A/N: Thanks for the reviews and new favorites and followers, I'm so sorry this took so long. I had a huge block, but after chasing after a few plot bunnies and reading your reviews for this story it got the creative juices flowing again, so yay(!) for that!

In case I didn't mention it before, I don't own the Hunger Games series, I'm just doing this for fun.

I'm trying to make this story my own, but I borrow some dialogue and situations from the original, but I try and make this as original as possible.

So thanks for coming back, our friends are about to have their first day of training, I really enjoyed writing this chapter.

Hey, I'm looking for someone who can make cover art (nothing fancy) but I'm tired of looking at my profile picture as the cover photo, and I feel like my baby needs a new face. If you can help send me a message, maybe I'll name a tribute after you :)

...

I wake with a dull throb of a headache, Effie had allowed me a small glass of wine, but never having any kind of alcohol it went straight to my head after the first few sips; it could also account for me allowing her to put a smelly green paste on my face and paint my toenails.

She had opened the door and threw a pink frilly robe at me and gave me a silk night dress to put on, practically shoving me in the bathroom. I stayed in there as long as I could, but then I realized I was just prolonging my own torture; I've heard girls at school talking about "slumber parties" they seemed excited. It couldn't possibly be that bad, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

After coming out of the bathroom we put goop on our faces; and I was right, Effie is quite beautiful under all of that Capital make up. I make a point in telling her, she smiles shyly- and I notice in the morning her face isn't so ghostly white and her eyeshadow isn't so outrageous- and thanks me. Then she stuffs cotton between my toes and paints them.

After the wine had been served Effie asked if I had a boy at home, she seemed overly pleased when I said the only boy that was really around was Peeta, which wasn't a lie, I've only seen Gale on our hunting days when he has a day off from the mines. But I leave him out anyway, she probably wouldn't care about that stuff.

Saying what I said about Peeta she begins a tyrant of questions: "have we kissed? Do we have feelings for each other? Does his Merchant mother approve?"

Once Effie is satisfied with the amount of "Girl Time" she bids me goodnight.

It surprises me how chipper Effie is when she knocks to remind me of the "Big, big day!" We're going to have, she finished the bottle of wine; but I suppose that's normal when all of your time is fancy parties and watching children being murdered for entertainment.

I groan and roll out of bed and blindly push buttons once I reach the shower; I some how manage to actually clean myself and I use the wall dryer and find the outfit that is hung up in my closet. It's a shirt and pants, all black with a shiny '12' embroidered on each of the sleeves.

After getting dressed I go to the dinning room and sit next to Peeta, who is dressed just like me. I fill up my plate and eat quietly.

After Haymitch puts the last piece of some kind of sausage in his mouth he wipes his lips and tosses the cloth napkin on his plate. "Well, how are we going to play this?" He asks, looking between Peeta and myself.

"Play what?" Peeta asks, taking a sip of water.

"Training, what can you do? What can't you do? You seem close, do you want to train together?" He finishes, narrowing his eyes, sizing us up.

"I don't see why we would train separately, we've known each other almost our whole lives." I say, not sure where this unsettling feeling is coming from.

"Alright, Sweetheart, let's start with you. You've got strength when you need it," he says, alluding to the train incident. "what else can you do?"

I shrug my shoulders, "Nothing special really,"

Peeta snorts next to me, I glare at him.

"Something on your mind, Wonder Boy?"

"She's underselling herself, she can pick off a squirrel so far away that a normal person wouldn't be able to see it, shoot it right in the eye, every time." Peeta starts to chuckle. "I swear you're like the son my dad never had." He says patting my shoulder.

I roll my eyes. "Ok, what about you? You beat Rye in that wrestling match,"

Peeta's eyes widen slightly. "You were there?"

"Of course I was, you idiot. You tossed him around like a rag doll." I turn my attention back to Haymitch, who seems reluctantly amused by us. "He can pick up 100 pound bags of flour and toss them up on the trailer when the supply train comes."

"She can identify just about any plant or berry, she gathers most of her mothers herbs for medicines." Peeta tells Haymitch, who nods, soaking in the information.

"Well, he can run really fast, he's as loud as a moose, but he's quick."

Peeta scoffs. "She can climb trees,"

"He's great at painting, he could probably camouflage himself in any arena."

"She can out run bees and hold her breath under water for two minutes." He says practically giggling.

"He can eat a whole red pepper without needing to drink milk." This is getting ridiculous, but it's so much fun, Haymitch seems to be losing patience, but is allowing us to prattle on.

"She has the biggest hands I've ever seen on a girl."

