Chapter Song- Hey Mama (David Guetta feat. Nikki Minaj and Bebe Rexa)

A/N Hope you and your families all stay safe and healthy during this time! My University has been thrown out of whack which is why I haven't posted for a while, but the semester is done in about two weeks, so I'll be free after that!

Like any other day, Cato and I rise at 5 am, quietly shuffling around to grab our equipment and clothes. It's too early for conversation, so we grab breakfast to go and lock the door. Luckily now that it's spring, it's actually light outside when we leave for the academy. Sleep still makes our eyes puffy, but we're awake and alert. There's no one else awake at this hour, so the only things we can hear are birds chirping and our footsteps. I put my hands in my zip-up hoodie for warmth from the morning frost and take in the peacefulness of the city and the mountains beyond.

Once we enter the academy, there are only a few bodies in there. All of the graduates have been gone now for a few months, save an alternate or two for Cato. The new cohort won't be brought in until after the games because enrollment tends to go up after the games anyways. But the past two weeks, all of the students have been sent home for the break, all except for a few that is. Even before the break Cato and I arrived bright and early, making sure that we were able to complete anything we needed to before the cohorts started to come through the stations. It's nice to be able to do this with him every day for the past few months instead of for weeks or days at a time.

We do some stretching before separating to go to do some individual workouts that pertain to each of our specialties. As opposed to shadowing him around everywhere, I've always made sure to let Cato do his own thing, only to come together on things that I'm needed for. It's more comforting to know that someone is training just as hard as you as opposed to someone just following you around. Cato has been tapering his workouts for the past two weeks though, so today won't be as rigorous as the past few months.

I go to the throwing knives section and take off my zip-up, placing a knife-vest on over top of my tank top. I slowly load it until there are no more slots left, the calmness of the morning tells me that there's no sense in rushing to throw.

I slowly ready myself into a fighting stance and press the red button.

I see a dummy pop up to my right, and I aim for the neck. Bull's eye.

I sense something behind me, and sure enough, another target has appeared up behind me, so I whirl around and lodge it deep into the chest.

Two more pop up at the exact time, so I grab two knives and throw one with both hands. It feels unusual to throw with my right hand, but it still hits well within what would be considered to be a lethal hit.

More targets pop up, and I hit them, right on the mark until I have no knives left and the buzzer sounds, signalling the end of the round. I walk around to collect my knives from each of the dummies, taking time to admire the shots that lodged themselves extra deep. The strength of my throws has improved these last few months because of Cato and Brutus.

I do a few more simple exercise stations like lifting weights, an abs station that I know is definitely going to leave me sore, and then I make my way to where I know Cato will be.

In the main group training area, Cato is waiting for me, swinging around his sword and practicing his stances. There are also several trainers, waiting around with padded equipment.

Cato sees me walks in and picks up his training sword, a hilt with a hollow metal cylinder attached to it instead of a blade. He reaches into my bag, which is beside his and pulls out my two training short swords.

Cato chuckles as he hands them to me. "You know, I still don't think it's fair that you get two."

I shake my head. He says that every time.

We make our way into the centre of the ring, the trainers ready with their padding and training weapons. They're going to try and attack us, and we have to defend ourselves. Once we throw them all out of the outer circle of the ring or land a hit the trainers feel would be fatal, we win. Simple enough, right?

Cato and I go back to back and watch the trainers circle us, waiting for them to make the first move. We're severely outnumbered, but that's the way we like it. A trainer with black hair lunges for Cato, and the whole ring explodes into chaos.

Cato swiftly blocks the attack by parrying it, sending the trainers sword upwards, giving Cato an opening to kick the trainer in the chest. The trainer is thrown backwards and lands close to the edge of the circle, but not enough to get him outside the ring. Cato moves to finish him off but is blocked by two more trainers.

I've been holding two trainers off on my side of the ring, and see the opportunity to help out Cato. I shove the two trainers whose weapons were engaged with mine, allowing me to run to Cato. Two more trainers are trying to stop Cato from advancing on the one that he'd kicked.

