Rini's shoes clicked as she walked along the open corridor to Seneca's private balcony. Her eyelids were heavy from her determination to sleep as little as possible. She had started to drift off late last night, and Haymitch denied her wanting to sleep at the center.

"I'll keep my eyes open well enough for the both of us," He'd grunted. "Get some sleep."

She halfheartedly covered her mouth when she yawned and she stopped in her tracks when she saw Seneca walking towards her. Her first thought was to turn around and run the opposite way, but nonetheless she ran towards him with a grin on her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, knowing that the tabloid photographers would jump at the chance to take their picture for some article. "They finally let you out?" She asked, loosening her hold around him to look into his eyes.

"Just for a moment of fresh air, my dear," He murmured. "Most of us don't sleep for the entirety of the games, you know." He pressed a kiss to her lips and then took hold of her hand. "Allow me to take you to the balcony." When they were out of the view of the cameras, he pulled her closer. "I'm going to have someone take you back to the house. You don't have any reason to be out anymore. Both tributes from Four are gone. I'd be more at ease if I knew you were somewhere not getting into trouble." He pushed open the door to the balcony and led her inside. "There isn't any purpose for you to be out here, or to see Finnick anymore."

Renata furrowed her brow and she shook her head. "I'm not seeing Finnick," she retorted, facing him. "I don't want to see him, I want to see you."

Seneca snorted and he pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. "I may be tired, Rini, but I'm not an idiot."

"I mean it," she said quietly, putting her hands on his chest and slowly laying her head against him. "You're always gone…I hate being left alone there without you. I'm so scared, Seneca. Of everything." She closed her eyes and resisted a shiver when he put his arms around her. "And I want to help. I want to be a sponsor. I really believe that Katniss-"

"Oh?" He held her out by her shoulders and raised a brow at her. "You want to play?" He chuckled quietly and a smirk tugged his lips. "You think you can beat me again, little one? Look at you, look at the circles under your eyes…I went easy on you last time. I could have let that mutt tear you into ribbons, but instead I saved you. It hasn't come without a price."

Rini stared at him and she swallowed, sucking on her lower lip.

"Good luck," He murmured, forcing his lips on hers for a hard kiss before he left her standing alone in on the balcony.

"Is this a bad time to announce my presence?" Haymitch's voice came from the bench. He slowly sat up and looked at the girl, his thin lips pressed into a hard line. He watched her walk over to one of the chairs and lower herself into it, her eyes on the floor. "You okay there, kiddo?"

She nodded and blinked a few times, pulling her bag off her shoulder. She opened it and reached inside, pulling out a smaller bag closed with a string.

"You know, that sounded like a challenge," He grunted, catching the bag when she threw it to him. He untied the string and pulled it open, a smile growing on his face when he saw the sums inside.

"There's more where that came from," Renata smirked.

"Sir, I've got the thrower charged up and ready to fire on your order," One of the Gamemakers called when Seneca entered the chamber. Katniss was sleeping up in a tree, completely unaware of the events about to happen.

"Good. Start it over there, in the brush," He murmured, rolling up his sleeves and watching the brunette on screen. Fire caught quickly, and soon the forest was roaring with flames.

Katniss scrambled down from the tree and began to flee, her expression of terror not unfamiliar to the Head Gamemaker. "Right there, give me a tree. Now," He barked, grinning gleefully when the tree nearly crushed the girl. "Can't go that way, oh no. Where will you go?" His heart was thrumming with excitement and he licked his lips, so pleased with this. "Another fireball!" His eyes widened at the sound of her cry and he watched her collapse onto the forest floor and clutch at her thigh in pain.

The Gamemaker looked at him for his order, and when the Seneca gave another nod did he release another fireball. It was dodged, but just barely.

"A fine performance, Girl on Fire," Seneca muttered, turning on his heel and heading to a private room adjacent to the main chamber. He closed and locked the door behind him, his hands shaking in excitement. That display of terror was incredible. He could have had her burning alive, but being the merciful man he was, he spared her. His fingers pressed a few buttons and he had the footage playing back on the desktop. "Fuck," He grunted as he undid his pants and pulled out his erect length. He mashed his teeth together as he stroked himself furiously, his eyes boring into the girl on screen. He could hear the sound of her skin boiling when the fireball struck, her whimpers of excruciating pain. And it only excited him more. He finished with a loud moan, spurting his mess all over the screen. He steadied himself with his hands, panting and trembling.

"Seneca?" A knock came at the door. "We've got her in the river. The others are close."

He took a few breaths and raised up, cleaning himself and doing up his trousers. "Prepare a cannon."

Renata swallowed as she watched the light start to dim in the arena. Night had fallen and the Careers had come so close to ending Katniss. The poor girl was now stuck up in a tree, the bloodthirsty Careers waiting below for her to come down.

"Her leg, look at her leg," Haymitch murmured, perched on the edge of his seat. He was watching the screen intently and the expression on his face was of something that Renata hadn't seen on him before. "She needs medicine."

"That should be enough, right?" She asked him, watching him stand and clutch the money purse tightly.

"I'll be back," he grunted before hurrying out.

Rini sighed and sat back in her seat, studying Katniss. Was this how it had been in her games? Watching her struggle, freeze… she swallowed back the lump in her throat as Katniss tried to alleviate some of the pain in her leg, but to not much avail. This was torture. She sniffled as a tear began running down her cheek, and she raised her fingers to touch her eye. The pain of Kain cutting her eye out still haunted her, as did the pain of killing him. Her lower lip wobbled and she sucked on it, trying to keep from breaking down in tears.