I gasp, pretending to be upset. "He likes to wear my mothers dresses when he has tea with my sister!"

Peeta's eyes bulge and he frantically looks between me and Haymitch. "That- that was one time! I was was twelve and she was sick!" He looks at Haymitch "You can't say no to Prim." He glares daggers at me. "She took all of the heads off my mothers collectible dolls and put them in my parents bed." He says with a straight face, looking very serious, like he's spilling a national secret.

"Peeta! You promised you wouldn't tell!" I shout. I had only done that because she had taken all of Peeta's art supplies, hoping he would focus more on trying to woo the Merchant girls. I scramble my brain trying to think of something to say. "Yeah, well, he, he-"

"Are you two together?" Haymitch interrupts. Peeta and I both blush terribly and shake our heads in the negative. "Interesting..." Haymitch mutters into his coffee. "Well, as entertaining as that was, I've heard more than enough. Now go meet Effie before I cut myself with this dull butter knife." He says shooing us from the table, I can tell that he secretly found our exchange to be funny, there's a crinkle to his eyes that wasn't there this morning.

Peeta and I lean into each other finally giving into the laughter, both of us forgetting about Haymitch's question. Effie is waiting for us when we get to the elevator.

"There you are, darlings! We must go, we have a tight schedule. Come along," she chirps. We board the elevator and she presses a button and the elevator zooms down. "Alright, loves, you will train for three hours, break for lunch and then train for another three hours, you will eat lunch in the training center, but all other meals will be held on our floor. It is not required to mingle with other Tributes, but it would be wise to form alliances quickly." Peeta and I nod, showing were listening, I have no interest in befriending any of these people.

The door open to a large room, we seem to be the last to arrive, half of the group turning to look at us. Potato- Cato, as Effie told me last night- and his partner both smirk at us. Effie pats our shoulders and hurries back to the elevator.

The room is large and divided into sections, there's a wall of weapons, daggers, swords and metal balls attached to chains with spikes coming out of them. There's a lush green area, most likely a plant studies section. There's a large mat in the middle of the room for sparing, but Tributes are forbidden from fighting each other, as the woman in the middle has just announced, if we want to fight, a trainer will help us.

There are other sections but all is lost when my eyes land land on a section in the corner, there are at least five different types of bows and a number of different targets. I'm brought out of my fog when Peeta lightly taps my shoulder and I see everyone has gone to a section. "What?" I ask, embarrassed.

"I've been thinking, all of the Careers are going to be showing off, I say we stay modest. Save it for the private sessions." He says looking around. I follow his line of sight and see Cato throwing spears like he's throwing stones in a pond. His partner, the dangerous looking girl with dark hair, is juggling daggers, before throwing them in the middle of a body shaped target.

Elsewhere, other tributes seem to be good at other things. A lithe looking girl with red hair and sharp facial features seems to be flying through the plant identification test.

It's a really good idea, (and I'm kind of surprised Haymitch didn't say the same thing.) and us being from Twelve everyone will already be underestimating us, we hadn't made any friends by our display during the Tribute parade either, probably best to lay as low as possible.

"Yeah, that sounds smart. Where do you want to go?"

"There's a camouflage station, you can paint flowers on my face." He says with a wink before dragging me to a set of tables with mud and berries. He has me sit in a chair and grabs a bowl and starts pouring things in, I try and keep up with what is added, but he seems to know what he's doing, so he's adding things before I can see.

He takes my hand and starts to slather it in mud. I realize with a jolt how smooth his hands are, the feeling of his skin isn't entirely unwelcome, just a bit shocking, Peeta's hands have always been rough with hard work at the bakery. Peeta must notice my reaction to his hand, he lets out a muffled chuckle- as he has a brush stuck between his lips- "They primped and polished me just as much, if not more than you," he says clinching the brush in his teeth.

"It's nice," I say before I can stop myself. Peeta's cheeks darken, but he doesn't say anything.

I watch as he swirls colors and patterns onto my arm, mixing grays and yellows and oranges. Eventually my eyes wonder back to his face, his tongue poking out between his lips in concentration, the way his impossibly long eyelashes seem to glow in the harsh overhead lights. A small thought bubbles up, reminding me that I shouldn't be thinking of Peeta this way; we are going to win, and he'll have his pick of girls when we get home.

"There," he says with a final flourish of his brush. "done." He takes my clean hand and leads me to a tall patch of fake dried grass. He places my hand in front and I watch in amazement as my hand disappears, completely blending in.

"Peeta this is amazing!" I say smiling at him.

"If only I could frost someone to death," he jokes.