I sprint the small distance towards them, but instead of leaping up, I slide through them on my knees, reversing the grip on my swords for extra leverage. Using my training short swords, I take them both out by the ankles, both the sensitivity of the spot and my momentum knock them to the ground. I then bring my dual weapons down onto each of their chests, landing a fatal hit on both of them. Cato takes the opening that I've given him and pushes the trainer with the black hair out of the circle.

Only three more. But there's no time for celebration because the two trainers that I'd been engaged with before are upon me. Both of them swing their training swords at me, forcing me to once again use only one hand against each of them.

I'm pretty strong, but a battle that's two against one in pure strength is an uphill battle. Luckily, Cato has made his way back from throwing the trainer out of the ring. The speed at which he arrives causes one of the trainers to disengage with me to block Cato's attack. I then use my now free short sword to hit the other trainer in the chest. Another fatal hit. Cato lands a lethal hit his trainer at the same time.

There's only one trainer left now. He'd been sitting back and waiting for the other trainers to tire us out before he strikes. The trainer throws one of his 'spears' at us, but we roll out of the way to dodge. But he's gotten what he wanted, he separated the two of us. Cato looks at me and holds up two fingers.

Plan two got it. I throw one of my training short swords, despite the fact that it's not a throwing knife by any means. This catches the trainer off guard, and he dodges it. I've given Cato enough time to run up to the trainer. Cato and him lock weapons. They struggle for a moment, but I maintain my position, waiting for the signal.

I hear Cato let out a sharp, fast whistle, and he throws the trainers 'spear' upwards with all of his strength. This causes the trainer's arms and weapon to fly upwards. Cato ducks and I throw my remaining weapon.

Cato and I pant and hold onto our knees to catch our breath. But we're not out of breath enough to not do our handshake.

"Nice, nice, nice!" says Brutus excitedly. I hadn't noticed him in the room until now. Brutus walks up and places a hand on Cato's shoulder. "Go get a drink and a quick snack, and then we're going to run it again, except with Hadriana this time." Cato nods and takes off.

"He looks ready," says Brutus.

I nod. "How's Hadriana looking?"

"Let's just say, not as good as Cato," replies Brutus. Hadriana has been suffering from nerves the past few weeks it seems.

Brutus changes the subject. "You though, if you went back in the arena today, I think you'd take down every tribute yourself."

"Thank you?" I laugh nervously.

"No, I'm serious. A lot of Victors stop training as soon as their out; they get rusty. If you sent them back in, they couldn't win again. But you, I think you're better than you were even during your games."

I'd never really thought about that. Sure, I'd been training ever since my games ended, but it was mostly because I had no idea what else to do with my time when I was at home. But Brutus is right. I'm better, stronger, and I've learned a lot since my games six years ago. I mastered stealth training so I could demonstrate to the students, I improved my group fighting abilities with Cato, and I've learned some flashy tricks like throwing an arrow, just to show off.

"That's very kind of you, Brutus," I say. From Brutus, this is the highest form of compliment, so I am kind of honoured that he thinks this highly of me.

"Now go shower off miss supermodel, you're gonna want to look your best for this afternoon."

I laugh and motion to my sweaty athletic clothing. "What do you mean? This isn't appropriate?"

The only response I get is a towel to the face.

_________________________________

By 9 am, Cato and I were back at the house. Cato takes a nap for an hour while I look through a scrapbook. It's filled with pictures, both ones printed on proper photo paper and ones cut out of tabloids and magazines. The first few pages are just of me when I was younger, and Finnick starts to appear as I flip further into the book. Tabloids of the two of us and a few decent photos that we'd managed to sneak. Cato starts to appear too, and I see how young he used to look. There's one photo that I have to duck down to hand him his award because he's that much smaller than me.

I laugh, but tears come on at the same time.

Cato, whose awoken from his nap, is now in my doorway. He must have heard the small sob that escaped my lips, so he comes up to where I'm sitting and hugs me from behind.

