After sending our Tributes to their stylists, Haymitch and I both dress and head down to watch the Tribute Parade. I enter the Mentor's box, a large overhang above the crowd where we can watch our Tributes. Haymitch is directly behind me.

I am standing beside Haymitch, neither of us saying anything. He is looking around, "Do you think Chaff came this year?"

"I sincerely hope not since you gave them your word to stay sober," I smirk at him.

"I can stay sober!" He looks at me, mock offence coloring his expression.

"Mmhmm, Chaff wouldn't push you to drink with him, or anything." I laugh at him, kissing him on the cheek.

I pull away from him, ready to tell him how happy I am that he decided to stay remotely sober, when an arm wraps around my waist and pulls me away from Haymitch and into a solid body. I look over just as lips are pressed to my forehead. "Good to see you, Gorgeous!"

I grin up at Finnick, "Hey, Doll!" I wrap my arms around him. "I didn't realize you'd be coming this year!"

"Yep. It's my turn." We both know that he is here every year, but most years he is not here as a Mentor, but on Snow's orders.

"I'm gonna make the rounds. I plan on coming by at some point though, so be ready!" Finnick winks as he walks away, and I smile at his back.

"If I didn't know you any better, I'd be jealous." Haymitch tells me, pulling me to his side.

"No reason to be." I lean up and kiss his cheek, "I love my Haymitch."

He hums, "Love you, too, Darling."

Haymitch finds a drink while we are waiting for the Parade to start. I smirk at him, "Remember your deal."

He grumbles, "Oh, I remember."

The anthem starts, and all of the Mentors make their way to the edge, looking out over the track to see our Tributes. The Parade goes by like normal, the Career Tributes try to appear menacing, the others all seem to be shaking in their boots.

District Eleven goes by, and I am saddened by the smallest little girl going by on her Chariot. She looks strong, unwilling to show fear, but she is so tiny, just 11 years old.

Then, the crowd starts going wild. I look up and see Katniss and Peeta. They are holding hands, flames flickering wildly behind them. They are stunning.

"There is a way to make a statement." Haymitch says, staring at our Tributes. The crowd is chanting "Katniss! Katniss!"

"They might actually have a chance." I speak. Haymitch nods once. Never does District 12 make such a commotion at the Parade.

The parade stops, and we listen to President Snow's speech. Similar to the previous years', and then the chariots make one more loop around the circle, cameras focusing on Katniss and Peeta, before disappearing into the Tribute Center.

"We should go tell them they did well." I say to Haymitch.

"No. They need to be independent. They can't just be relying on us," he states, firmly.

"Okay." I smile at him. I have complete faith in him. Even though he spends most of his time drunk, the man is cunning, great with strategy.

He starts pulling me toward the exit, wanting to make it back to our rooms. I stop, "You go. I'm gonna stay for a little bit, talk to some of the others."

He looks at me for a moment before nodding, "I don't know how you are so friendly with everyone." He kisses my temple before leaving.

I walk around the Mentor's Box for a while, talking with Finnick, mostly. I am standing beside Finnick, his arm around my shoulders, when Johanna Mason, who won three years ago, saunters over. "Your kids were hot."

I smirk, "they were, weren't they?"

"Not often the Capitol cheers for District 12." She smirks at me, knowing the last time they cheered was for me.

"They know a Victor when they see one," I tell her.

She laughs, "We'll see!" She takes a step away, waves over her shoulder, "Too-da-loo!"

We eventually make our way back toward the elevators. I punch 12, Finnick punches 4. The elevator quickly stops at his floor, he kisses my forehead again, "See ya later, Gorgeous!"

I wave as the doors close again, then I am rocketing up to the twelfth floor. The doors open and I enter. Peeta is sitting in the living area, staring out a window. He looks over when he hears the elevator and waves at me.

I return the wave, "You guys did great."

"Thanks. It was terrifying." He sends a sweet smile my way.

"Everything from here on out will be terrifying," I warn him. "Just be strong."

He nods and I start walking again, "Now, I'm off to make sure Haymitch is presentable for dinner."

He laughs, "Good luck!"

I am smiling as I enter Haymitch's room. Our room, really. I never use the room set aside for me, both of us stay in his room. So much so that the closet is stocked with clothes for both him and I.

He is lounging on the bed, a drink in hand. "How many is that?" I ask him.

He smirks at me, and sits up on the edge of the bed, "Not nearly enough."

I smile, "Good, I need your help." I sit beside him.