Over the next few days the Gamemakers trickle in and watch us- and when I say us, I mean Peeta and myself- it's a little unnerving how much they watch Peeta and me, making little notes on paper and whispering amongst themselves.

I've also noticed someone has been shadowing us.

"That's Rue from District Eleven." Peeta says when I bring it up.

She is even smaller in person, her eyes rounder, and her overall demeanor more innocent. I smile at her, knowing it would be dangerous to become attached to her, losing her would be like losing Prim if I allowed her to get close.

It's the last day of group training and Peeta has gone to the restroom, leaving me to wonder the center alone. I decide to go to the knot tying station, the woman seems impressed with my ability to make a twitch up snare, she shows me a few modifications on how to make it stronger.

"Fancy seeing you alone, Twelve, your little boyfriend crying somewhere?" A voice says above me.

I look up to see Cato towering over me. He has the same deadly smirk from the first day of training, he sits next to me, almost touching, he grabs a rope and begins tying and winding the rope in his hands.

"You know, when my father used to train me, he would pay some poor, starving kid to fight me. At first-"

He twists the rope.

"even the weak were stronger than me, their desire for a free meal too enticing to be beaten by some rich kid who never went without."

Another flick of his wrist.

"But as I got stronger-"

Flick.

"Even their will for survival wasn't enough-"

He loops the rope, pulling it tight.

"I've broken many people before volunteering this year," He says looking me in the eye. His deadly icy blue eyes seemingly staring into my soul. "Don't think your little show at the parade has won you any favors." He leans in closer and puts his lips to my ear. "I'll enjoy breaking you just as much as any person here." He whispers, his voice is like steel. I've never been afraid of another person before, and I try not to let it show, he's just trying to get inside my head.

"There a problem here?" Peeta asks standing behind us. I try not to let my shoulders sag with relief.

"Nah, just practicing my technique, having a nice conversation with a fellow Tribute." Cato stands, rope still in hand, he faces Peeta, nose to nose; "Have a nice day, champ." He says patting Peeta's arm. He looks down at me and winks, dropping his rope in my lap before stalking away.

Peeta sits next to me, rubbing my arm. "You alright? Did he hurt you?" He asks, concern bleeding into his voice.

"I'm fine, he was just trying to scare me."

Peeta nods and looks at the rope in my lap. "What's that?" He asks pointing to it.

I lift up the rope Cato tossed carelessly into my lap.

He'd made a noose.

...

The morning of the private sessions are spent being shuffled back and forth between Haymitch and Effie, giving us a rundown of the dos and do nots; Haymitch focusing on our fighting techniques and Effie, of course, on the etiquette.

After a few hours of Peeta and I goofing off Haymitch tells us to go. "I've done all I can do, if you're not going to take this seriously, I won't feel guilty when you die." He says stomping to his room. We should feel bad, and we do, a little; but all we've done is train and fight for almost a week, it's nice to be silly, seeing as we'll be in the arena in 48 hours.

We even manage to piss off poor Effie. After Effie said we should bow after introducing ourselves Peeta and I made a show of bowing at the end of every sentence and spoke with a Capital accent. She told us to leave.

We head in the direction of our rooms before Peeta takes me by the hand and leads me through a door and a hallway I've never been to before.

"Where are we going?" I whisper.

"Why are you whispering?" Peeta asks in his own whisper, a smile tugging on his lips.

"Where are we going?" I ask again at a normal volume.

"You'll see," Peeta replies.

We turn a corner to a stairwell and climb them quickly. He pushes open the metal door and I'm almost blown over by the sweetest smelling air I've ever smelled outside of the meadow in District Twelve. The sun is blinding and high in the sky. When my eyes finally adjust I see we're on the roof, there's a covered patio with plush looking chairs and a small table, there are flowers everywhere.

"How did you know about this?" I ask, looking around in awe. I turn to Peeta to see him smiling at me.

"Cinna showed me, it's very windy up here, they don't bother with microphones."

We stroll around the roof top, looking at the flowers and the skyline of the Capital.

"Why would they allow us to have access up here? Couldn't someone jump off if they were desperate enough?"

"I asked Cinna that, he said there's a force field that surrounds the edge of the building, it's outside of every window too. If you touch it it jolts you back. Watch," Peeta walks over and plucks a full red rose from a rose bush, he walks closer to the wall and tosses it over. We watch as it falls a few feet before there's a crackle of energy and sparks of blue and white before the rose sails back over our heads and lands on the ground, singed and smoking.

"Well, I guess that answers that." I say, looking at the rose sadly. It's not enough to want us fight to the death, but we couldn't escape even if we tried.