"I'm gonna be fine, Vee. Don't worry about me."

I nod. But how can I not worry?

I let him hug me for a minute more before I get up and grab a jewelry box out of one of my drawers.

"I know that you're going to meet him later today, but Finnick had this made for you, for the arena," I say, holding out the box. Cato takes the bracelet and examines it. "He made it so you can know to trust him. It's made out of fishing line, and then the marble with our names represents--"

"Home," says Cato softly. It's like for a split second, he realizes where he's going. His eyes well up momentarily, but he sniffs and wipes his nose to try and cover it up. His tone changes, back to his more causal self. "This is, uh, this is great. I'm gonna take it with me."

We make idle conversation for a while and then separate to go and get ready. I put on a lovely golden dress, that's both pretty and says 'I'm dangerous'. I top it off with a golden armband to show off my muscular arm. I want Cashmere to know that I mean business when she sees me later today.

I go downstairs to see Cato waiting for me. He's wearing a tight-fitting white dress shirt to show off his muscles I'm sure, a thick golden sash across his waist acts as a belt and black dress pants. You can say a lot about my brother's ego, but he's never been above wanting to dress nicely.

"Ready?" I ask him.

He nods. I go out the door first. He takes a last good look at our house as if he's making sure he has every detail right in his mind and then closes the door.

We're off to the Reaping.

_______________________________

The Reapings all happen live in the order of the Districts. I'm separated from Cato when he has to go check-in. I'm escorted by the peacekeepers towards the stage. I make small talk with the other Victors who are on the stage. While the stage is quite large, they only like having the strong and fit looking Victors on stage for intimidation.

Enobaria, Brutus, and Augustus try to keep me relaxed until the ceremony starts. We're told to take our places as the cameras begin to roll, and the video that's played every year is projected onto a screen. Now the game is really on. I straighten my posture, fix my eyes into a glare, and throw on a smirk when the camera passes by. I want them to be scared of me.

Once the video is over, our district escort, Fallon Pomfrey, makes her way upstage. She gives a small speech and then moves over to the giant tub of girls' names to choose one. Even though it doesn't matter what name she chooses, because that name will be volunteered for, she still sticks her arm in the tub and fishes for a slip of paper. "Armatia Greene," announces Fallon.

A girl in the 12-year-old section begins to make her way to the stage. She's not in the academy. Even though she knows someone is going to volunteer, she still looks quite scared.

This is why we have the academy, I think. It's to keep little innocent girls like this from having to die.

Once Armatia is on the stage, Fallon can proceed and ask for volunteers.

There are two distinct voices that I hear, both yelling out that they volunteer. One of them is Hadriana, but the other... is Clove.

Hadriana tries to make her way towards the stage, but Clove runs at her and takes her down in the middle of the aisle. Ouch. The two scuffle briefly, but Clove bests Hadriana, and takes her place on the stage.

"My, my that was quite a show young lady! What's the name for this young volunteer?" asks Fallon.

"My name is Clove Kentwell," she says smugly. I try not to shake my head. I had tried to save Clove and Cato from having to compete in the same games, but it looks like they had other plans.

Fallon questions her politely and then moves on to the boys' bowl. She grabs a slip and calls out the name of one of the 18-year-old graduates from the academy. "And would anyone like to volunteer for this lovely young gentleman?" asks Fallon.

"I volunteer!" shouts Cato. There are no other voices that dare to challenge him, and he walks up to the stage uncontested.

"And might this fine young gentleman introduce himself to our audience?"

"My name is Cato Smith," he replies cockily. "And I'm the future winner of the 74th Hunger Games."

Fallon claps, loving his response. "What an amazing attitude!"

She continues to ask him questions, to which Cato responds with tact. Any tribute who watches him will be intimidated whether they can help it or not.

"This is Fallon Pomfrey, signing off from District 2, back to you Caesar, and we'll see you in the Capitol!"

As soon as the cameras off, the children file out of the crowd, and things on the stage start to get packed up.

