"You'll win, won't you?" Tayana asked, her blue eyes wide with innocence. So young.

I smiled at her, careful not to show her what a wreck I was. How scared I was for her, to leave her alone with my father. "Of course I will, Taya. Then you and I cane live in a big house all by ourselves."

"Daddy won't be there?" she asked, gripping my hands. I nodded at her.

"No," I said, a small smile on my face. "Daddy won't be there. It'll be just us. Does that sound good?"

She smiled at me, her smile seemingly lighting up the room. "Okay! See you when you get back!" She hugs me tightly, and I breathe in her scent, which is distinctly flowery. That's trange, since there are hardly any flowers at all in Two. Then, the Peacekeepers come and guide her out of the room. She is gone. Left alone to defend herself.

(**)

"Wake up!" a rough voice snarls at me, shaking me by the shoulders. "Wake up!"

I'm yanked up by my shoulders. My eyes snap open, and I reach for one of my knives. But it's just Cato. His face is frantic, searching. Then, I notice it. All around us, the forest is covered with fire. I yell out, mostly in surprise, and jump out of my sleeping position. I grab a pack, and sling it across my back. I don't even check to make sure I have all of my knives. Right now, I need to save myself. I have to.

The fire is like a wall, surrounding us and inclosing us. We're trapped. Suddenly, my Career instincts kick into gear, and I'm searching for every possible escape route. My chances aren't good, I realize with a jolt. Oh well, I think to myself bitterly. At least it'll be a good show.

We're all standing there, us, the unstoppable Careers, when I notice one of the nearby trees. Surprisingly, it hasn't caught fire yet. Without thinking of just how badly this could play out, I race for it, and sling myself up it's branches. If I get high enough, maybe I can launch myself over this wall of fire and head back to the lake. Finally, once I'm twenty feet up or so, I take a dep breath and without hesitating, I launch myself from the branch. There's a sensation of floating as I come dangerously close to the fire.

Then I hit the ground with a gasp. I kneel over, gasping and retching because of the smoke. The wind has been knocked out of me, and I'd like nothing better then to curl up somewhere and stay there. But I can't. I am a Career, and we do not do that.

"Come on!" I shriek at Cato, who is watching me. "Come on!"

They all begin to do what I did, climbing high up the tree and flinging themselves over the wall of fire. First, Marvel. Then Glimmer.

Cato climbs up the tree, the branches almost snapping as he puts his weight on them. Then, as I watch and fight the urge to leave, he flies over. He is so close to hitting the fire that it actually catches on the back of his jacket. But he's safe, at least for now, and that's all the reason I need. I dig my feet into the ground and run, as fast as I can, over burning logs and rocks, not stopping once to see if the others are keeping up. They have to die sometime, Clove, I remind myself. Better this way.

I finally reach the camp, clutching my burning sides. I throw myself into the lake, and start laughing with relief. The cool water on my parched skin is so pleasant, I actually sigh. Then, I see the others racing into camp. Glimmer, Marvel and Loverboy. A shiver of disappointment runs through me. It would have been better if they had died there. Easier.

They all get into the water, sighing as it soothes their burns. Cato gives me a look as he stands in the water, half-drenched. It didn't escape him, how I left them back at the fire. He knows the choice I made. But I know that he'd have done the same thing. He knows it too. Maybe that's why he doesn't call me out for it. I remember Lyme, my mentor's words. "You and Cato used to be close, Clove. I know that. I know it is hard. But to get out of this arena alive, you have to give him up. Because that's what he's doing. That's what he's already done."

Maybe that's what that was back there. Maybe that was me, giving him up, letting him go. The guilt that plasters me as I look at him hurts, but not as much as it would have a few years ago. The boy that stands in the water before me isn't my friend anymore, or my ally. He is my opponent. Finally, with an air of relief, I accept that. To win, I must kill him. I will.

I step out of the water, and take off my jacket, which the water is clinging to. I squeeze the water out, and toss it off. Already, I'm freezing cold, but it's better than being the stifling hot I was when I was in that wall of fire. I think of how that must have been a token to Katpiss. My desire to kill her grows even more.

(**)

I feel a hand on my shoulder as we sit around the fire. I jerk around, a knife already in my hand, but it's just Cato.

"We need to talk," he says. I frown with displeasure. Glimmer gives me scornful look. I don't even acknowledge her. Cato's eyes are dead serious, and I can tell he's furious at me. It doesn't take a genius to know what about.

I shrug, and follow him deeper into the forest, until we're out of earshot. He glares at me, folding his arms. I raise my eyebrows at him, not interested in having some bullshit heart-to-heart. I'm done with him and his games.