"Why don't we sit? We have a little while before we have to go down." Peeta suggests, taking my hand and leading me to a chair, I sit down, and am cocooned in the fluffy cushion. If I had the time, I might take a nap up here.

"You want to talk?" Peeta asks, his eyes searching my face.

"Not really," I say indifferently.

"It's ok, you know? It's alright to be scared." He offers, taking my hand again.

"I'm not scared for myself, I just worry about Prim... And my mom. What if she leaves again?"

Peeta's face softens and he scoots closer to me. "You know Gale and Hazel will watch over them, you can't focus on that now." Peeta consoles, putting his arm around my shoulder, I rest my head on his chest. We sit there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company.

"What about you?" I ask quietly.

"I'm just scared something will happen to you. You're all I have, Katniss." He says earnestly.

"You know that's not true, your father still needs you. Bram and Rye, they love you. You'll have them if I don't come home."

Peeta is quiet for a long time before he speaks again, I've heard and seen some sad and terrible things when it comes to Peeta, but I think this breaks my heart the most- "If you can't come, I'm not sure I'll be going home either." He says with such finality that I don't know how to argue back.

It seems like only a few minutes pass, sitting in Peeta's arms, before Effie is opening the door and telling us it's time.

We stand up, hands still linked and walk over to Effie, her eyes are misty and her right hand is resting on her chest, over her heart. "You dears are so precious," she says touching each of our faces before she turns and leaves the rooftop.

I look at Peeta in confusion, he just shrugs and we follow our emotional escort.

The ride down to the training center is silent except for Effie's small sniffles and quiet whispers that sound like "Poor darlings."

We step off the elevator and Effie turns around without saying goodbye. I wonder what's wrong with her?

It seems we're the last to arrive, everyone is either paired off with their District partner or walking around the small sitting room. Peeta and I take the only two connecting chairs, that just so happen to be in front of Cato and his partner, Clove.

Clove barely spares us a glance and goes back to picking her nails. Cato watches our every move, smirking whenever we happen to look at him.

One by one the Tributes are called; we each get twenty minutes to show the Gamemakers anything we feel could help us in the arena. If they like it they give you a high score, showing sponsors who they could invest in. But not everyone with a low score is helpless. Johanna Mason from District Seven only got a five for her score, but proved to be lethal with an ax.

Finally I'm called, I step into the room and hone in on the Gamemaker box; they are all milling about, drinking from fancy glasses. A few are having animated conversations, an old man is sleeping in his chair. look around and grab a bow before turning back to the viewing box, the sleeping man has woken up and is watching me with bleary eyes.

"My name is Katniss Everdeen, District Twelve." I announce, one or two Gamemakers turn and wave a hand urging me to continue. I turn away towards the targets and grab an arrow, I pull and release a few times, getting a feel for the foreign weapon in my hands. I finally aim at a dummy in the far corner and release the arrow, it lands dead center to where the heart should be, I take a chance and look at the box, only the few who have originally seen me are paying attention. I send a few more arrows around the room, hitting various targets with different degrees of difficulty. I even decide to show off a bit and throw in some tumbling and rolls. And still only those three are watching me, but just barely. Someone is passing out cake and more drinks are being poured.;

Afire ignites in my belly and my body hums with rage. I know it's a long day of watching people do things they think are spectacular, but my damn life is on the line! Furious, I look around for something, anything. My eyes land on a bucket of tennis balls. I grab three of them and bounce them on the ground, and with a speed I have never possessed shoot off three arrows, impaling the tennis balls into the wall behind the Gamemakers.

A woman shrieks, a man stumbles into the six tier cake behind him. The sleeping man is laughing, but the majority are stunned.

I smirk at them, take a deep bow and raise back up. "Thank you so much for your attention." I say, standing there, looking each of them in the eye.

"Thank- thank you, Miss Everdeen. You may go,"

I nod curtly and replace the bow and leave through the door I came.

...

(A/N) I so didn't mean to make Cato as creepy as I did (seriously, this story seems to write itself) but I think it works. Honestly, anyone who volunteers for something like this is obviously unbalanced. Just a smidge.

What did you think of Katniss and Effie's girl night? I enjoyed writing that.

I loved writing the banter between Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch. I'll admit, I actually didn't have a plan on what to do during that breakfast scene, just wrote that on the fly, it might not even fit with the story, I just thought it was fun.

Also some more Peeniss (hehe) hintings- she's getting there folks! Still stubborn though. I keep pushing, but she just won't follow. Soon though. Soon *evil laughter* anyway...

Shoot me a review, I love hearing from you guys, it rocks my world!/div