The fear and the pain didn't stop despite escaping the arena. In a way, it was going from one arena to the next. She could remember how terrified she had been waking from her unconsciousness. Her eye completely repaired and not a mark on her to show that there had been anything done to her appearance. But she knew. She could feel the knife, slowly cutting away her skin, severing the nerve behind her eye. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and she rubbed her hands over them, holding her breath before slowly letting it out.

She only hoped that if Katniss were to survive the Games that she would find a way to normalcy again.

Fed up with all her crying, she wiped her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She retrieved a glass of water from behind the bar and brought it back to the chair, watching the Careers camp out at the base of Katniss' tree. A bit of movement caught her eye and she realized that she could see through the projection across to the other balconies.

Finnick sat across the way, a glass of champagne in his hand and a woman sitting beside him. The balcony he was on was filled with people who were chatting and laughing and drinking, all in all having a merry time. He must have said something funny, for his audience were holding their stomachs as they doubled over in laugher. Even from how far apart they were, she could see the dimples in his cheeks and it made her smile a little. A man took a seat beside Finnick and whispered something in his ear, making his grin grow bigger and he nodded. He gave the man a coy look when he put his hand on his thigh, and Rini shook her head, swallowing the rest of her water.

The hairs on the back of her hair stood up and she looked up from her glass across the way, her gaze meeting Finnick's. Her heart skipped a few beats and she sat there frozen for a few moments, wondering if he could see her or if he was merely watching the show. Only when his lips turned up in that dimply smile did she know he'd discovered her.

"We got it, Rini," Haymitch breathed as he returned, hurrying to sit down. He tossed the bag at her and it was considerably lighter.

Rini looked up at the screen as the parachute landed and Katniss found the medicine. A small smile tugged her lips and she sighed in relief as she slathered her thigh with the salve and rested back against the tree trunk.

"Thank you," Katniss breathed, the pain in her face from earlier lessened.

"You did good, kid," Haymitch muttered, sighing heavily and leaning back in his chair.

Renata smiled and her eyes looked across the way to Finnick once again, finding him looking at the projection thoughtfully. His eyes found her gaze and he gave her an acknowledging nod.

"Oh! As I live and breathe, it's Renata Crane!" A voice squealed.

Renata turned away from the gift kiosk and was completely taken off guard when she found herself nearly nose to nose with a stranger. "P-Pardon?"

"Oh, excuse me," He grinned, stepping back and wiping his hand on his pants before holding it out to her. "Lorio. Just Lorio, that's the important part." He grinned and kissed her hand when she put it in his. "I'm sure you've heard of me."

"I…" Rini's eyes darted back and forth, not sure what was going on.

"Did you get lost?" Finnick appeared, addressing the man. His eyes flitted to Renata for a moment and then back to Lorio. "Stopping to make friends?"

"I've wanted to meet her since I saw her debut last year," the man explained, still holding onto Rini's hand. "Fascal may think he knows how to dress you, but I could make your star shine brighter here."

"I don't think Mrs. Crane is interesting in modeling, sweets," Finnick sighed, running a hand through his hair and pursing his lips.

"Why wouldn't she be? It's worked out wonderfully for you, hasn't it?" Lorio said with a cock of his brow. "Won't you come back and have a party with us?"

"I-" She started to answer, but was cut off by Finnick.

"I don't want to share you," He murmured in Lorio's ear, and Rini could feel her face flush with anger.

She knew it was an act. Of course it was an act, she wasn't a little girl. Nonetheless, she felt her stomach twist with that awful feeling of jealousy when she saw the intimate look that Lorio and Finnick shared. She cleared her throat and tucked a curl away behind her ear. "I'll have to decline. I'm sorry, but I'll consider your offer if it still stands."

The pixie-like man nodded eagerly and he produced a transparent card from his pocket. The grand sweep of his arm as he handed it to her reminded her of Salvatore drawing her name at the Reaping. "Perhaps we can arrange a dinner on a night when I'm not so busy?" He gleamed and turned on his heel, walking away. "Coming, darling?"

"Just a minute. I'll catch up." Finnick called over his shoulder. "Rini, I need you to stay away from me."

Her eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised gasp of air. His words came at her like a slap across the face.

"Oh no, please don't look at me like that," He mumbled, shaking his head. "I didn't mean it like that, you know that. I can't bear to see you around here when I'm trying to…" He swallowed, the look in her eyes making him sigh. "Just please, for both our sakes. Stay away."

She swallowed back a lump in her throat, wanting to slap herself. It was completely understandable, so why was she taking it so poorly? It was for the best and it had been foolish of them to even begin to sneak around in the Capitol. It was a matter of life and death, not a refusal of her. "Okay," she finally whispered, looking at her feet as Finnick turned and walked away.

Ewww I'm 20 years old now. Yikes.

Hm. Wasn't sure about this chapter, let me know what ya'll think. Poor Rini, things just keep looking grim for her...I'll let you in on a secret, they get better for her soon! ...And then kind of worse..er...oops.

CAN I GET A HELL YAH ON THAT GLIMPSE OF FINNICK? Ugh, Sam Claflin, you are just a perf babe.

Thanks for sticking around, you beauts xx

-Kelsey