Haymitch and I sit together in silence, enjoying each other's company. I stand and climb my way onto his lap, straddling him. He grins and lays back, and I am leaning over him.

"Has my good behavior warranted a prize?" He is smirking at me.

I lean down and kiss him, using my body to tease him. "I believe it might have…"

We utilize all the time before dinner, and I ensure that both of us are presentable, appearing as perfect Victors. Haymitch is clean, mostly sober, and has a glimmer in his eye (surely from that thing he likes so much.)

We enter the dining room, everyone is already sitting, and plates are starting to be served. Haymitch pulls my chair out for me, and I quickly sit down, smirking at him, "such a gentleman."

"Only for you." He kisses my temple before sitting beside me.

Dinner is full of polite talk. Cinna, Portia, and Effie all talking about how wonderfully the Parade went. Haymitch notices how much I am enjoying the pasta that was served, so he quickly dumps his onto my plate. A scowl from Effie makes Haymitch's grin widen.

Our plates are cleared, smaller ones placed in front of us, and a beautiful cake brought out. An Avox ignites it, and flames flicker above it.

Katniss watches it with intrigue before speaking, "What makes it burn? Is it alcohol? That's the last thing I wa—Oh, I know you!"

My eyes snap to her. Haymitch's eyebrows are furrowed. The girl looks terrified, quickly shakes her head and hurries away.

"Don't be ridiculous, Katniss," Effie begins, "How could you possibly know an Avox? The very thought."

Katniss looks lost, "What's an Avox?"

"Someone who committed a crime." I tell her, "They cut her tongue so she can't speak."

Haymitch adds, "She's probably a traitor of some sort. Not likely you'd know her."

"And even if you did," Effie adds, "you're not to speak to one of them unless it's to give an order. Of course, you don't really know her."

I can see the gears in her head turning before she answers, "No, I guess not, I just—"

Suddenly, Peeta snaps his fingers, "Delly Cartwright. That's who it is. I kept thinking she looked familiar as well. Then I realized she is a dead ringer for Delly."

I spare a glance at Haymitch, who also looks doubtful. The Cartwrights are all pale and blonde, not anything like the girl with dark red hair who had been punished by the Capitol.

"Of course, that's who I was thinking of. It must be the hair." Katniss jumps on Peeta's suggestion.

"Something about the eyes, too." Peeta adds.

Everyone around the table relaxes and Cinna smiles, "Oh, well. If that's all it is. And yes, the cake has spirits, but all the alcohol has burned off. I ordered it specially in honor of your fiery debut."

The cake is served, and everyone eats. I remember back to a time out in the woods with Katniss. Gale hadn't joined us that day. She had told me a story about a boy and girl running through the woods. A hovercraft killed the boy and took the girl. Gale and Katniss had hidden, and they hadn't been seen, but she told me of the girl looking at her and calling for help, and Katniss felt terrible about not being able to do anything for her.

I am quiet through the rest of dessert. Haymitch rests his hand on my thigh, reminding me of his unwavering support. I smile at him as I take the last bite of my cake. He squeezes my thigh and then we all make our way into the living area to watch the recap of the Parade.

"I have to leave after the Parade is done," I whisper to Haymitch. I feel his hand squeeze mine tighter, his bicep under my hand tensing. He nods, kissing me quickly on the temple.

I sit beside Haymitch on the couch. I tuck my feet up beside me and lean into him, his arm around me. We watch as it shows all of the Districts come out of the Remake Center. Then the crowd goes wild as Katniss and Peeta come out in their flames. The people in the room let out an 'Ahhh' at the sight.

"Whose idea was the hand holding?" I ask.

"Cinna's," Portia replies.

I nod and Haymitch speaks, "Just the perfect touch of rebellion. Very nice."

We watch until our Tributes disappear into the Remake Center, then Haymitch speaks, "Tomorrow morning is the first training session. Meet us for breakfast and we will tell you exactly how we want you to play it." He pauses for a moment before continuing, "now, go get some sleep while the grown-ups talk."

Katniss and Peeta leave, and Haymitch starts the discussion with Cinna and Portia. Effie isn't the most helpful, but she can assist with drawing in Sponsors, so she is more than welcome into the discussion.

I stand and bid a goodnight to the others. Cinna looks at me sadly and Haymitch stands and kisses me. "See you in the morning."

I smile at him. His eyes are full of sadness, hurt, anger. We both know that there is nothing we can do about the situation, however, so he releases my hands and I make my way to the elevator.