The tributes are given an hour to say their goodbyes, but for Cato, anyone he would really need to say goodbye to is already coming with him. Still, his friends from the academy come by to congratulate him. I question if our father will show up, but he never does.

Once the hour is up, we board the train, and we're soon speeding towards the Capitol at 280 miles an hour. Lucky for us, the train ride isn't as long as the other district, so our tributes won't get as stiff from travel. Yet another advantage of being in a career district.

Brutus, Enobaria, Augustus and I all sit in the main compartment with the tributes. Just as I suspected, they've requested to be trained together. They were inseparable in the academy, and they're inseparable now. When it comes down to it, I hope they don't have to turn on each other and have their last memories of one another be their best friend trying to kill them.

Brutus and I, the mentors, discuss with Cato and Clove how to act as we arrive at the station. The reporters aren't allowed to speak to the tributes, but that doesn't mean that us older folks can't try and sell them a bit.

"Don't be afraid to smile and wave at them," adds Brutus. "The crowds are filled with potential sponsors, so you need to play to them."

They both nod.

After a few minutes, we all begin to grab our things. A few other trains seem to be arriving at the same time as us, and if I go off of who usually comes first, it's 1 and 5. The station is filled to the brim with Capitolians wearing bright colours and towering wigs. They all jump and wave at our train, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cato and Clove.

"Wow," is all Cato manages to say as he looks out at the droves of people.

The train slows to a complete stop and we all disembark. It's dark outside now, but the air is warm. Just the way I like it. I watch as Cato and Clove look across the platform to catch the first glance at their competition. The two give friendly nods to the tributes from 1 out of respect, and glare daggers at the tributes from 5. I'm certain that pictures of Cato and Clove glaring at 5 will make headlines.

That's one of the tough parts, though. Until after the games start, the tribute tower's only source of outside information is the TV. They do this to not give too much of an advantage to closer districts because we would be able to read about all the other tributes while people from 12 are stuck on a train and without access.

Cato and Clove keep their smiles on as they're escorted to the cars, but I can tell that even they are surprised by how large the crowd is. Brutus and I hang out for a moment to talk to the press.

"Octavia, Brutus, it's great to see you back here. We know you've gotta head to the tribute centre, so we'll be really quick. What's you're thoughts on your tributes?"

"Well, as we all know, 2 had a great showing last year, and you can expect to see the same from us this year," answers Brutus confidently. All of the reporters around scramble to scribble down Brutus' words.

The reporter turns the mic towards me. "And Octavia, you look lovely as always." I thank him. "What do you think of having two tributes on the younger end, both of them being 16?"

"Not worried at all. Both Cato and Clove trained two years above their age. In our trials they've proved that they're the best and can take down people older than them," I reply. I leave out the part where Hadriana is supposed to be here instead of Clove.

The reporters thank Brutus and us, and I go to join the others in the car. Despite the streets being crowded, we make it to the tribute centre in a matter of minutes. As we pull up to the front door, I see Cato and Clove stare up at the building. I think back to when I first saw the tower in person. Its enormity is something that I felt they never captured right on TV.

"It's so.... soo..." says Cato, searching for the right words.

"Much bigger than you expected?" replies Clove, who is also in awe of the building.

I smile. "Welcome to your new home."

Brutus gives the kids some encouraging words and tells them to stare down any tributes that they spot on their way up to the floor. All the districts might not be here, but the games have already begun.

Once our large crew of victors, mentors, and tributes pile out of the car, we walk into the tribute center. Cato and Clove continue to stare up at the building and try and point out things that they saw on TV. Once we step into the lobby of the center, we can see the bustling. Capitol assistants and Avox are running around in separate directions. Since we're usually one of the first districts to arrive, we get to see the pure chaos of preparing for the districts arrivals.

Fallon allows us up to the apartment and Cato and Clove are once again staring in awe. I remember how huge the apartment felt when I first entered it. While District 2 isn't poor compared to further out districts, it still doesn't come close to the Capitol. We allow Fallon to show them where they'll be sleeping while the rest of us make our way to our usual bedrooms. Augustus is given a new room beside Brutus.

