenever she gets nervous.

When the crowd finally begins to settle down, Caesar leans forward and says, "Miss Everdeen you have some explaining to do." The crowd laughs and he continues. "What's this I hear about you having an ally?"

Katniss thinks briefly of home and her family and Gale watching TV right now. "I do have an ally."

"Cato?"

She nods, "Cato."

Despite the sudden whispers, Caesar continues to interview her. "Tell me dear, how did this happen?"

She shrugs and slouches slightly in her seat but quickly sits up when she thinks of Effie backstage watching her. "I- well I can't really tell the story without giving away something."

"Hmm. Does that something have to do with how you got that 11?"

"Yes."

"Ah! And onto your 11, care to indulge us?"

She laughs and then looks to the Gamemakers who sit together in one section of the audience. "Well… I don't think I can say what I did. Only that I think it was a first."

"You're killing us!"

The rest of the interview is a blur for her. She answers questions and tries to be as charming and elusive as possible. When the buzzer finally goes off, she scurries off the stage in relief.

The words 'lamb stew' are still on her lips when she nearly crashes into Cato. Behind him she catches a glimpse of the Careers standing together and watching them. He rests his hand on her shoulder and guides her to one corner of the backstage where they can have some privacy.

"That was good. Now we have to talk about what we're doing tomorrow."

She takes a deep inhale and waits for him to continue. She doesn't want to think about tomorrow, not about what the day will hold for her.

"We're both going to have targets on our backs at the bloodbath."

"Obviously. Do you think you're fast enough to get a weapon before them?"

He shrugs, "it's not me I'm worried about. You think you can get a bow by yourself?"

"I don't know," she admits

The audience laughs, she realizes Peeta's in his interview now and must be charming them. When Peeta's done with his interview they'll all be sent back to the Training Center. Katniss realizes the next time she'll see Cato is on a pedestal with 60 seconds to figure out what to do.

"Try to get a bow and I'll get anything else we'll need. We'll leave the Cornucopia from there."

The final buzzer goes off and Caesar closes for the night. Katniss and Cato separate, "See you tomorrow."