I make my way to my client, a kind old man who works in the President's Mansion. He likes to be degrading, but he offers wonderful information.

The next morning, I make my way back to the Tribute Center. I make my way up to our floor, smoothing out my hair as the elevator whisks me upwards. The doors open, and I find Katniss sitting at the table. She stares at me as I walk in. I send a small smile her way and she frowns, "Where were you?"

"I had an… appointment to keep." I tell her. I have never told her about what I do in the Capitol.

I see Haymitch and Peeta enter the room.

Katniss rolls her eyes, "yeah, well, your Capitol friends must be more important than keeping us alive."

"Enough!" Haymitch says, his voice is deep, threatening. I stare at him with wide eyes, tears threatening to spill. He continues, "This is what they do to Victors." He points to me, "Once you win, you do the Capitol's bidding. Whatever they ask, you do. So, think long and hard if this is a life worth winning the Games for."

I see Katniss' eyes flit to the floor, shame written all over her features.

Silent tears are streaming down my face as Haymitch grabs a full bottle of spirits off the table and walks over to me. His thumb brushes over my cheeks, wiping away my tears. He opens the bottle and takes a swig before handing it to me. I take a few large gulps before handing it back to him. He looks at me, his grey eyes soft and caring, "go take a shower, Darling. Get cleaned up." He looks back to our Tributes before his eyes meet mine again, "I'll see to them."

I nod and reach up to press my lips to his. He pulls away, his hand that was resting on my lower back pushes me toward our room. "Go get cleaned up," he says softly.

I make my way to our room. Once inside, I sit on the bed and sob. I already feel dirty, and Katniss' comment didn't help. Of course, I would rather be here helping them instead of hopping from bed to bed. There is no choice. I have my family to think about. I have Haymitch to think about.

I finally get up and shower. I eventually make my way out to the dining room. Katniss and Peeta are gone by the time I come out. Haymitch is waiting for me, a plate of food in the chair next to him. I sit, and his arm immediately goes around me. He doesn't say anything, just sits with me, silently supporting me.

While training is going on, Haymitch and I go on rounds, already talking to Sponsors about our Tributes. Of course, no one is willing to put money down yet, but we are getting a head start, talking our Tributes up, making the Capitol citizens more and more eager to support them.

I look across the way to see the tall figure of Finnick. I pat Haymitch's arm, letting him know I am stepping away, and walk across toward my friend.

His eyes light up when he sees me, "Gorgeous!"

"Hey, Finnick." I smile at him.

"What's the matter?" He questions.

"Oh, Katniss was very upset that I was out for the night. Told me my capitol friends must be more important than her life."

"I thought you said she was your friend. Or her dad was?" Finnick asks. I know I had told him about my friendship with Forrest, and consequently the friendship with his daughter.

"Yeah, well, the Games put everyone under a lot of stress. Makes for the perfect conditions to lash out." I shrug.

"Well, you come see me if you need to." Finnick says, his eyes gleaming with love, friendship, and understanding.

"I will." I nod. "Now, how are you doing for Sponsors?"

"Usually, we have more people signed up by now." He sighs. "I think your girl is slowing things down for everyone, they want to see how she's gonna do."

I smile, "she is a fighter."

"Just like her mentor," he grins.

That evening, Peeta and Katniss come back from training. Katniss immediately pulls me aside. "I'm sorry for what I said this morning. I didn't know."

"I never said anything, you couldn't have."

"But still, you've always been my friend, you were my father's best friend. I know you don't want me to die." She speaks.

We head to the table, Haymitch, Effie and I grill them about what happened during training, coaching them about what things they need to learn. We do this the next morning and it's evening as well. The third day, we remind them to save their strengths for the private lessons.

Haymitch and I are sitting on the couch, waiting for the Tributes to come back from Training. Effie is elsewhere, doing things to help support District 12 through the Games. Haymitch and I are playing a game, keeping our minds off the waiting.

The elevator dings, and Peeta walks in.

Haymitch and I stand, Effie teeters over. "So," Haymitch starts, "how bad did you blow it?"

"Haymitch!" I elbow him in the side causing him to shoot me a grin.

Peeta shrugs, "I just threw around some heavy things until they told me to go."

I nod, "how heavy?"

He shrugs again, "I mean, pretty heavy."

"Good." I smile, patting him on the back. "Go get cleaned up before dinner. Relax if you can."