"What is it, Cato?" I ask, my voice steely. I glare up at him, a knife in my hand just in case this goes south.

"What was that, Clove? Leaving me back at the fire, just ditching us while you ran?" he snarls. Even to me, he looks pretty intimidating. The Gamemakers must already be preparing my canon. But they don't know him. I do.

"That was me, doing exactly what you would have done," I say, my eyes narrowed. My fingers grip the knife tighter as he takes a deep breath.

"Oh, really? Because I had a chance to do that, Clove. I could have left you sleeping on the ground, and we could have left," he says, his hands curled into fists.

This realization hits me. He's right. He could have left me for dead. But he didn't. Guilt hits me, but I just stare up at him with an expressionless face. He's panting now. He's furious. All I can think is what delightful entertainment this must be for the Capitol.

"But you didn't," I say finally, my voice cool. "Because you knew I could find a way out, because you know I'm smarter than you."

He snarls, at a loss for words. I just stare up at him.

"No," he says, shaking now. "I saved you because you're my district partner. We're supposed to look out for each other!"

I start laughing then. This whole thing is suddenly hilarious. If Cato thinks he can get me back on his side, he's wrong.

"Cut the bullshit, Cato," I snarl. "We both know that District partners don't look out for each other. We're in a fight to the death. So excuse me, but I'm not going to save your sorry ass anytime soon. I'm going back home."

I walk away then, my face red with anger. I'd like nothing better than to stick a knife right in his forehead. So why don't I? What's stopping me all of a sudden? I mentally scream at myself for being such a weak little girl. I sit back down at the fireside, and whip out one of my knives. I slam it into the ground, over and over again. Everyone's watching me warily.

Cato comes back a little while later, still red in the face. I make the mistake of glancing over at him, and he gives me a deadly glare. I give it back at him. I can feel the anger bubbling up between us and I know that it's only a matter of time before one of us offs the other. And it sure isn't going to be me.

We wait around the fire until our clothes are dry, coughing and hacking. Finally, we decide to go hunting. We gather up our weapons, and begin to make our way around the forest. Almost everything has been ruined by the fire. The grass is burned to a crisp, so our footsteps could be heard from practically miles away.

That's when we find her. The beloved little Girl on Fire. Suddenly, her name is ironic, because as she runs away from us, I spot a burn on her calf. It's a bad one. I grin as she limps away from us. There's no way she'll escape this one.

She climbs quickly and skillfully up one of the many trees. My eyes narrow. What doesn't she know? So far, Loverboy and I are the only ones not whooping and shouting at her. I glance at him suspiciously. He better not try anything funny.

But soon, I'm feeling pretty good when Glimmer tries to use her bow and misses. But then it vanishes as quickly as it came when Katniss starts calling out her smartass remarks. I wish she'd fall, then I'd make sure she'd shut up.

Then, we start arguing over how we'll get her down. Surprisingly, Lover Boy speaks up.

"Why don't we just wait her out? It's not like she's going anywhere," he says harshly.

I roll my eyes. What else are we supposed to do?

Then we start setting up a fire. I sit down on the ground, looking up at Katniss, her face in contorted in pain. I smile to myself as she glances at me. Within a day, she'll be dead. The idea of her on the ground, the canon booming, makes me grin with sick pleasure.

I look over when I hear the sound of laughter. Glimmer's snuggled up to Cato, who is laughing and whispering to her. I roll my eyes, trying to not look as angry as I feel. But I can't shake the anger I feel every time I hear her giggle, and Cato laugh.

Slowly I fall asleep, my back against the tree.

(**)

I wake again to the sound of screaming. I leap to my feet, and feel horrible stings everywhere- my hands, my neck.. I look around and see a nest on the ground, bees swarming around it. Tracker Jackers. We had a few back around District Two, but not many.

I run off, swatting and trying to protect my body the best I can. I trip several times, but keep going. The bloodlust, along with adrenalin, that runs throughout me almost scares me. I want nothing more than to kill her. I want to see her scream as my knife pierces her skin. Katniss Everdeen must die.

I reach camp, and dive into the lake, the cold water soothing my stings. It seems that this is becoming a habit. I turn around, and I realize that once again, I've left the others for dead. Great. Cato will be in a fabulous mood.

Shortly, Marvel and Cato come running through the bush and dive into the lake after me. Glimmer isn't with them. I find a smile stretching slowly through my lips. Is she really dead? That seems like too much to hope for, but then the canon rings out, and I fight the urge to cheer. But I do allow myself to keep the smile on my face as I get out from the water.

I sit down, shivering once again. I see Cato glaring at me, and I give him a demeaning smile. He glares at me more. I roll my eyes. Who does he think he is?