We let Cato and Clove settle in on their own, and do a bit of exploring of the apartment before calling them to dinner. The meal is exquisite, but of course, the tributes aren't allowed to have the delicious strawberry cake for dessert. I could sneak Cato a piece later, but I don't think he would eat it anyways. More for me.

Once they finished eating, they seem to relax a bit, eager to indulge in their newfound luxurious accommodations. But that's not how things work in 2.

"Okay, let's go," says Brutus abruptly to everyone at the table. Cato and Clove look confused as to where we would be going at this time.

"Where?" asks Clove.

Enobaria smirks. "Tonight isn't for relaxing. The games have already begun. We're going to go remind everyone downstairs of that fact."

Cato gives me a questioning look, so I answer for him. "The next wave of tributes should be arriving in the lobby. We're going to go stake out the competition."

"And scare the living shit out of them," laughs Augustus. Some of the other tributes being scared by 2's presence in the lobby happen to be more of a... positive side-effect of our stakeouts. Augustus had learned about this tradition last year during his games, so I think he's excited to not be on the receiving end of all the surprise traditions.

It's something we started doing after Johanna's games; we go out and watch the tributes for ourselves before we watch the Reapings, so we're not swayed by any 'acts' people may be putting on. Assess their strength when their least expecting to have their guards up. Although the rules state that the tributes can't speak until the Tribute Parade, they never said anything about looking at them.

We load ourselves into the large glass elevator once again and drop down towards the lobby. This is one of my favourite traditions because it's during our stakeout on the first night that I get to see Finnick again.

We commandeer an area with a lot of sofas and armchairs, but make sure that we're still well within the view of the tributes coming in. 9 is the next team to arrive.

One of their mentors, Daniel Plant, a man in his 40's with flowing hair who used a katana of all things in his games, looks like he's bothered by our presence. That's another benefit; we can also intimidate the other mentors. But there's a fine line between intimidating and pissing off, which is why I always feel we need to be more careful.

Enobaria does not seem to share this sentiment because she flashes her pointed teeth at Daniel. If he didn't like us before, he certainly doesn't like us now. He was never very friendly with me per-se, but he did try and flirt with me when I first became a Victor. Which I found to be very creepy because I was 17 and he was 40.

I shudder. Maybe it's for the best that Enobaria scares him off. The tributes from 9 look very young anyway, so they won't be a threat to people like Cato and Clove. I just hope when the time comes, that they go quickly.

"Who do you think is coming next?" asks Cato.

I roll my eyes and prepare myself to give my brother a sarcastic comment. "They did teach you geography, right? Use your two little brain cells and rub them together--"

Clove snickers. "It's going to be either 4 or 7." Cato gives Clove a look, telling her that he could've answered that.

I nod. "Keep an eye out for their tributes," I note. "7 is one of the strongest outer districts, and we know their mentor."

Enobaria rolled her eyes. "Correction, you know their mentor."

Clove seems to be soaking up every single word that the mentors are saying. I notice that her eyes dart to the door every time someone walks through, but no other Districts yet. But there's a question on the tip of her tongue, one that she doesn't know whether or not to ask. Eventually, she speaks up. "What about 4? Do we have an in with their mentors?"

It's a fair question. Four has been pretty spotty for the past 10 years when it came to joining the pack.

Clove doesn't know that I'm dating Finnick, but I can feel the eyes of everyone else except for Agustus on me. They all know. I chuckle. "Keep an eye out for the big bronzed air-headed one, I have a feeling he's gonna be on our side this year."

Bonus: Our Love Could Be Lethal Characters as Vines/Memes

Cato: Look dad, it's the good kush.

Brutus, unimpressed: This is the dollar store, how good can it be.

End A/N. That's it! Cato has now been reaped , welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games everyone, we made it! Next chapter we'll see the arrival of Finnick and we'll also get to see a bonus POV from Finnick soon!