He nods and goes to his room.

A little while later, the elevator dings again. This time, Katniss bolts out of the elevator and runs straight to her room. The door slams, and I look at Haymitch who just shrugs.

We go and knock on her door. She yells at us to leave her alone, so we do. "She will come out when she's ready," I tell Haymitch.

At dinner, Katniss joins us. I talk with Cinna, who keeps looking at Katniss, worried. Haymitch makes sure that I have all of the things I like from dinner, like usual.

The main course is being served when Haymitch finally speaks up, "okay, enough small talk, just how bad were you today?"

Peeta begins, "I don't know that it mattered. By the time I showed up, no one even bothered to look at me. They were singing some kind of drinking song, I think. So, I threw around some heavy objects until they told me I could go."

I nod, remembering feeling the same way at my Games.

"And you, sweetheart?" My eyes snap to Haymitch at his new term of endearment. His hand squeezes my leg, and I smile, knowing he does it to piss Katniss off.

"I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers." Katniss grumbles.

There is a split second of complete silence around the table before Effie speaks, horrified, "You what?"

"I shot an arrow at them." Katniss says, "not exactly at them. In their direction. It's like Peeta said, I was shooting, and they were ignoring me and I just … I just lost my head, so I shot an apple out of their stupid roast pig's mouth!"

My mouth is dropped open in shock, and I am slightly reminded of my own individual session. I also offended the Gamemakers, only I didn't shoot an arrow at them.

"And what did they say," Cinna asks.

"Nothing. Or, I don't know. I walked out after that."

"Without being dismissed?" Effie questions.

"I dismissed myself," Katniss says. I can only smirk.

"Well, that's that," Haymitch says, making me elbow him in the side.

"Do you think they'll arrest me?" Katniss asks quietly.

"Doubt it. Be a pain to replace you at this stage," Haymitch responds.

"What about my family?" Katniss asks, "will they punish them?"

"I don't think so." I tell her, "Wouldn't make much sense. See, they'd have to reveal what happened in the Training Center for it to have any worthwhile effect on the population. People would need to know what you did. But they can't since it's secret, so it would be a waste of effort."

"More likely, they'll make your life hell in the arena," Haymitch adds.

"Well, they've already promised to do that to us anyway," Peeta says.

"Very true." Haymitch nods.

Katniss seems perkier than she was at the beginning of the meal, and Haymitch looks at her, holding a pork chop with his fingers, dunking it in his wine, "What were their faces like?"

Katniss smirks, "Shocked. Terrified. Uh, ridiculous, some of them." She pauses for a moment and continues, "One man tripped backward into a bowl of punch."

Everyone starts laughing, even Effie is smiling, "Well, it serves them right. It's their job to pay attention to you." Effie says, "and just because you come from District Twelve is no excuse to ignore you." She looks around for a moment before adding, "I'm sorry, but that's what I think."

"I'll get a bad score." Katniss says.

"Scores only matter if they're very good, no one pays attention to the bad or mediocre ones. For all they know, you could be hiding your talents to get a low score on purpose." Portia says.

"People have used that strategy." I nod.

We finish the meal and head into the living area to watch the scores from the individual sessions. Once again, I curl up beside Haymitch.

We watch, waiting for the important ones, our Tributes. Haymitch makes quiet comments to me about some of the tributes, but nothing that needs saying to others.

I sit up a little straighter as Peeta's picture comes up. "An eight!" I grin at Peeta.

"We can work with that!" Effie says, nodding and smiling at him.

Then Katniss's picture pops up, and the number eleven flashes under it.

I let out a whoop, and Haymitch is grinning.

"There must be a mistake." Katniss speaks, "How … how could that happen?" She looks at Haymitch.

"Guess they liked your temper," he tells her.

I smirk, "They've got a show to put on, they need some players with some heat."

"Katniss, the girl who was on fire," Cinna says, giving Katniss a hug. "Oh, wait until you see your interview dress."

"More flames?" She asks.

"Of a sort." He smirks.

Everyone disperses after that. Haymitch and I follow our Tributes and head to bed.

Once I am settled in, my head resting on his bare chest, I speak, "they're doing well."

"They are. These two are strong."

"It's nice, having you present for once." I tell him.

He is quiet for a moment, "It's really hard on me."

"I know." I lean my head up and place a kiss to the side of his neck. His arms pull me closer, tighter against him, "get some sleep, Darling."

"Love you, Haymitch."

"Love you, too, Darling."